How to make a social media plan template.

A woman standing outside uses a phone to create a social media plan template.

Learn how to create a social media plan template that makes it easy to stay on top of your content creation and posting schedule.

Social media management is much more than just occasionally posting a picture to Instagram. It requires immense planning to execute an effective strategy. To keep you and your team on the same page, it helps to create a social media plan template.

What is a social media plan template?

A social media plan template is a great way to keep your team organized and hold everyone accountable. It’s a blank spreadsheet that you fill in with all the information you need to build an effective strategy. That way, you won’t miss anything as you build out your next killer social media campaign.

What to include in a social media template.

Social media plan templates only work if they contain all the information you’ll need. Here are just a few pieces of information you should include as you build your templates:

So that you don’t forget anything, it’s helpful to download a social media plan PDF online. Not only will it ensure all the information is there, but it will also save you time building a template from scratch.

What are the common issues with social media marketing plans?

A social media marketing plan can go wrong in a few major ways. You might use a beautiful template and set up a great schedule with some creative, exciting posts in the works, but if you’re not really paying attention to your audience, working toward a concrete goal, or tracking key metrics, then your plan won’t get you very far. To avoid these issues in general, spend just as much — or more — effort on research and careful planning as you do on design.

While most plans include goals, this is one area where they commonly fall short. Your goals might sound exciting, but it’s too easy to set goals that are distant and vague. You’ll end up forgetting about them, and you won’t be able to determine if the campaign is working. To avoid these problems, use the SMART method — set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based goals. Then choose key metrics that will tell you whether you’re reaching these goals. For example, the number of comments or likes might not matter if you’re not getting new traffic to your website.

There are many ways you can forget to pay attention to your audience. The very first step should be to define your target audience clearly. You might know some basic demographic information or have an idea of who you think would be interested in your product or service, but you don’t really know how to appeal to them until you do more research. Find out what really matters to your audience, and design your campaign around those insights.

Once things get rolling, keep paying attention. Track the qualitative feedback you receive in posts or emails. Answer questions and change course if necessary. Social media is about building relationships. Don’t treat your posts like billboards — treat them like the first line in a conversation you want to continue.

Create fillable PDF forms to share with your team.

Spreadsheets aren’t always easy to share across devices without altering the formatting. To make sure everyone on your team sees the same spreadsheet — no matter which device they use — turn your PDF into fillable forms with Adobe Acrobat.

With fillable forms, you can share PDF spreadsheets that your team can fill in, edit, and share for the ultimate collaborative social media management process.

Discover more about how Acrobat can help you stay organized with your social media campaigns and work from anywhere.