250+ free social media templates that will save your team HOURS

Social teams get more done when they don’t have to start from scratch.

These free social media templates give you a head start for planning campaigns, organizing content, and tracking results across channels.  

Fill them, customize them, and save a ton of time – yes, developing a successful social media campaign can be that simple!

What social media templates does my team need?

Social teams need templates that help them scale faster, work smarter, collaborate better, and actually show the impact of their work.

This includes:

• Brand and style guides to keep tone, visuals, and messaging consistent across every channel and market.
• Campaign planning templates to get marketing, creative, and comms rowing in the same direction.
• Scheduling templates to make multi-channel publishing way easier to manage.
• Executive-ready reporting templates to prove performance and ROI.

These are just a few, but they give social teams a stronger start to plan, create, and report without the chaos.

Psst: If templates are step one, Hootsuite is *everything* after. It brings your planning, scheduling, approvals, and reporting into one clean workflow — and lets you measure performance across every social channel from a single dashboard.

Social media strategy templates

These templates are basically your strategy starter pack. 

From goal-setting and audience research to audits and proposals, these social media strategy templates help you organize the big stuff.

1. Social media strategy template

If you want to upgrade your current digital marketing strategy, you need this essential social media template.

The template makes it easy to:

• Set social media goals that lead to real business results
• Better target your ideal customer
• Gather intel on the competition so you can stay ahead
• Improve your social media profiles
• Develop a thoughtful content strategy (and set a publishing schedule you can stick to)
• Track your progress and adjust as needed

2. Social media audit template

This template helps you quickly spot what needs fixing on your social channels. It helps you flag impostor accounts, dusty old profiles, and fresh opportunities to engage your audience. 

Once you have the full picture, you can make every dollar and hour count.

To use it in Google Docs, click the “File” tab and then select “Make a copy…” from the dropdown menu.

Bonus: Our guide to conducting a social media audit will walk you through each step of the process.

3. Buyer persona template

Use this template to dig into your target audience, understand what they care about, and build personas that help you target the right people.

To use it in Google Docs, click the “File” tab and then select “Make a copy…” from the dropdown menu.

4. Competitive analysis template

Use this template to size up your competitors, see where you can outshine them, and uncover insights to sharpen your own strategy.

This template will guide you through a full social network analysis of your competition and help you identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

5. Social media style guide template

A social media style guide keeps everyone on your team writing, designing, and posting in a way that actually feels like your brand. 

Use our free template to make sure you’ve got all the key pieces covered.

To use it in Google Docs, click the “File” tab and then select “Make a copy…” from the dropdown menu.

6. Social media policy template

Every organization needs a social media policy. It gives your team the guardrails to represent your brand confidently and safely.

This customizable template covers all the essentials, making it easy to nail down how your organization shows up online.

Fill in the blanks and easily set the guidelines for your brand on social media.

7. Engagement rate calculator

Engagement rate is one of the easiest ways to see what your audience likes (and what they want to see more of). This calculator helps you measure engagement on each post or across a whole campaign, on all social media platforms.

8. Social media contest templates

Contests are great for driving engagement and brand awareness, but promoting them across platforms can get messy.

These templates make it simple, and they come with ready-to-use contest rules so you can choose your lucky winners with zero stress.

9. Social media bios template

Your bio plays a big role when it comes to compelling people to follow and engage with Your bio does a lot of heavy lifting. It helps people understand who you are, what you do, and why they should follow you.

A strong bio covers a few key pieces of information:

• Who you are
• Where you work
• What you do
• Your brand’s tone
• How someone can get in touch with you

To make sure you cover your bases, we’ve created easy-to-use templates from bios of top brands on social media so you can create your own in no time.

Simply fill in the blanks and copy and paste the final product into your profile.

To use them in Google Docs, click the “File” tab and then select “Make a copy…” from the dropdown menu.

Bonus: Read our guide to writing the perfect social media bio for every network.

10. Social media proposal template

If you’re a freelancer or agency, this template is for you.

A good proposal makes your services clear, breaks down timelines and costs, and shows clients how you’ll work together. It’s one of the easiest ways to kick off a new partnership on the right note.

To use it in Google Docs, click the “File” tab and then select “Make a copy…” from the dropdown menu.

11. Social media RFP template

Social media RFPs are where effective social media strategies, campaigns, and collaborations begin. But that doesn’t mean creating one has to be hard and tedious. In fact, with the right tools, crafting a winning social media RFP can be simple and even fun.

With this RFP template, you can easily create your own in just minutes and find the right agency to partner with to meet your goals.

To use the template in Google Docs, click the “File” tab and then select “Make a copy…” from the dropdown menu.

Social media calendar templates

Social media calendar templates keep your team organized, consistent, and way less stressed about scrambling for content at the eleventh hour.

12. Social media content calendar

This is one of the most important tools to include in your social media toolkit.

A social media content calendar lets you plan and schedule all your posts and marketing campaigns in advance for max impact.

It will also help you:

• Identify and fill gaps in publishing
• Remember important dates and events
• Find your ideal content mix
• Ensure your content is fresh and performing well
• Collaborate with teammates and effectively allocate resources

If you need help customizing the template, or you’re looking for more content calendar examples, check out our guide to creating your own social media content calendar.

