Content planning template

What is a content planning template?

A content planning template is a structured digital workspace designed to help teams brainstorm, organize, and execute content marketing strategies efficiently. This template ensures that your content creation process is streamlined and effective so you can create engaging content that hits your targets. Whether you’re a content marketer, a creative team, or a project manager, Mural’s content planning template provides a comprehensive framework to map out your content strategy, from initial ideation to final distribution.

The content planning template helps you:

• Brainstorm content topic ideas: Use the template to generate a wide range of content topic ideas. It encourages creative thinking and allows you to capture ideas in a structured format, making it easier to review and prioritize them. This feature helps you make content that’s relevant, valuable, and aligned with your audience’s interests.

• Create a content calendar: A content calendar is a vital component of any content marketing strategy. The template includes sections for planning out your content schedule, including dates, types of content, and responsible team members. A calendar helps you stay organized, avoid last-minute scrambles, and stay on schedule.

• Manage content creation workflow: The content planning template provides a clear workflow for content creation, from ideation to execution. It includes areas to assign leadership, track progress, and setting deadlines. 

How to use the content planning template

Step 1: Establish goals and initiatives

First, determine what goals you’d like your content to achieve. It could be something like “increase sign ups,” “improve click-through rates,” or “increase sales conversations.” Next, name your initiative. Note: the initiative name shouldn’t be a tactic — we’ll get to those in a minute. The initiative name should be broad enough that it could encompass a variety of tactics, like, for instance, “Thought leadership campaign.” 

Step 2: Assign an owner to each goal

Decide who will be responsible for each of your goals / initiatives. You can also modify this area to assign more explicit roles to the rest of the team, or add a new column by hovering your mouse above the column and clicking the “+” button. 

Step 3: Brainstorm content topic ideas

Use the template’s brainstorming section to generate a variety of content ideas for different channels, including social media, web, email, and live events. Quantity is more important than quality at this stage; if an idea doesn’t fit into any of the traditional channels, throw that in the “Wildcard” section. Encourage everyone to contribute, and use Mural’s collaborative features to make the session engaging and productive. This step is vital to discovery, so you can develop a wide range of ideas that will resonate with your audience.

Step 4: Fill in the content calendar

Once you have a list of content ideas, use the template to sketch out how long the initiative will take and when it will launch. Be sure to stagger your content and assign reasonable goals that your team can meet. Refer back to this calendar regularly to keep your team organized and on schedule.

When to use the content planning template (with examples)

When launching a new product or service

Use the content planning template to create a comprehensive content strategy for your new product or service launch. This will help you generate excitement, educate your audience, and drive conversions. For example, you can plan a series of blog posts, social media teasers, and video tutorials to introduce a new product or feature.

When planning a content marketing campaign

Whether you’re running a seasonal campaign or a long-term content series, the template can help you organize your ideas and execute your plan effectively. It allows you to map out the main points of the campaign, from initial ideation to final distribution. For instance, you can use it to plan a series of webinars, infographics, and case studies to support your campaign.

When onboarding new team members

New team members can quickly get up to speed with your content planning process by using the template. It provides a clear structure and guidelines, helping them understand the workflow, key dates, and their responsibilities. For example, a new content writer can see the types of content that are in the pipeline and the deadlines they need to meet.

When optimizing your content strategy

If you’re looking to refine your content strategy, the template can help you identify areas for improvement. Use it to review past performance, gather feedback, and plan new content that addresses any gaps or issues. For example, you can analyze the engagement metrics of your recent blog posts and plan more interactive content to boost reader engagement.

Tips for running a content planning exercise

• Start with a clear goal: Define the objective of your content planning session. Are you launching a new product, improving engagement, or addressing a specific audience? A clear goal will help you focus your efforts so the content you plan is aligned with your overall strategy.

• Use Mural’s collaborative features: Leverage Mural’s real-time collaboration features to make your content planning sessions more interactive and engaging. Use sticky notes, comments, real-time editing, and facilitation features to make everyone feel welcome and motivated to contribute.

• Involve all relevant team members: Content planning is a team effort. Involve everyone from content creators to marketers, designers, and even customer success managers. Each team member brings a unique perspective that can enrich your content strategy and ensure that it meets the needs of your audience.

• Set realistic deadlines: While it’s important to stay on schedule, setting unrealistic deadlines can lead to burnout and poor content quality. Be realistic about the time it takes to create, review, and publish content. Use the template to set achievable deadlines and track progress to keep everyone motivated and on track.

• Regularly review and adjust: Content planning is an ongoing process. Regularly review your content calendar and strategy to keep your content relevant and effective. Use the template to log feedback, track performance metrics, and make adjustments as needed. This will help you stay agile and responsive to changing market conditions and audience preferences.