Entrepreneurs and enterprise homeowners are spoiled for selection relating to the various social media platforms obtainable for rising a web based viewers.
From BlueSky to TikTok, LinkedIn to Patreon, social media advertising and marketing has by no means been extra strong, or, arguably, time-consuming.
However it doesn’t must be. Thankfully, you don’t must be all over the place directly.
The place you select to indicate up on-line needs to be primarily based on the place your goal clients spend most of their time. Select these platforms purposefully.
Additionally, streamlining your social media advertising and marketing is made simpler with the suitable planning instrument in your arsenal – and no, it doesn’t require fancy software program options.
On this information, I’m sharing a free, easy-to-use social media planning template, plus useful steps on make it give you the results you want.
It’s as easy or as customizable as you want it to be. No pointless bells or whistles.
Free Social Media Planner Template For Google Sheets
Planning your social media content material doesn’t must be sophisticated – or require using costly instruments.
With the free Planner Template, you’ll discover a better method to plan, arrange, and schedule your social media content material.
Whether or not you might be a person, enterprise proprietor, or marketer, this template is designed that can assist you publish content material constantly, keep organized, and make higher selections about your social media technique.
With this Google Sheets template, you possibly can:
- Plan your content material calendar prematurely, see what you’ve revealed, and know what’s developing subsequent.
- Schedule posts for a number of social media accounts from one calendar.
- Observe the progress of your content material and use the data to tell your future technique.
- Collaborate with others by sharing entry together with your staff.
Word: Click on on File > Make a Copy to edit your template. You don’t want to request edit entry.
Make a duplicate: Social Media Planner Template for Google Sheets
How To Plan Your Social Media Content material
The Google Sheet template makes it straightforward to see your schedule nicely prematurely and save your whole social media property in a single place.
Right here’s plan your social media content material this 12 months.
Step 1: Create A Copy Of The “Social Media Planner Template”
After you have entry to the template, click on “File” after which “Make a Copy.” This can create a brand new copy of the template that you may edit.
Screenshot from Social Media Planner Template, Could 2025
Subsequent, give your copy a descriptive title, corresponding to “[Business name] – Social Media Plan Q1-This fall 2025,” and put it aside to Google Drive.
Step 2: Determine Your Present Quarter/Month
Relying on whenever you’re studying this text, you’ll want to determine the quarter and/or month wherein you propose to begin your social media planning.
The underside of the template consists of tabs spanning from “Q1: January” to “This fall: December” of 2025.
Open the tab for the month wherein you wish to begin planning your content material:
Screenshot from Social Media Planner Template, Could 2025
For simplicity, we began with “Q1: January” and commenced filling out the primary few subjects for instance:
Screenshot from Social Media Planner Template, Could 2025
Additionally, you will see within the left-hand columns that there’s a calendar for every month. That is merely a reference to the right days of the week/month for 2025 so you possibly can plan accordingly.
You possibly can, in fact, replace this for 2026, 2027, and so forth.
Step 3: Select Your Social Media Platforms (“Platform”)
Column Ok features a dropdown of assorted social media platforms to which you will be publishing your content material.
You possibly can choose from this record of choices (Weblog, Instagram, LinkedIn, Fb, Twitter/X, TikTok, YouTube, or Different), or you possibly can add your individual by clicking the pencil icon:
Screenshot from Social Media Planner Template, Could 2025
This dropdown lets you simply determine which platform you propose on publishing to. Whether or not it’s Fb, Instagram, X (Twitter), or another platform, this can enable you preserve your content material organized.
Step 4: Plan Your Subjects
Now, it’s time to fill in your matter concepts.
There are fairly just a few methods to consider participating social media subjects, which we lined in our information on create genuine social media content material.
Nonetheless, the analysis course of doesn’t must cease there. Listed here are just a few methods to give you social media posts:
- Conduct competitor analysis: Have a look at what your opponents are doing on social media and use that as inspiration on your future social media posts.
- Have a look at business tendencies: Keep up-to-date on business tendencies and information, and use this data to create related and well timed posts on your viewers.
- Make the most of user-generated content material: Encourage your followers to share their very own experiences and use that content material as inspiration on your posts.
- Have a look at hashtags: Analysis and use related hashtags to extend the visibility of your posts and attain a wider viewers. This can be a method to discover content material concepts.
- Schedule common promotions: Share your promotions and reductions to drive engagement and enhance gross sales.
When you suppose up some concepts, you can begin filling out your social media planner.
Simply fill out Columns J via R together with your “Title/Subject,” “Description,” and the like.
Step 5: Add Content material And Publishing Notes
Begin enhancing the template by including related data, corresponding to your descriptions, content material doc hyperlinks, hashtags, publish dates, and monitoring hyperlinks (if wanted).
Screenshot from Social Media Planner Template, Could 2025
Be happy so as to add rows, columns, or fields to fit your wants.
Within the “Pictures” and “Video/Media” columns, you possibly can add hyperlinks to the visible property you propose to make use of in your social media submit. You are able to do this by including a hyperlink to a Google Drive folder with photographs or your chosen Digital Asset Supervisor (DAM).
Step 6: Add Publish Dates
Subsequent, use the template to schedule your posts prematurely by including the date and platform for every submit.
Don’t neglect to replace the “Standing” column (I) as you’re employed via your social media plan.
You can too use the template to trace the success of your content material by including metrics corresponding to likes, feedback, and shares.
Step 7: Share With Your Staff
If you’re working with a staff, share the template together with your colleagues and provides them entry to edit the template.
This can permit you to collaborate and work collectively to take care of a constant social media presence.
The “Notes” column is for any miscellaneous notes about your upcoming content material, together with particulars about your upcoming content material, drafts, due dates, and so forth. and you should use this to work together with your staff async.
Step 8: Plan Forward And Repeat
Planning your social media content material prematurely presents quite a few advantages that may drastically improve your social media presence.
By taking the time to plan your content material, you possibly can guarantee that you’re constantly publishing related posts that interact your viewers and drive outcomes.
With a transparent content material plan in place, you possibly can give attention to creating high-quality content material that’s aligned together with your total advertising and marketing technique and keep away from the pitfalls of impulsive, unplanned posting.
I like to recommend utilizing the social media planner to plan not less than one quarter’s value of content material, so that you’re not scrambling to put in writing the copy, acquire the property, schedule the posts, and so forth.
Plan And Publish Social Media Content material Like A Professional
Social media advertising and marketing doesn’t must be a headache. With the suitable course of, you possibly can streamline your social media content material planning and publishing schedule.
In as little as just a few hours per quarter, you possibly can plan your content material nicely prematurely, taking the guesswork out of your social media posting.
Utilizing a planning template lets you be proactive in your matter planning, get organized, and keep on schedule. Over time, planning your content material will really feel like second nature slightly than a chore.
With social media planning, entrepreneurs achieve:
- A no-nonsense system for monitoring content material subjects and scheduling.
- Time effectivity and a streamlined publishing cadence.
- Consistency in publishing well timed, related posts.
- Improved visibility into efficiency and outcomes.
Additionally, whenever you plan your social media posts prematurely, you possibly can higher allocate price range and sources to your efforts, guaranteeing you’re utilizing your time in the simplest approach attainable.
So, reap the benefits of the free social media planning template, make it yours, and save time in your social media advertising and marketing efforts.
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Featured Picture: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal
