Social media marketing is essential for every modern business. But as most marketers know, it can be incredibly time consuming and disorganized without the right systems in place. Thankfully, social media calendars and content planning tools exist to save us!
By taking the time to map out and schedule content in advance, you can work smarter instead of harder. No more waking up to midnight realizations that you forgot to post or scrambling to create content at the last minute.
A solid social media calendar will transform the way you manage accounts and connect with your audience. But with hundreds of options out there, how do you determine which solution is the best fit?
I‘ve tested and reviewed the top 10 tools so you can choose the right one based on your specific needs and budget. Let‘s dive in!
Why You Need a Social Media Calendar
Before jumping into the solutions, let‘s review why social media calendars should be part of your strategy:
It Keeps You Organized
Planning multiple posts, campaigns, and content across different platforms is challenging without a system for keeping everything together. A calendar allows you to map it all out in one place to see what needs to be created and when posting will occur. No more guessing!
Strategize Your Content
Since you can see upcoming themes, events, and goals at a glance, it becomes easier to brainstorm creative content that aligns with your objectives versus scrambling last minute.
Streamline Collaboration
Your calendar acts as a single source of truth for your team. Everyone is on the same page about publishing dates, messaging, image requirements, etc. No more duplicated efforts or confusion.
Optimize Posting Times
Some tools provide insights on best posting times based on your audience activity. This ensures content goes live when it‘s most likely to drive engagement.
Track Performance
Analytics integrated directly in your calendar makes it simple to connect content to metrics like reach, clicks, and conversions to see what resonates.
Automate Scheduling
App integrations or bulk scheduling enables you to set it and forget it. No manually logging into networks to publish each post. It also reduces mistakes if you happen to forget.
As you can see, the benefits extend far beyond just having a schedule! Now let‘s explore the top tools available:
1. Monday.com
Monday.com is a flexible work management platform with social media templates to choose from. You can build fully customized calendars from scratch or use and tweak their pre-made marketing templates.
Key Features
- Drag and drop interface
- Calendar and timeline views
- Posting scheduler integrations
- Commenting and approvals
- File storage for images/videos
- Progress bars and charts
Best For
Monday.com works best for teams who want robust tools for planning multiple initiatives beyond just social media. The visual nature helps streamline creative brainstorming too.
Pricing
They offer a free plan for up to 2 users with limited features. Paid plans start at $10 per month per seat. Volume discounts are available.
2. Sprout Social
Sprout Social is a popular all-in-one social media management platform. Their Smart Calendar tool allows you to schedule queue posts in advance across all connected profiles.
Key Features
- Posting calendar with recommended send times
- Preview and scheduling tool
- Comprehensive analytics
- Team workflow functionalities
- Audience analysis and engagement insights
Best For
Great option for larger companies managing many brand profiles, users, and engagement needs in one searchable dashboard. Provides robust enterprise-level features.
Pricing
Plans start at $99 per user per month for Standard, or $149 per user per month for Advanced packages. Custom enterprise quote available.
3. Agorapulse
Agorapulse has a specific Social Media Calendar tool focused purely on scheduling rather than their wider scope management platform.
Key Features
- Posting queue for planning
- Drag and drop scheduling
- Multi-profile and multi-user support
- Posting history and archives
- Can connect Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn
Best For
Ideal for solopreneurs or small teams that want an affordable calendar-specific (not entire SMM platform) option with helpful productivity features.
Pricing
Starts at $79 per month for ESSENTIAL package up to 10 social media profiles and 1 user. Additional pricing available for more accounts.
4. Miro
Miro is an online collaborative whiteboard platform with templates for various use cases, including social media calendars.
Key Features
- Visual drag and drop templates
- Infographics, shapes, and icons
- Real-time collaboration
- Presentation modes
- Imports from Excel, CSV etc
- Apps like Zendesk, Salesforce etc
Best For
Great for creative teams who want to brainstorm visually together in real-time and track multiple metrics beyond just content planning and scheduling.
Pricing
Free plan allows unlimited members with some template restrictions. Paid plans start at $8 per member per month billed annually for Standard package.
5. Xtensio
Xtensio offers a specific Social Media Content Calendar template along with their wider presentation and document creation tools.
