Content plannerContent planning is the role and process of content planning that connects audience needs, business objectives, and editorial execution. The work includes research, briefing, calendaring, production coordination, distribution, and evaluation of results. For MSMEs, a content planner helps ensure every piece of content is published with a clear rationale and metrics, not just to make the account appear active.
This article explains the tasks, skills, processes, and examples of content planner workflows for websites and social media. The HubSpot and Hootsuite applications in the original article remain as examples of tool providers, but their features and pricing should be verified directly before subscribing.
With several key skills, content planners play a crucial role in planning and managing content on websites and social media platforms. They are responsible for creating content plans, designing editorial calendars, and ensuring their successful execution.
As a content planner, you must also possess the necessary skills, such as creative thinking, research and analysis, and discipline and time management. These skills enable a content planner to effectively carry out their duties and responsibilities.
In the increasingly competitive world of digital marketing, this position is crucial for maintaining the quality and consistency of uploaded content. With a content planner, companies can ensure that the content they create captures the audience’s attention and achieves their desired goals.
What is a Content Planner?
As a crucial profession in the world of digital marketing, a content planner has duties and responsibilities that should not be underestimated. In implementing a digital marketing content strategy, a content planner is responsible for planning the content to be uploaded across all platforms, including websites and social media.
Content planners collaborate with various parties involved in content creation, such as content strategists, content creators, content writers, copywriters, graphic designers, and social media administrators. They act as planners, while others are responsible for executing the plan.
Although often considered the same, content planners and content strategists actually have different roles. Content strategists are responsible for strategizing the digital content to be uploaded so that it resonates with the target audience. They are also responsible for determining the tone and style of the content to align with the desired brand image.
Conversely, the role of a content planner is more focused on content planning. After the content strategist designs the content strategy, the content planner will create content topics in accordance with the established strategy.
They will also choose the type of content to be created, such as photos, videos, carousels, or live social media events. The content planner will then schedule the content in the editorial calendar.
In carrying out their duties, content planners must ensure that content is uploaded on time according to the established plan. They must also ensure that the delivery of the uploaded content aligns with the content strategist’s expectations.
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What are the responsibilities of a content planner?
As a content planner, you have several duties and responsibilities.
Here are the three main duties of a content planner:
1. Create a Comprehensive and Structured Content Plan
Practice notes:A content plan should have goals, audiences, formats, channels, and demonstrable success criteria; link them to your content calendar.
As a content planner, the first task is to create a comprehensive and structured content plan. A content plan is the foundation of a company or brand’s entire content marketing strategy. When creating a content plan, a content planner must consider several important factors.
First, they need to understand the company or brand’s strategic objectives, which they want to achieve through content. Whether the goal is to increase brand awareness, improve customer engagement, or increase sales conversions, understanding these objectives allows the content planner to design a content plan that aligns with the company’s vision and mission.
Next, the content planner must conduct market and audience research to understand the needs and preferences of the target audience. This involves analyzing industry trends, consumer behavior, and the content preferences that are most effective in attracting the target audience. With a deep understanding of the audience, the content planner can create content that is relevant and engaging for them.
The content plan should also include determining the type of content to be created, such as articles, videos, infographics, or other interactive content. Each type of content has its own advantages and disadvantages, and the content planner must choose the type that best aligns with the goals and needs of the audience.
Additionally, in a content plan, content planners must also consider crucial moments or important events that can be leveraged to create relevant content. For example, new product launches, major holiday celebrations, or significant industry events. By planning content for specific moments, companies can maximize the impact of their content and increase audience engagement.
2. Design a Detailed Editorial Calendar
Practice notes:The calendar should include topics, project owners, deadlines, review stages, publication dates, and outcome measures. Adapting a sample editorial calendar can streamline the initial setup.
Once the content plan is complete, the next step is to design an editorial calendar that organizes the content creation, editing, and upload schedule. An editorial calendar is a crucial tool for managing and coordinating all content production activities.
In designing an editorial calendar, content planners must consider several key factors. First, they need to determine the frequency of content uploads, whether daily, weekly, or monthly, according to the needs and preferences of their audience. Furthermore, content planners must also consider the best time to upload content to reach their target audience at the optimal time.
