Top 10 Content Planning Tools For Agencies In 2024

Are you searching for top-notch content planning tools to simplify your work?

Content planning is all about arranging your thoughts, research, and layout in a way that's easy to understand. Plus, it ensures you are giving your audience information they find useful and interesting.

Planning content is tough, but it doesn't need to be a struggle.

We have collected a list of the best content planning tools in this blog to help you save time and create even better content in 2024.

Ready to dive in? Let's go!

Statusbrew

If you are committed to content planning for social media, you need a tool that covers research, planning, and monitoring. Statusbrew is a comprehensive platform that guides you from the initial idea to the final execution.

Research Social Media Content

Unlike many content management dashboards, Statusbrew includes tools for content planning research.

With Statusbrew, you can easily keep track of topics that interest you. Its social listening feature helps you curate content on Twitter & Instagram about your brand, competitor, industry, or any topic that you are interested in.

You can also keep an eye on your competitors by tracking their keywords and hashtags. Plus, you can engage in conversations where you are mentioned. A great feature is the ability to read and respond to comments on your paid ads within the platform, which can spark content ideas based on frequently asked questions or even customer complaints!

In fact, with Statusbrew RSS Feeds, you can easily discover content from across the web by connecting your favorite blogs and publications and share it directly to your social networks.

Plan Social Media Content

Keeping a clean and organized content calendar for all your social media channels allows you to schedule posts well in advance. You can plan content for new product launches, company announcements and even keep space in your calendar to accommodate trending topics.

For example, even in July, you can plan and schedule content for September. While you can't foresee September's trending topics, you can fill your calendar with evergreen content.

You can even add clear notes, instructions, or references directly on posts for reference. Mention your team members under respective posts to clarify details or ask questions without cluttering up communication channels.

Monitor Social Media Content

Managing content doesn't stop once you have posted it. You can see how your content is performing in the real world by keeping track of engagement. Did it connect with your audience? Did it generate leads or a good return on investment?

Statusbrew allows you to create detailed and user-friendly reports to analyze your social media content in-depth. You can easily identify your most popular posts and focus on creating more of that type of content. Conversely, if a post you invested in received little engagement, you might decide to exclude similar content in your future plans.

Statusbrew also suggests the best days and times to post to increase engagement on your content.

Why not give it a try? Start with Statusbrew for free today – and don't worry, no credit card is needed to begin.

Surfer SEO

Surfer SEO is a user-friendly tool designed to assist in creating content strategies that perform well in search engine rankings. It's also useful for conducting SEO audits and keeping an eye on your search engine results page (SERP) positions.

Key Features

• It offers various integrations to assist in planning, scheduling, and creating content.
• The content planner feature automatically suggests new content topics and keywords to build a robust content strategy.
• You can create groups of related keywords for a topic and uncover more keyword opportunities to build your authority in your field.
• The SEO audit tool helps identify and correct errors in your content, and you can also refresh older content to boost search rankings for your important posts.
• The content editor provides improvement suggestions by analyzing top-performing pages.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is more than just a standard SEO planning tool. Not only does it enhance your SEO strategies, but it also includes a content planning tool to simplify content management.

Key Features

• Ahrefs provides insights into the keywords.
• Monitor your website's progress in search engine rankings with Ahrefs' rank tracking feature.
• Conduct thorough SEO audits to gather essential insights and maintain your website's top position.
• Benefit from comprehensive backlink analysis with Ahrefs in understanding and improving your link profile.
• Stay ahead of your competitors by analyzing their strategies and finding ways to surpass them in SEO.
• Use the Content Explorer to identify trending topics and popular content.
• The site audit tool in Ahrefs helps identify and resolve issues to ensure your website is always running smoothly.
• Dive into detailed keyword research with the Keyword Explorer and find search volumes, click-through rates, and more keyword details to fine-tune your approach.

Trello

Trello is a straightforward project management tool, perfect for organizing your content creation process. It's great for making lists, setting up to-do tasks, and prioritizing your workflow, among other things.

Trello's collaborative nature allows multiple people to work together on content projects. It's a versatile tool, whether you are coordinating an online marketing campaign, writing a blog post, or brainstorming for your next launch.

Key Features

• Enjoy unlimited personal boards, cards, lists, and team members.
• Easily upload content from DropBox, Google Drive, and Box.
• Set and track deadlines on Trello cards and keep your team informed.
• Benefit from a built-in automation system to simplify Trello actions.
• App integrations with platforms like Slack and Jira.

Notion

Notion is the go-to app for those who appreciate simplicity in their digital and content creation tasks.

This app helps you and your team streamline all aspects of your work. It's a methodical way to manage projects, brainstorm ideas, take notes, and even create wikis, all in one place. Plus, you can find Notion templates to save time.

Key Features

• Quickly capture and organize notes in a way that suits you and your team.
• Create checklists or detailed project boards to boost productivity.
• Use Notion Web Clipper to save any webpage.
• Collaborate in real-time with your team.
• Centralize all your notes, plans, and processes in one place.

Canva

Canva is a user-friendly graphic design tool that's perfect for creating visuals such as posters, flyers, marketing materials, and social media posts. It's simple to use and offers a wealth of pre-made templates to make design accessible even for those without any graphic design experience.

