Last week on Instagram we hosted a poll on how our content can work harder to help you and the reoccurring question asked was: How can I successfully plan my content ahead?
With the state of social media today, it can be easy to get overwhelmed by updates, posting suggestions for growth and all the types of content we have to create, but we promise there's a way to help defeat the burnout and stay consistent! If you're struggling with how to plan your content ahead and even what to share, we've got the full scoop below:
Creating a Content Calendar
Determine Your Content Pillars
Content pillars are 3 to 5 topics your brand will consistently discuss, amplify, and create content for on social media (via Later) and they help you niche down so that you're providing your audience with consistent, valuable content. They make planning content WAY easier, too! Content pillars differ for each brand, business and individual based on what it is that you do or offer. For example, a marketing strategist could focus on entrepreneurship, marketing tips, and mental health. A travel blogger can share itineraries, travel tips + hacks, mindset, and highlighting local businesses.
Create a Schedule + Stick With It
In contradiction to what everyone else might be saying, we continue to vote that quality content vs. quantity of content will always reign supreme. This also helps take away the burning desire to be posting alllllll the time. The true secret to having a great social media platform is consistency. Whether you post 2x a week or 5x a week, stick with it! Don't be afraid to mix it up types of content as well. For example, maybe you have two feed posts going live, two reels and two IG story series per week. If this works for you and your audience, keep it going.
Create a Social Calendar
After you've decided what days you plan to post, put it all together in a calendar! We like to plan our content out a month ahead so that we can batch appropriately, spread out pillars and stay organized. At least two weeks ahead is a great place to start if a month sounds scary to you or you have a lot of changing factors in your business. Your calendar can be as simple as an ICal labeled "Social", Google doc or even print-out calendar. You can use our FREE TEMPLATE for a simple calendar here that we use in Google Sheets!
Dedicate 1-2 days for CreationWhether you're posting two weeks ahead or one month ahead, it's important that you're also making time to actually create the content! A great way to get ahead is to batch create, or dedicate 1-2 days per month or every two weeks that are specifically for content creation and copywriting. Have a ton of reels? You'll only have to do your hair + make-up once! Just change up your rooms and outfits to keep it feeling fresh - no one's going to know. This will save you tons of time and energy plus keep you extremely accountable for consistency.
Schedule It Out + Engage
Just like content creation, it's great to block out an afternoon or day to schedule all of that social content you just created and add the relevant hashtags. We like using apps such as Later or Planoly to schedule everything including hashtags and even auto-post if you're super short on time.
After you're done scheduling, you get to sit back and watch the content perform! Don't forget - it's important to continue to engage with your audience each day and around the time you post, so this is where the daily tasks come in.
Content Ideas
Need some ideas on content to get you started? Whatever your pillars might be, some of these questions and prompts will help give you a little boost of creativity.
Comment mistakes made in your niche
Your daily to-do list or "A day in the life..."
Behind the scenes for anything!
Things (your industry/job) want you to know
The do's and don'ts of performing a task you're an expert at
Things no one tells you about your niche
Common misconceptions or myths about your niche/industry
How it started vs. how it's going post
What healthy boundaries in your niche looks like
Ways to make money in your niche
Controversial opinions about your industry
Peek at trending sounds and see how reels are performing for them - they will spark some new ideas!
A tutorial for how to do something in your niche/industry
Trends in your niche/industry
Have any other ideas we may have forgotten? Let us know in the comments below. We'd also love to see you on social! Follow us over on Instagram at @sodapoppr