Furthermore, in designing an editorial calendar, content planners must pay attention to content diversification. This means ensuring that various types of content are scheduled for production and upload according to the needs and preferences of their audience. For example, content in the form of articles, videos, infographics, and other interactive content should be evenly distributed to maintain diversity and audience engagement.
3. Ensure the Content Plan is Successfully Executed Perfectly
Practice notes:Execution isn’t just about hitting the publish button: define the proofreading process, check assets, verify links, and distribute across digital channels.
The final task of a content planner is to ensure the successful execution of the content plan. This involves overseeing and managing the entire content production process, from pre-production to post-production.
First, content planners must ensure that all teams involved in content production, such as writers, graphic designers, photographers, and editors, have a clear understanding of the content plan and editorial calendar. They must also ensure that each team member has clear and clearly defined responsibilities.
Furthermore, content planners must monitor and oversee every step of the content production process to ensure everything is running according to the established schedule and specifications. They must be prepared to address any issues or obstacles that may arise during the content production process and proactively find appropriate solutions.
Finally, once the content is produced and uploaded, content planners must evaluate and analyze the content’s performance to assess the success of the content plan and identify areas for future refinement or improvement. This involves collecting and analyzing data on user engagement, number of impressions, conversion rates, and so on, to understand the content’s impact on the target audience.
By ensuring that content plans are successfully executed, content planners can help companies or brands achieve their content marketing goals and strengthen relationships with their target audiences.
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What are the essential skills required for a content planner?
As a content planner, there are several skills you must possess to effectively carry out your duties and responsibilities.
Here are the three main skills a content planner needs:
1. Ability to Think Creatively
Practice notes:Creative ideas need to address audience needs. Analyze search intent to identify needs, rather than creating topics simply because they’re trending.
Creativity is an essential skill in the content planner profession. The ability to think creatively is the foundation for creating engaging, captivating content that differentiates a brand from its competitors. A content planner must be able to generate fresh and innovative ideas for the content they produce.
Developing Creative Ideas
Practice notes:Keyword and topic research should be followed by a breakdown of objectives, relative volume, competitors, and priority of results. Use keyword research tools to complement manual evaluation.
A content planner must have the ability to develop creative ideas that can inspire and capture the attention of audiences. This could be ideas for unique and different video content, articles, infographics, or marketing campaigns. This ability requires a strong imagination and the ability to think outside the box.
Choose an Attractive Delivery Style
Practice notes:Campaign data needs to be comparable. Define traffic tagging using UTM parameters to avoid mixed distribution results.
It’s not just about ideas, but also about how content is delivered. A content planner must be able to choose the right delivery style for each type of content. Whether it’s a cheerful and friendly narrative style, or perhaps a more serious and informative approach, the ability to choose a style that suits the brand and audience is key to creating effective content.
Innovation in Design and Visuals
Practice notes:Organic content and social accounts require scheduling, moderation, and customer response. A social media management process framework helps divide responsibilities.
In addition to text content, visual content such as graphics, illustrations, and videos also plays a crucial role in a content marketing strategy. A content planner needs knowledge of graphic design and video production to produce engaging and captivating visual content. The ability to innovate in design and visuals is a valuable asset in the competitive world of digital content.
2. Skills in Research and Data Analysis
Practice notes:Don’t add too many tools unnecessarily. Compare access security, workflow, cost, and integration support across social media management tools.
Research and analysis are the foundation of an effective content marketing strategy. A content planner must be able to use data and information to understand audiences, market trends, and content needs. Without sound research and analysis, the content produced may be irrelevant or ineffective in achieving marketing objectives.
Audience Trend and Interest Analysis
Practice notes:Visuals should support understanding, not just be decorative. When planning an article, check image requirements, such as those for visual planning of featured images.
A content planner must actively research current trends and the interests of their target audience. This involves analyzing demographic data, online behavior, and the specific interests of their target audience. With a deep understanding of their audience, content planners can create more relevant and engaging content.
Competition and Industry Research
Practice notes:Test a single hypothesis on a headline, format, or CTA and compare relevant metrics; the A/B testing principle prevents decisions based on a single post.
