Content Planning
In this lesson we are going to:
Talk about the importance of consistency in marketing
Create a content plan
Explore two options for social content scheduling
Algorithm, Platforms & Reels, Oh My!
“A brand becomes a brand when it is consistent.”
Platforms & their general content flavor:
IG: imagery, short-form videos, medium length "process of" videos, live feed teaching/talking, value-add content writing, show your personality
Twitter: quick post, article links, high-interaction commenting
LinkedIn: business-forward article sharing, "networking style" interaction, virtual event sharing, value-add content writing
Pinterest: tutorial article sharing, graphic posts, info graphics, branded photos, links back to blog articles
TikTok: less marketing heavy, more personality forward, requires a lot of content creation to gain traction with an audience.
Exercise #1: Content Brainstorming
For this exercise you will need:
Your notebook
A writing tool
Your 4-pillars worksheet (or handwritten version of your 4-pillars)
Step One:
Write each of your pillars along the top of its own page in your notebook.
Step Two:
Without filtering yourself write down 10 content ideas for each of your 4-pillars. Be sure to check in with your 4-pillars worksheet to be sure that it aligns with your tone and offerings, as well as the overarching theme of the pillar it falls under.
Optionally: if you are a speadsheet person, you may want to transfer this brainstorming list into spreadsheet form, or even into a doc where you can add checkboxes, in order to keep track of what you have already posted and what you would like to post in the near future.
Another loose suggestion is keeping your content to a general theme for the month or season. This doesn't have to be for every single post within a theme, but can create a nice flow of information coming to your audience AND help you stay within a particular thought pattern of content sharing for that length of time.
Step Three:
On another page, write out your plan for consistent posting. I recommend keeping it simple and doable, especially if you are going from hardly posting to making this commitment to consistency.
This might look like: (per week)
1 square IG image post, 1 square graphic post with carousel, 1 reel, and 1 Pinterest graphic.
OR 1 blog article, 1 newsletter, 2 reels, 1 Pinterest graphic post linking back to the blog article
OR 1 blog article, LinkedIn article link, 3 Twitter tweets, 3 IG Stories
OR 3 IG square posts, of which 1 is from a branded template (keep it simple for success)
Step Four:
Based on the number of posts and content shares you plan to do, begin to pull from your brainstorming lists of content. You can do this in your notebook, one a project management platform like Trello or Asana, in a spreadsheet, or sometimes I like to just write in out on a wall or desk calendar so it's easy to see and change at will.
Step Five:
(And, oh hey... You likely just fleshed out a plan for a month or two of content to share.)
Look at the next 1-2 weeks of your intended content creation and sharing, and take down any notes for ideas of what you'd like to share with each, as well as what form it will be in.
For example, you might make a note of which ones will be a full article, with one will include an image of you with a post write-up, which might be a info graphic carousel that pulls parts of the information into a graphic slide show...
This creates a roadmap to know what is on your plate to create before you post it. This way you aren't in the position of thinking "what do I post right now", as it is happening and you know you need to get a post out that day. This lays the ground work to begin finding your flow for batch creating content. You know what needs to be created, written, photographed or filmed for the upcoming week. If you block out a full day or even 3-4 hours on a certain day (if that's all you can muster), then you can knock that content out, schedule it, then get back to whatever else you need to be working on in your business!
Step Six:
So then... go ahead a put your content planning/creating day or hours on your calendar. Stay consistent and get going. Your ideal audience is out there waiting to hear from you and your brand.
Resources for Content Creation + Scheduling
Katie Steckly YouTube Channel + Mailings:
What I love about Katie, is that she (and her full team btw) stay right on top of social media trends AND changes in what the dreaded algorithm is demanding of us. I'm on her mailing list, because she sends out emails that talk about what's getting the most traction AND highlights viral reels trends and how to use it for your own account. Highly recommended.
You can join her mailing list HERE
And here is a list of her YouTube videos that I find useful:
Scheduling Apps
Below are links and tutorials for my top two recommendations of scheduling apps for posting on social media. I am giving these tutorial links instead of doing my own demo, because I find them to be much more comprehensive and have all the features spelled out for you. (Leaving the social media teachings to the social media experts... I'll stick to giving you my design know-how) 😉
Later
This app is great for posting on multiple platforms (IG, twitter, facebook, pinterest...) It takes a little more effort to get into a flow with, because there is more functionality and possibility. I started using Later, after using Planoly for a couple years and choosing to create posts in more places.
Planoly
What I love about this app is its simplicity. I found it easier to keep consistent and not overwhelmed with options. Both offer a way to view your instagram 'wall' and get a visual of what upcoming posts will look like and the ability to move posts around. I recommend playing with both, or if you don't want to take the time for that... start with Planoly and get a feel for plannng/scheduling your social content.
Also worth mentioning that in Planoly, you can build a visual wall without needing to schedule a day and time for the post. In Later you need to schedule it in order to have it show up in the wall preview, which I find annoying and laborsome.
But, and, also... the tutorials for these apps are great, but sometimes it makes more sense when you just dive in and 'schedule' yourself some time to play around inside, low/no pressure style, and feel into it yourself. Again, I am underlining the low/no pressure time to explore and play around with this tech. Keep yourself in a state of curiosity and discovery before feeling like you need to know how to do everything and start using it.