The Content Planner feature in Canva Pro allows you to create and schedule posts for platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

Key Features

• A vast selection of customizable social media templates.
• A media library filled with millions of stock photos, videos, and graphics.
• Collaborate with your team in real time.
• Organize your content and designs with easy-to-use folders.
• Directly schedule your posts to your social media channels from within Canva.

Google Docs

Google Docs is a free tool for collaboration. Simply sign up for Google Docs, and you are ready to create and manage top-notch content.

Key Features

• Collaborate with your team in real time.
• Enjoy unlimited storage space for all your documents.
• Google Docs automatically saves your work.
• Google Docs supports various file types, whether working with text, images, or videos.

Google Sheets

Google Sheets is a free, online spreadsheet tool from Google that is accessible via web browsers or mobile apps. It's perfect for creating an Editorial Calendar to keep your content organized and on track.

You can find a variety of spreadsheet templates online for personal use, teams, or agencies. Just sign in to your Google account, and you can access Sheets from anywhere. Plus, you have the option to import or export data or upload existing spreadsheets from your computer.

Key Features

• Completely free with any Google Account.
• Collaborate and strategize with your team in real time.
• Edit your sheets offline.
• Integrates with other Google tools like Docs, Slides, and Forms.
• Supports multiple spreadsheet file formats for opening, editing, saving, or exporting.

Google Calendar

Google Calendar is an online scheduling tool that simplifies planning your workflow. It's packed with features, including scheduling meetings, accessing your schedule on mobile, and getting reminders for upcoming activities.

It's great for sharing your schedule with others and creating multiple calendars for team use. Google Calendar helps keep your business organized, whether you are planning content, meetings, or events.

Key Features

• Free with any Google Account.
• Google suggests common times for meetings.
• Create multiple calendars for different needs.
• Plan video conferences with Google Meet.
• Share your calendars with team members and others.

Asana

Asana is designed for managing projects and organizing work, which is especially useful for content-related projects. It allows your team to collaborate on a single platform by offering various project views to suit different team preferences. Asana also automates many routine tasks in a project. It supports over 200 integrations to enhance your ability to manage content projects.

Key Features

• Workflow Builder: Asana allows you to create custom workflows using a visual tool. This feature helps organize work and connect teams as well as manage projects smoothly with clear, well-defined workflows. These workflows lay a solid foundation for your team to start planning content projects and coordinating efforts.
• Workload Management: Asana provides insights into your team’s workload, ensuring that no one is overloaded or underused. This feature is important for optimal project planning and staffing. You can assign values to tasks based on the time or effort required to gauge each team member’s workload accurately.
• Timeline for Planning: The timeline feature in Asana is designed to keep your project on track. It allows you to map out tasks against deadlines and spot potential delays before work begins. You can share your project plan or timeline with your team and stakeholders. As the project progresses, you can adjust the plan as needed to maintain the course.

What Do Content Planning Tools Do?

Content planning tools are a big help for content creators. They keep you focused and make sure your creative work supports your marketing strategy and business objectives. With these tools, you can publish regularly and always have a clear overview of your entire content plan.

They are great for teamwork, too, helping everyone stay coordinated and manage the content planning process smoothly.

These tools range from basic calendars to more sophisticated software packed with advanced features. They simplify your content process and boost your productivity.

Why It's Important To Plan Your Content?

Top marketing agencies and brands around the world use a formal process for planning their content marketing. Besides keeping things organized, having a content plan offers several advantages, such as:

• A content plan helps you show how your content aligns with your overall strategy and social media goals.
• Planning content ahead of time means your team is prepared, even if someone is sick or on vacation – a big plus for busy marketing teams.
• Getting approval from key people in your organization, like those in compliance or legal, is smoother when you work ahead of schedule.
• You can plan for special days, celebrations, and important dates in your industry.
• Planning lets you track how well your content is doing and refine your strategy.
• A content plan allows designers to prepare graphics, GIFs, and videos in advance.
• A plan makes your strategy more cohesive, linking different types of content like blog posts with social media or paid ads.
• Having a documented plan helps you mix created and curated content well to balance evergreen content with trending topics.
• Key sales periods like Christmas or Halloween start weeks or even a month in advance as people buy costumes, gifts, and candy. Planning helps you make the most of these sales opportunities.
• Managing multiple channels is tricky. With a content plan, you are less likely to miss important dates or events and can spot gaps or repeats in your schedule.

Final Thoughts

The old saying, "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail," couldn't be more true, especially when it comes to planning your content.

Having a content plan helps you organize your content in a way that makes your marketing efforts more organized, connects better with your audience, and encourages the right kind of actions.

Begin with these 10 easy-to-use, budget-friendly tools mentioned above (or similar ones) and discover how they can improve your content strategy.

If you are looking for a social content planning tool, give a free try to Statusbrew! You will be able to plan your social media content strategy along with your team. You can even execute your social content strategy from the same dashboard and analyze its performance.

Statusbrew is an all-in-one social media management tool that supports Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube, and even Google My Business.