In addition to understanding the audience, a content planner also needs to understand the competition and existing industry trends. This involves analyzing the content produced by competitors, as well as understanding changes and developments within a specific industry. By knowing what competitors are doing and what trends are occurring within the industry, content planners can identify opportunities and adjust their content strategy effectively.
Understanding Data Analytics
Practice notes:Plan space for audience feedback and dialogue materials. Interactive marketing concepts can be used as a framework for educational activities.
A content planner must also have a strong understanding of data analytics. They need to be able to collect, analyze, and interpret data about content performance. This includes measuring engagement rates, impressions, conversion rates, and other metrics to assess content effectiveness. By understanding data analytics, content planners can make better decisions about future content strategies.
3. Always be disciplined and have good time management skills.
Practice notes:Overly general personas reduce message accuracy. Use target market segmentation to identify specific audience problems.
Discipline and time management are crucial skills for a content planner. They must be able to manage multiple content projects efficiently and effectively, ensuring that content is produced and uploaded on time according to established schedules.
Planning and Scheduling
Practice notes:Monitor competitors’ topics to identify gaps in demand, rather than simply copying scripts.
A content planner must have the ability to plan and organize schedules meticulously. They need to create an editorial calendar that outlines the schedule for content creation, editing, and uploading. By having an organized schedule, a content planner can ensure that all content projects run smoothly and on time.
Managing Priorities
Practice notes:Each report should explain its metrics, timeframe, and definitions. Use digital marketing analytics as a dashboard reference.
In a busy work environment, a content planner is often faced with numerous tasks and projects that must be completed within a limited time. The ability to manage priorities effectively is key to maintaining productivity and ensuring that the most important tasks are completed first.
Examples of Apps That Make a Content Planner’s Job Easier: A Practical Guide to Creating an Effective Content Strategy
As a marketing professional or content creator, it’s crucial to have a structured and measurable content plan to guide your content development and management. In this guide, we’ll explore a sample content plan and the platforms you can use to create one.
1. HubSpot: Comprehensive Content Analytics and Management
Practice notes:The final action, such as a form, message, or purchase, must be determined first.
HubSpotHubSpot is a leading marketing platform that not only provides tools for creating and distributing content but also for analyzing the success of content campaigns. With HubSpot, you can access a variety of content plan templates that can be customized to your business needs.
HubSpot Key Features:
- Customizable content plan template
- Content analysis tools to track campaign performance
- Integration with other marketing tools such as email, SEO, and social media
Using HubSpot, you can create a detailed content plan, including monthly or annual content plans, campaign objectives, key performance metrics (KPIs), and steps for content optimization.
2. HootSuite: Efficient Multi-Channel Content Management
Practice notes:Editorial quality control concerns accuracy, information integrity, attribution, and the reading experience; use the quality of content marketing articles as a reference checklist.
HootSuiteHootSuite is a social media management platform that allows you to organize and manage content across multiple social platforms in a single dashboard. Additionally, HootSuite can be used to plan and organize content on a schedule, monitor user engagement, and analyze content performance.
HootSuite Key Features:
- Multi-channel content management (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.)
- Content scheduling for automatic posting
- Analyze social content performance with detailed reports
With HootSuite, you can plan and organize content for various social platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and more. You can create an editorial calendar that includes posting schedules, content types, and links to the content to be shared.
Using a Sample Content Plan for Your Business
After finding a content plan example and selecting a platform that suits your needs, the next step is to adapt the template to suit your business goals and strategy. Here are the steps for using a content plan example:
1. Choose the Appropriate Template:Download or access a content plan template that suits your business needs from platforms like HubSpot or HootSuite.
2. Align with Your Business Goals:Customize the template to suit your business’s marketing and communication goals. Determine the type of content you want to create, the posting frequency, and your target audience.
3. Create a Detailed Content Plan:Create a detailed content plan for a specific period, such as a month or year. Define topics, content formats, posting dates, and the key performance metrics (KPIs) you want to track.
4. Determine Content Distribution Strategy:Determine your content distribution strategy, including the platforms you will use, your posting schedule, and how you will promote your content.
5. Monitor and Evaluate Content Performance:Use the analytics tools provided by your platform to track and evaluate your content’s performance. Review metrics such as impressions, clicks, interactions, and conversions to understand whether your content is effective or needs adjustment.
