Co-Founder / CTO
If you’re a content creator, you’re probably a bit of a planning freak. Content strategy planners, in this case, are absolute lifesavers. They help you stay organized, meet deadlines, and keep your sanity intact when managing your content marketing efforts.
Now, I know what you're thinking. "There are so many planners out there! How do I choose?" Don't worry, I've got you covered. In this article, we'll dive into five content strategy planners that'll make your life easier.
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Disclaimer: At Yahini, we spend a ton of time testing, researching and using various tools to figure out which ones are worth recommending, evaluating them based on what they’re supposed to do and how well they meet our criteria. We do not accept payment for featuring a tool in our articles or linking to a site.
If you’re like most content strategists, you’re juggling multiple clients and content projects. It’’s a lot to keep track of, and that’s where a content strategy planner can come in handy. A good planner acts as a source of truth for your entire content pipeline.
They help you meet deadlines, keep your content on-brand, and making sure you’re actually meeting your client’s business goals.
And here we go, a detailed review of each content strategy planner.
For anyone juggling multiple clients, the biggest headache is creating a unique and effective strategy for each one without spending all your time on manual research. Yahini is a content strategy planner built to solve exactly that.
It makes writing (and planning) dramatically better because it first understands the substance of your business and the strategy of the SERPs. It's not a generic planner, but an AI strategist that builds a custom plan from the ground up for each project you manage.
It starts by digging into your client's niche, competitors, and audience to build its "Brand Intelligence." With this deep context, it crafts personalized keyword clusters and automatically organizes them by marketing funnel stage. The result is a content workbook and content outlines that is strategically sound and perfectly aligned with that specific client's goals.
The essence of Yahini is that it builds a scalable content strategy for you from scratch, based on what will actually work for each client. This is how it works:
As with any other tool, Yahini has some pros and cons, depending on what you’re looking for. Some pros include:
And some cons you might want to check out:
Yahini is used by marketing agencies, freelance strategists, SaaS owners, and entire content teams. What they all have in common is a need for solid, data-driven content strategies that are both effective and efficient to create. It's for those who need to scale high-quality strategic planning without burning out.
For $39 a month per project, you get access to all of Yahini’s features, letting you generate 20 content briefs with total month-to-month flexibility to pause when you need to.
And if you just want to give it a spin first, there’s a completely free plan that lets you set up a project and create a handful of briefs to see how it feels before committing.
ClickUp is a project management platform for task management, collab, and project tracking, and it offers various useful features like time tracking, custom views, and integrations with other tools. Their content strategy template can be a good starting point.
Speaking of content strategy, one of its best features is its extensive library of templates for different project needs. Among these is their free Content Calendar template, a resource for beginner content creators looking to organize their content ideas. It is ready to use but can be easily customized to fit your needs, functioning as a basic editorial calendar.
This template gives you a clear visual layout of your content schedule. You can easily plot out content ideas, track deadlines, and manage multiple clients in one place. It can help streamline the content planning process.
Here are a few pros of using ClickUp’s content calendar template:
And here are some cons:
This template is perfect for beginner content creators who are just starting to formalize their content strategy.
ClickUp’s content strategy planner template is free to use.
DivvyHQ centralizes content planning, creation and collaboration, thus is perfect for teams that want to optimize their content operations. It supports complex content marketing planning.
At its core, the software offers a content calendar, workflow automation, and analytics tools. The platform also includes features like customizable request forms, an HTML editor for content creation, and performance-tracking capabilities, which helps in assessing content performance.
It essentially provides a central hub for content planning and collaboration across various departments. It reduces overreliance on email and other communication tools – things that often keep teams busy instead of being focused on content strategy. This is crucial for a cohesive content marketing strategy.
Here are some of the software’s pros:
And here are some cons:
DivvyHQ is perfect for big marketing teams – especially those working across multiple departments or managing complex content strategies. It’s especially helpful for enterprises with dispersed teams or agencies handling multiple clients.
DivvyHQ has two plans – a Starter plan at $39 per month, billed annually, and a Pro plan at $79 per month, billed annually. If you’re an enterprise customer, you need to contact them for pricing.
Contently is a platform offering a suite of tools, like an intuitive content calendar, campaign management features, and a content library. Its content marketing template options can streamline your campaign setup.
Its Content Planning Suite eliminates “content chaos” and improves team alignment. Some key features include a drag-and-drop calendar for visibility across the entire organization, enterprise campaign tools to manage content and events, and some great workflow and brief templates you can work with. This can also help in planning different types of content.
Contently gives your team a way to build and execute thorough content marketing campaigns. You can use its intuitive calendar and campaign tools to plan content campaigns ahead of time. At the same time, you also have access to their library of templates which can help reduce your team’s workload and production times. This allows for better management of content pieces across various content channels.
Here are some pros:
And some cons:
Contently is ideal for medium to large enterprises with complex content marketing needs.
You’ll need to contact them for a full quote.
GatherContent is a specialized platform designed for content operations, meaning the content creation,r eview, approval, and governance processes. A good content audit can identify areas where this tool can be most effective.
Key features include a customizable content hub, workflow tools for every stage of content production, real-time collaboration capabilities, and standardized content templates. The platform also offers granular user permissions and integrations with various content management systems and other tools via API and Zapier. This aids the editorial team in managing various types of content.
GatherContent helps your team overcome common challenges in content creation and management by offering a structured and organized environment for collaboration. It can function as a central content plan repository.
It has various workflow tools, customizable templates, and real-time editing features which will help achieve your content marketing goals.
Here are some of GatherContent’s pros:
And here are a few cons:
GatherContent is suited for medium to large organizations with complex content needs and those with multiple stakeholders involved in the content creation process.
It can help teams manage a high volume of social media posts and other content for social media platforms.
You’ll need to request a demo with GatherContent to get a pricing quote.
Content strategy planners are awesome, but they’re here to help, not to do the job for you.
First things first: Don't get too caught up in the tool itself. It's easy to spend more time fiddling with your planner than actually creating content. Use it to guide your work, not dictate every move. Your primary focus should always be on achieving your content goals.
Choose a planner that fits your style. If you're spending hours trying to figure out how to use it, you're missing the point. The right tool should feel intuitive and save you time, not create more work. An effective content strategy template should adapt to you, not the other way around.
Here are some other quick tips you should keep in mind:
Now you’ve got some options!
Start by thinking about what you really need. Try out a few options, as most content strategy planners offer free trials. Consider how well they support your specific marketing efforts and help you reach your target audience.
Keep in mind that the best planner is the one you’ll actually use, so pick something that helps you get the job done. Whether it's a simple editorial calendar or a complex content marketing planning suite, it must fit your workflow.
Yahini offers you the strategic advice you need to create a content strategy from the ground up. Its AI has been trained by seasoned content strategists, providing you with expert-level content briefs right at your fingertips.
Ditch the generic outlines! Sign up now.