How to Batch Create Social Media Content

A goal without a plan is just a wish

You know you need to be active on social media, but you just can’t find the time.

Or you finally do find the time, you open your apps, but the creative juices are not flowing and you end up putting it off yet again.

I get it. We’ve all been there before, even those of us who have been managing social media for years. That’s why I’m here to share my tips for planning and scheduling social media content to keep all your social feeds fresh. Below, I’ll share my process for finding inspiration, gathering and repurposing content, and how to schedule it and forget it so you can post in your sleep. (Just remember to keep an eye on posts so you can engage!)

Finding inspiration

How far in advance should you plan? This depends on how frequently you want to post and how much time you have to prepare. Let’s say you are a small business that uses social media for general visibility and brand awareness, so you aim to post 2-3 times per week across your main channels (let’s say those are Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn). In that case, I would recommend scheduling your content for the entire month in advance. You will also want to be responsive and flexible in case there are relevant news stories or trends that arise over the course of the month.

However, if you have a lifestyle or personal brand and you want to maintain engagement with your audience through daily posts on social media, then I would recommend planning each week in advance.

Overall, you should only take on what’s realistic for you.

Where to look for inspiration and ideas? The first place that I go to direct my thoughts while seeking ideas for new content is to your organization’s mission statement, marketing/campaign goals, or calendar. Each post should be aligned or connected with your brand’s mission. Re-read your “about” page, dive in to your story, think about why you started, and you’ll likely find inspiration for micro-stories to tell via social media.

If you’re still stuck in a rut, there are great resources for social media content calendars and prompts to kickstart your digital marketing. For example, Pixistock’s Content Calendar (affiliate link!) has 18 months of daily social media prompts! The bundle includes 100 Canva templates, 850+ prompts, industry hashtag suggestions, to help you create better content. I highly recommend purchasing this bundle - even if it’s just a fall-back from your original content for times when you need a little extra help. Check out Pixistock’s Content Calendar and their stock photo membership, too! (Yup, those are affiliate links , too!)

STAYING CONSISTENT

Consistency in posting is critical in order to grow your social media audience and increase engagement. While social media algorithms are generally a mysterious subject, we do know some high-level factors based on experience. For example, they reward substantial engagement between accounts, they usually prefer video posts, and they tend to reward accounts that post frequently rather than every now and then. If you post five times per week and reach 100 people with each post, your weekly reach is higher than posting twice and reaching the same amount of people.

Remembering to posting consistently on your own is difficult and cumbersome. That’s where scheduling tools come in.

By investing a bit of time at the outset of each month or week to draft and schedule your social media posts, you will ultimately save time later. This approach also helps you “batch” your tasks, making it easier for you to get in the flow of ideation, designing and writing. “Batching” basically means that you are grouping similar tasks together and tackling them in one fell swoop, instead of doing them one by one. Batching tasks is a proven strategy to increase productivity and it personally helps me get through an intimidating to-do list. This approach can be applied to everything from designing content, to writing blog posts, to administrative tasks.

SCHEDULING

Here are just a few scheduling tools to get you started. You may have to try a few different tools for a month or so at a time to learn what works best for you. The tools I’ve listed below are from my personal experience.

Later: Later is a comprehensive, yet easy-to-use platform for scheduling your social media posts across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. There is a free version, or you can upgrade for more features at a low monthly cost. Non-profit organizations can get a 50% discount.

Buffer: Buffer is a simple yet powerful tool to plan and publish your content for Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. They offer multiple tiers of pricing, including a free Basic version.

Planoly: Planoly was originally created for Instagram, but they now allow you to post to Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter as well. They offer additional products, like StoriesEdit which helps you design your IG stories, and SellIt for listing and selling e-commerce products.

SproutSocial: SproutSocial offers in-depth scheduling and analysis of a wide variety of social channels including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and YouTube. It is priced at a higher cost than the previously listed tools, but offers additional ways to monitor, engage with, and plan social media content.

If you’re not yet using social media scheduling tools yet, what are your current obstacles? Do you have other tips for planning and scheduling your social media content? Share them in the comments below!