By following these steps and using a suitable content plan example, you can develop an effective content strategy for your business and achieve your marketing goals more efficiently.
The Complete Guide to Creating an Effective Content Plan
Creating a content plan is a crucial step in a content planner’s digital marketing strategy.
This ensures that the content produced is not only high-quality but also relevant to your target audience and business goals.
In this guide, we’ll discuss in detail how to create a good and proper content plan, from defining goals to conducting regular evaluations.
1. Determine the Purpose of Content Creation
Practice notes:A single topic shouldn’t be written repeatedly as competing articles. Check for keyword cannibalization prevention when creating your content map.
Before you start creating content, the first step is to determine your purpose. This purpose will guide you in designing an effective content strategy. Some common goals for content creation include:
- Sharing information: Providing useful and relevant information to the audience.
- Product education: Introducing a product or service to the audience and explaining its benefits.
- Drive transactions: Persuade the audience to make a purchase of a product or service.
Each objective requires a different approach and content strategy. For example, content created to drive sales will focus more on product benefits and special offers, while product education content will focus more on explaining product features and benefits to the audience.
2. Select the platform to be used
After determining the content’s objectives, the next step is to choose the platform on which to publish the content. Each platform has different characteristics and audiences, so the content produced needs to be tailored to the chosen platform.
Examples of platforms that can be used for content publication include:
- Website: Articles, blog posts, and visual content such as infographics.
- Social media: Photos, videos, and short texts for platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
- Email: Promotional content, newsletters, and product updates for customers.
Choosing the right platform will help your content reach your target audience more effectively and efficiently.
3. Create and Collect a Customer Database
To create relevant and engaging content for your audience, you need to gather information about them. Creating user personas and collecting customer data are crucial steps in this process.
You can collect customer data in various ways, such as:
- Email registration and newsletter subscription.
- Interaction with customers through social media.
- Surveys and questionnaires to explore customer preferences and needs.
The collected data can be used to create more personalized content tailored to your audience’s interests and needs. This will increase the effectiveness of your content campaigns and strengthen customer relationships.
4. Create a Detailed Content Plan
Once you have a good understanding of your content goals, the platforms you’ll use, and your target audience, the next step is to create a detailed content plan. This content plan should include:
- Content type: Determine the type of content to be produced, such as articles, videos, infographics, or social media posts.
- Content topics: Determine topics that are relevant to your audience and business goals.
- Publication schedule: Set a content publication schedule for each selected platform.
- Performance metrics: Define the key performance metrics (KPIs) that will be used to evaluate the success of your content campaign, such as the number of impressions, clicks, and conversions.
A detailed content plan will help you organize and track content production more efficiently and ensure that the content you produce aligns with your business strategy and goals.
5. Conduct Periodic Evaluations
Last, but not least, is to regularly evaluate your content’s performance. Review established content performance metrics and evaluate whether the content you’ve produced has achieved your stated goals.
If anything needs improvement or adjustment, use the evaluation results as input to improve your content strategy in the future. A regular evaluation process will help you understand what’s working and what’s not in your content campaigns, and improve the overall effectiveness of your content.
What Does a Content Planner Job Description Look Like?
A job description for a content planner typically includes a series of duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills expected of the candidate filling the role. Here’s an example of a job description for a content planner:
Job Description: Content Planner
Job description:As a content planner, you’ll be responsible for planning, developing, and managing effective content strategies to meet a brand’s marketing and communication objectives. You’ll collaborate with marketing, design, and creative teams to create engaging, relevant, and meaningful content for the target audience.
Duties and responsibilities:
- Creating a Content Plan:Develop a comprehensive content plan based on market research, industry trends, and audience analysis to meet business and marketing goals.
- Designing an Editorial Calendar:Design and manage an editorial calendar to schedule content creation, editing, and uploading in accordance with established marketing strategies.
- Developing Content Ideas:Create creative and innovative content ideas that suit the brand and target audience, and collaborate with the creative team to bring these ideas to life.
- Managing Content Production:Coordinate content production, including text writing, graphic design, video production, and other visual content, to ensure content quality and consistency.
- Content Performance Analysis:Conduct regular analysis of content performance using data analytics to measure the effectiveness of content campaigns and make recommendations for improvement.
