How many of you are planning your content? Probably quite a few of you, but let me ask you, how many of you plan your content efficiently?
Efficiency is something that you have to work on and have systems in place to do more in less time. There are a lot of tricks and tips on how to be more efficient, but today I want to focus on 3 ways how to plan your content more efficiently. Planning content can take some time, but if you have a clear content strategy and processes in place, it will be so much easier to plan ahead and it will take you less time. By having a good plan, you’ll ensure your audience is getting valuable and relevant content and you don’t have to worry last minute whether you have something to post. Here are some suggestions that you can use to improve your content planning efficiency.
Content Ideas
If you feel stuck on ideas on what content to share, there are a few ways to spark your inspiration. One of the best suggestions is evergreen content. Repurpose your already existing content or podcast audio. You know it’s relevant and it can be re-used with some small changes. Also, keep track of holidays which can bring up some ideas for your content and inspire your creativity.
Lastly, browse similar accounts on social media. There is so much content out there, and you will be reminded of topics that you would almost forget about. Don’t copy, just use it as an inspiration.
Create Content Calendar
Do you have a clear strategy with your content? What are you posting, when, why, how? A content calendar can have many variations and looks, but what’s important is to have a big picture overview to better organize your content, so the flow between the posts makes sense. It will help you map out content for upcoming weeks or even months and have a better idea of what’s being posted and when. Consistency is the key and therefore planning your content is essential not just for your efficiency but also for the algorithm.
Make sure you set up goals for your content to know what message you want to convey and what’s relevant to your business and ideal client’s needs. Consider who your target audience is and brainstorm some topics which tap into problems and issues that your ideal client is dealing with. What frustrates them? What do they want to know more about? What topics are they most interested in? Answers to these questions will help you narrow down topics you can talk about, and they will help you set content pillars for each month or week.
Moreover, having a content calendar also helps your team and client have a better overview of your social media content. You can collaborate and exchange ideas or suggestions for improvements.
Batch Plan your Content
Once you have a content calendar ready and you batch planned all the topics you want to cover in your upcoming posts, it’s time to open your scheduling app (whatever you’re using – Later, Planoly, Hootsuite, etc.) and schedule it all in. You could do it for a week or two ahead, but you can also plan a full month ahead in one go, which will save you a lot of time and energy in a long run. Create a cohesive grid from images and graphics and then add your content and relevant hashtags. Schedule it all at the times when most of your audience is active and you’re good to go.
Conclusion
Having a clear content strategy is the key to more efficient planning. Start with researching and brainstorming ideas for your content that you could write about. Create a content plan with the monthly content overview, so your content ideas are organized in a logical order and within the content pillars, you are set for the month. Make sure that the content is relevant and brings value to your audience.
Once you have your content ready, take one day to schedule it all in by adding the images and graphics into the scheduling app of your choice and adding hashtags. Having everything planned in advance will help you become more efficient and you’ll have more time for other tasks.
Which scheduling app do you use for posting your content? Let me know below.