13. Editorial content calendar

An editorial content calendar keeps all your content projects in one tidy place so planning and scheduling is a lot easier.

The easiest way to organize a content calendar is by using a separate tab for each month within Google Sheets or an Excel spreadsheet. Activities can be broken down by day or hour, depending on the volume and cadence of your publishing schedule.

Your editorial calendar should include basic info about each of these projects:

• Title or description of the content
• Links to supporting documents, like content briefs
• Author or writer
• Deadline
• Channels you plan to promote it on

14. Social media scheduling bulk upload template

Publishing or scheduling social media posts across multiple networks one-by-one can be a big drain on your team’s time.

But, if you use Hootsuite’s social media management tool, you can upload up to 350 social media messages at once across multiple networks.

Check out this short how-to video, or read on for the step-by-step instructions below.

Here’s the quick version of how bulk upload works:

1. Download the CSV file of all the social media messages you want to upload.
2. In column A, include the correct date and time. Make sure you follow one of the following formats:
   • day/month/year hour:minute
   • month/day/year hour:minute
   • year/month/day hour:minute
   • year/day/month hour:minute
3. In column B, add your message for each post (keep character limits in mind!)
4. Save the file as a CSV (and double-check Excel hasn’t reformatted anything).
5. Upload it to Hootsuite and schedule everything in one go.

BTW, Excel often causes formatting issues, so we don’t recommend using it to build your spreadsheet. We prefer using Google Sheets for creating CSV files.

You can open and customize the template in Google Docs or any program that accepts CSV files.

Social media report templates

Social media report templates make it easy to track wins, catch gaps, and prove to stakeholders exactly how your work is moving the needle.

15. Social media analytics report template

Recording and analyzing social media performance is key to proving the value of your efforts.

But where to begin?

We’ve created a template with tabs to keep track of key metrics for different social networks, including:

• Followers gained/lost
• Engagement
• Shares
• Views
• Click-throughs
• And much more

Remember: every strategy is different, so feel free to replace the example metrics with the ones that matter to your brand.

If you’re new to performance tracking, be sure to read our beginner’s guide to using social media analytics. The article includes a list of analytics tools that make reporting even easier.

16. Social media report template

This template helps you present your social results to clients, teammates, or anyone else who needs the big picture.

It includes space for the hard numbers plus the context and insights that make those numbers meaningful, especially for people who aren’t deep in social day-to-day.

Use it to call out wins, share what you learned, and make recommendations on what to do next.

Read our step-by-step guide on how to report your social media results for maximum impact.

17. Social media sentiment report

Tracking social sentiment is one of the best ways to stay ahead of audience reactions. It can also show you when your social strategies need a course correction before your brand’s reputation (and bottom line) take a hit. 

And with our template, tracking the mood of your audience is easier than ever.

Influencer marketing templates

Working with influencers? These templates help you plan your strategy, upgrade your media kit, and write brand pitches that stand out.

18. Influencer marketing strategy template

This template helps you plan your next influencer partnership or campaign, no matter which platform you’re working on.

19. Influencer media kit

As an influencer, it’s extremely important to have an impressive, informative and engaging media kit. It will let you land professional deals and form meaningful partnerships for your business.

Fill in the blanks, and you’re ready to go!

20. Brand pitch template

If you’re a newer influencer, landing the right brand partnership can level up your portfolio and credibility.

The trouble is, a lot of pitches miss the mark because they’re not personalized enough. If you’ve sent lots of pitches with no luck, you might be missing one of the 7 elements every brand pitch must include.

Unlock our free, customizable brand pitch template to successfully reach out to the brands and lock down the influencer partnership of your dreams.

Social media image size template

Keep your social media graphics crisp and correctly sized for every channel with this next template.

21. Social media image size cheat sheet

Okay, calling this a social media template might be a bit of a stretch, but it will save your team a lot of time.

The quick-reference cheat sheet has all the recommended image dimensions for every network — so your visuals look great on both desktop and mobile app feeds.

You need to get these right. Compelling images help you grab people’s attention and make a good first impression.

Social media resume templates

Social media resume templates make it easy to show off your experience and help hiring teams quickly see why you’re a great fit.

22. Social media manager resume templates

Looking to get into the digital marketing industry as a social media manager? We’ve designed several resume templates to highlight how your experience aligns with the skills that hiring managers are looking for.

You might need to download the fonts for these templates, which you can grab for free from the links below:
Click on each link to get started.

• https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Rubik
• https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Raleway
• https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Playfair+Display

Instagram templates

Keep your Instagram content looking sharp with templates that help you create eye-catching social media designs for ads, posts, Stories, Reels, and more.

23. Instagram ad templates

When you’re spending good money on Instagram ads they need to be thumb-stoppingly eye-catching. Our professional graphic designers have put together 15 fully-customizable templates designed to help you sell more on Instagram.

24. Instagram Stories templates

If you’re looking to create clean, polished, and consistently stylish Instagram Stories for your brand, these 72 (!) free Instagram Stories templates are the way to go. Save time customizing these professionally designed ones with a few simple clicks in Canva.