- Multi-Channel Content Development:Manage content distribution across multiple channels such as websites, social media, email, and other digital platforms to maximize audience reach and engagement.
- Team Collaboration:Collaborate with internal teams, including marketing, design, and creative teams, as well as external partners such as marketing agencies and content vendors, to produce effective and quality content.
- Stay Up to Date with Trends:Keeping up with the latest developments in the content marketing industry and digital technology, and implementing best practices and innovations to improve content strategy.
Qualification:
- Bachelor’s degree in marketing, communications, journalism, or a related field.
- Previous work experience in content marketing, journalism, or digital communications.
- Excellent writing and communication skills.
- Strong analytical skills and understanding of data analytics.
- Skills in managing projects and meeting deadlines.
- Creative, innovative, and able to think strategically.
- Ability to work in teams and collaborate with various department functions.
- Knowledge of SEO, SEM, and other digital marketing practices is a plus.
- Graphic design skills or experience in video production is an added advantage.
Conclusion:As a content planner, you’ll be the driving force behind a brand’s content and communications strategy. With creativity, strong analytical skills, and strong project management skills, you’ll be instrumental in creating effective content that positively impacts the company’s growth and success.
Simple content plan template for small teams
| Column | Example content | Objective |
|---|---|---|
| Topic | How to choose a product for need X | Answering potential customer questions |
| Intent and persona | New buyers who are comparing | Directing research and depth of content |
| Formats and channels | Blog articles and explanatory videos | Customize the content format |
| Owner and deadline | Editor; review and publish date | Prevent unclear backlogs |
| KPI and CTA | Qualified visits and product inquiries | Assessing the impact on business |
Use trend sources as signals, not as a single truth. Google Trends helps compare search interest by location and time, while internal sources like customer questions are usually closer to the real problem. Google Search Central emphasizes useful content written for humans, not just for rankings.
QA checklist before content is published
- The reader’s goal and main questions are answered from the start.
- Time-sensitive facts are checked against credible recent sources.
- Writers, designers, and editors understand the same brief.
- Images have context, attribution, and are sized as needed.
- Internal links to relevant sources, not just chasing numbers.
- The CTA does not disrupt the reader’s learning experience.
- Preview on mobile, accessibility, and metadata are checked.
- Data tracking and KPI definitions have been agreed upon.
- Publication date and revision owner documented.
- Once published, the lesson is re-entered into the calendar.
Allocate time to revise old content that still generates readers before pursuing new article volume. Improvements can include updating steps, correcting references, adding examples, or merging pages with similar intent.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is a content planner?
A content planner is a role or process that develops strategies, priorities, calendars, and workflows for content production and distribution based on audience needs.
What is the difference between a content planner and a content writer?
The planner sets goals, topics, schedules, and metrics; the writer focuses on drafting the script. On a small team, one person can handle both.
What are the daily duties of a content planner?
Review calendars, clarify briefs, set priorities, check progress, coordinate with production, and monitor publication results.
What are the important skills of a content planner?
Audience research, brief writing, data analysis, project management, communication, editorial judgment, and performance evaluation.
Do I have to use paid software?
No. Spreadsheets can be sufficient for small teams as long as the data structure, responsible parties, and review process are consistent.
How to create a content plan for MSMEs?
Choose a business target, define an audience, group topics, write a brief, create a realistic schedule, then evaluate the quality of traffic and results.
What does the content brief contain?
Minimum: purpose, persona, search intent, core questions, outline, sources, format, CTA, metadata if necessary, and editor rules.
How to measure the success of a content planner?
Assess schedule implementation, editorial quality, relevant engagement, quality traffic, and conversions according to goals.
Can AI replace content planners?
AI can help with idea or draft gathering, but still requires human source checking, strategic decisions, quality, and accountability.
How often is the content calendar evaluated?
Weekly reviews help the process, while monthly evaluations can assess topics and performance; frequency depends on the scale of the team.
How to avoid competing content in SEO?
Create intent mapping and main articles, combine topics that are truly the same, then connect different articles with relevant internal linking.
External References
- Google Search Central — Helpful, people-first content
- Google Trends — Comparing search terms
- HubSpot — Official product site
- Hootsuite — Official product site
