Be ready for summer – batch your social media

A quick guide on how to batch your social media content

Have your social media ready for summer – so you can actually enjoy your holidays

Yes, it’s only April. Yes, we’re going to talk about getting your social media content ready for the summer holidays. Why? Because we’re not only business owners, there is a life outside of work. You should be enjoying your well deserved time off this summer. Instead of worrying about your visibility (or better: the lack off) and the effect that can have on your business after summer. Your social media content needs to be as stress-free and painless as possible. Batching social media content will save you time and your sanity. While it also keeps your visibility up and thus your business on track.

To prevent you from going down the SM rabbit hole – just posting for the sake of posting – focus on the following to make sure you create posts that actually have the desired effect. As in, getting you new clients.

1. Your why – define your purpose
  • Why are you blogging?
  • Which problem are you trying to solve?
  • What type of content does your audience need?
  • What products or services do you offer?
  • What kind of content can you create to entice your audience to take note of what you have to offer?
  • How can you repurpose your content?

The above are all question you need to pose yourself when creating the optimal content to attract your ideal clients.

2. Brain Dump

List everything you feel your audience needs to know. Don’t stop until you’ve exhausted every avenue. You’ll surprise yourself at how long the list is. Keep in mind that what is perhaps basic knowledge for you, can feel like neuroscience 2.0 for your audience. So, break subjects down into bite-sized subjects. The brain dump will guide you when deciding what to write.

3. Carry out research
  • If your ideal clients are on LinkedIn, check out the posts or articles they engage with.
  • On Instagram, use your stories as a form of market research and pose questions to your audience – a great resource in finding out where their interests lie.
  • Pinterest is another, sometimes underrated, font of information. It shows you what topics have already been covered and how they are faring.
  • As with Pinterest, Google is another great place to research keywords.
  • Answer the Public is a fantastic resource to find out what keywords people are asking the internet.
    All of this information is another addition to your brain dump list.

Titles for your blogs should start appearing organically. If you need further guidance, a blog title generator can be super helpful too. From all of your research and brain dump, you should easily have 3/4 blog titles in mind.

4. Now, let’s start batching

• Write: this is the exercise that takes the most amount of time when creating content. But, keep in mind you are NOT writing a novel! People are busy, new content shows up on their newsfeed 24/7. So, stick to the point! Always keep the 5 W’s and H structure in mind. It makes it so much easier. And the writing process so much quicker.

Since the writing part needs focus and concentration – and yes there is such a thing as a writer’s flow – keep on writing until you’ve completed the 3 or 4 blogs you had in mind.

• Graphics: I have my own branded graphics that accompany all of my social media content. Do I design a new one for every new post? Heck no. Yes, I have quite a graphic library, but I use the same 3 to 5 graphics over and over. Why? Because my content can be divided into 3-5 main subjects. The matching graphic helps my audience in a split second see what the subject is about. Don’t have your own branded graphics yet? There are some great free resources such as pexels.com and unsplash.com, where you can find photos and other graphics needed.

• Proofreading & double-checking: this is where SEO and making sure blog posts are easy to read and be found on the internet take place. Grammarly is also a tried and tested tool for readability, correct spelling, grammar and sentence structure.

• Scheduling: One of the most satisfying exercises when it comes to batching content. Uploading and scheduling 3 or 4 months worth of content at a time is a liberating and euphoric feeling.

• Promotion: 3 to 4 months I hear you say? But you’ve only written 3 to 4 blogs? The genius of batching content is that you’ll have enough bite-sized tips & tricks out of each blog. You should ALWAYS use each and every blog for your social media posts. It makes you come across clear and consistent in your messaging. Repetition is king when it comes to communication. Did you know people need to see something on social media at least 7 times before it sticks! Thus repurpose your blog! Make it into bite-sized social media posts. Like one-liners, bullet point post stating just the main take-aways, action steps your audience can take with and without you, only share the graphic with a line of text.

All of the above might seem daunting and a bit overwhelming. I promise you that once you get into the groove of batching your social media content – you’ll wonder why you never started sooner! Just put on your favorite music and write about what you know will help your audience thrive. Happy holidays!

Ps. Lost for words? Get the Find your Words workbook! It will not only make you stand out from the crowd, by being your unique self, it also helps you write posts quickly and easily, with the right info your audience wants to read. With the 1-month social media planner example you’ll see how even a VAT expert can conquer social media. Find your words here!

Happy communicating * Nadine