25. Instagram post templates

You don’t need advanced design tools like Figma to create great visuals.

Case in point: These 15 Instagram templates make it easy to share text-based content in a way that actually looks good (let’s not do screenshots of the notes app, celeb apology-style). 

They include clean, modern layouts (and a few pastel gradients) that work perfectly for quotes, lists, and giveaways.

Social media post templates are useful for quickly creating cohesive, branded posts for information or promotions.

26. Instagram highlight icons and covers templates

Sure, this one’s a little extra, but Instagram Highlight covers really do level up your profile.

They sit right under your Instagram bio, and they instantly make your profile look organized and on-brand. Plus, they draw extra attention to your best Instagram Story content.

To use the templates, unzip the file and upload the icons to Canva, add a background color, and send them to your phone to add them to your Instagram profile.

27. Instagram collage templates

Can’t choose which photo to post? A collage is the indecisive social media manager’s dream. This free template package offers 5 collage templates for Instagram posts and 5 collage templates for Instagram Stories.

28. Instagram Reels templates

Want to make Reels without wrestling with video editing?

These 4 templates for Instagram Reels allow you to upload your own creative, and you can edit the text or video length to suit your social media marketing goals. 

Video content creation just got way easier.

29. Instagram Reel cover templates

By default, Instagram Reels will have you select a cover from a still from your Reel. But you can also upload a more engaging (and more high-quality) Reel cover yourself. Here’s how to do it. 

Plus, these 5 Reel cover templates can help get you started: they’re simple, beautiful and informative.

30. Instagram Story background templates

Already have great content? Sometimes all you need is a standout background to really make it pop.

Here are 30 aesthetic Instagram Story background templates to level up your game.

31. Instagram DM templates

Instagram DMs can get chaotic fast — from customer questions to the occasional spicy complaint. And typing out a custom reply every time is super time-consuming (unless you use Hootsuite’s Inbox for easy DM management).

These 20 Instagram DM templates can take some of the pressure off. You’ll get ready-made responses for welcome messages, influencer outreach, contest questions, positive and negative feedback, and even smooth ways to end the convo.

To use this template, just copy and paste (the “Welcome” messages make a great automatic reply—you can set that up, too).

Pro tip : Give every template a quick once-over before you hit send.  Nothing haunts a social media manager like accidentally leaving in a “[insert brand name]” placeholder.

Facebook templates

Facebook templates make it easy to design standout Shop cover photos and set simple rules that keep your Groups running smoothly.

32. Facebook shop cover photo templates

Your Facebook Shop cover photo is basically your storefront sign. It’s big, it’s bold, and it’s the first thing shoppers notice, so it needs to look good.

These Canva-ready templates make it super easy to create a clean, eye-catching cover in just a few clicks.

33. Facebook group policy templates

Want your Facebook Group to feel more like a community (and less like the Wild West)? Setting rules is a good place to start. These templates give you three ready-to-use policy options to help you get started.

YouTube templates

YouTube templates help your channel look crisp and clickable — all without spending hours designing.

34. YouTube banner templates

Your YouTube channel art is one of the most important parts of your channel. After all, you want people to subscribe when they finally reach your channel page. 

These customizable Canva templates will catch eyes and get you the subs and brand recognition that you need.

Pro tip : Pair your new banner with consistent YouTube thumbnails so your channel looks polished across every video.

Pinterest templates

Pinterest templates give you a head start on creating beautiful, strategic Pins that actually get saved.

35. Pinterest image templates

Pinterest isn’t just a social network. It provides a unique opportunity to reach new audiences and grow awareness for your brand and products.

FAQ: Social media templates

What templates do enterprise teams use for social media planning?

Enterprise teams lean on planning templates — think strategy docs, campaign briefs, audit templates, and content calendars — that help everyone get on the same page. They keep goals, timelines, and content plans aligned across teams and markets.

What are the best social media templates for multi-channel reporting?

The best reporting templates pull all your performance data into one simple, easy-to-skim dashboard. Analytics reports, sentiment reports, and exec-friendly summaries make it easy to compare channels, spot trends, and share results fast.

And if you’d rather skip the spreadsheets, Hootsuite pulls analytics from every network into one clean dashboard (no manual reporting needed).

Which templates help prove social media ROI to executives?

ROI templates help you show exactly how social media supports real business goals. They highlight KPIs, insights, recommendations, and next steps in a format leaders can read (and understand) at a glance.

How do large teams standardize content with social media templates?

Large teams rely on brand and style guide templates to keep tone, visuals, and messaging consistent across every channel. These guides make it way easier for distributed teams to create content that feels cohesive, no matter who’s hitting publish.

What templates support cross-functional social media workflows?

Cross-functional teams lean on templates that make roles, timelines, and deliverables unmistakably clear. Campaign plans and content calendars help marketing, creative, comms, and regional teams stay synced and working from the same playbook.

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Love these social media templates? Save even more time on social media with Hootsuite. From a single dashboard you can manage all your accounts, schedule posts, engage your audience, improve performance, and more. Try it free today.

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