Key Features
- Fully editable and customizable
- Schedule and plan social posts
- Drag and drop simplicity
- Tracks key metrics and data
- Visually create once to reuse templates
Best For
Simple scheduling document for low budget solopreneurs who want their calendar integrated as part of wider branding/sales materials.
Pricing
Free version allows basic presentation creation. Premium paid plans start at $11 per month per user. Team rates available upon request.
6. Canva
Canva needs no introduction as one of the most popular free graphic design platforms. Lesser known is Canva‘s social media planner.
Key Features
- Content calendar templates
- Drag and drop simplicity
- Image editing and creation
- Content library with 75,000+ templates
- Photo storage integrated
- Schedule directly to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Best For
Non-designers who want beautiful calendars integrated with visual asset creation and management. The tool is very intuitive for beginners.
Pricing
Most templates and functionality is free, Canva Pro is $12.95 per month with additional features like photo editing, branding tools, etc.
7. CoSchedule
CoSchedule is focused completely on social media planning and scheduling with calendar and editor built in one.
Key Features
- Integrates directly with WordPress
- Drag and drop calendar customizable formats
- Content ideation pools
- Collaboration functionalities
- Scheduled publishing to all major networks
- Image and video content libraries
Best For
WordPress users who want calendar and creation tools seamlessly integrated. Allows for true "create once, publish everywhere" efficiency.
Pricing
14-day free trial, plans start at $15 per month billed annually for 1 user + up to 2 profiles. Premium plans offer more users, profiles and features.
8. Sendible
Sendible markets itself as an all-in-one social media manager, but has a robust calendar builder.
Key Features
- Single content upload to reuse
- Multi-channel scheduling
- Recommendations for best times per post
- Approval workflows
- Waitlists for expired posts
- Analytics and engagement integrations
Best For
Great for consultants or agencies managing multiple profiles with review processes. Helps track deadlines and approvals needed pre-publish.
Pricing
14-day free trial, plans start at $29 per month for up to 3 social profiles. Additional pricing tiers available.
9. SocialPilot
SocialPilot has a built-in Action Calendar along with its wider social media management offerings.
Key Features
- Group classified content types
- Drag and drop scheduling
- Bulk uploading/posting
- Comment integration and management
- Queue reordering based on priority
- Content ideation notebook
Best For
Service providers like consultants or agencies who need to schedule high-volumes of content across many profiles efficiently
Pricing
Free 30-day trial, starts at $50 per month base package for up to 10 profiles + 1 user
10. Loomly
Loomly offers robust planning and scheduling features for small businesses all in one platform.
Key Features
- Content idea pools
- Custom tagging for organization
- Multi-platform posting
- Bulk scheduling calendar
- Image/video content libraries
- Waitlists and deadline reminders
Best For
Startups or solopreneurs who need an end-to-end affordable and easy-to-use tool out of the box. Intuitive functions.
Pricing
Free version for 1 social profile. Paid plans start at $16 per month for up to 10 social profiles. Volume discounts available.
As you can see, there are excellent options based on your specific needs and budget. To recap:
For graphic design needs: Canva, Visme
For group collaboration: Monday.com, Miro
For intensive analytics: Sprout Social
For WordPress users: CoSchedule
For volume posting needs: Sendible, SocialPilot, Loomly
When choosing the right calendar tool, first outline your goals and primary features required. Do you want simplicity for a solopreneur or advanced enterprise-grade capabilities? Are you working solo or with a large team? Do you need integrations with other tools? Nail down the basics first.
From there, assess available integrations, scalability for growth, ease of use, and of course budget. Most offer free trials so test a few options before committing to determine the best social media calendar investment for your needs. What works for a startup likely won‘t carry a Fortune 500 brand‘s complex requirements.
Lastly, don‘t view your calendar as a static item. Review periodically as your strategy progresses to ensure it still provides value and efficiencies to maximize your efforts. Be open to testing new solutions if parts of your process start slipping again. Needs evolve over time and tools improve, so reassess regularly.
Ready to transform your social media productivity starting today? Try one of these top recommended social media calendar tools for size. You‘ll wonder how you ever managed dozens of profiles manually before!