I'm taking you behind-the-scenes of exactly how I plan my content for the All Things Green Instagram page!
As we know from my Content Creator Organisation Tools blog post - I'm an organisation nerd! So I always like to have an idea of what content I'm going to be posting on Instagram at least a month in advance.
This also makes it easier for me to plan out my time and ensure I have all the content created on time. Especially considering I'm a full-time University student and have two freelance social media clients, being able to work backwards from a due date is key.
So how do I plan it all out?
1) Check your insights
Your insights are the most important content creation tool! You need to be checking your insights regularly. They help you understand what post types and themes your audience most enjoys. I like to make a note of my top 3 performing posts every month so I have a clear list to work with when I start planning future content. You can grab the exact template I used to track my analytics here. This really helps when working on step 3 too!
Make sure you switch to a Business or Creator account on Instagram to get free data about your posts and following. Here's more info on why you should make the switch.
2) List how much content you need
Now that you're keeping track of your insights on a weekly, monthly or even quarterly basis you can get into the proper planning. One of the best ways to grow on Instagram is to post consistently on the platform. This looks different for everyone. A lot of "Instagram Guru's" will tell you it's necessary to post every day to see real growth, but don't let that put you off! Find a posting schedule that works for you. Just make sure to add some video content (Instagram loves reels right now)!
Once you know how much you're comfortable posting, make a list of all the content types you're going to need that month. For example, for All Things Green that roughly looks like:
5 posts a week - 3 feed and 2 video
20 posts a month - 12 feed and 6 video
This helps make it clear in your mind how many post ideas you're going to need to come up with. I also think it's less scary to see it in real number - 20 posts a month doesn't seem that much!
3) Find ways to re-purpose
This is where keeping track of your insights comes in handy. If you're wanting to post more on Instagram but just don't have the time, you're going to want to start using this tip! Re-purposing content is the best-kept marketing secret. It's essential finding ways to re-use and recycle old content - especially content that performed well.
For example, last January (2022) I wrote a blog post on Plant Based vs Place Based Diets that performed really well and started interesting conversations in the comments. So I decided to re-post it again this year by updating the post format, but it was essentially the exact same content. Trust me - no one is going to remember something you posted a year ago!
Another great way to do this is by focusing your time on creating long-form content (like blogs or YouTube videos) as these can be broken down into smaller pieces of content, saving you time. For example, a 20 minute YouTube video could become 5 1-minute long reels. Once you have the overall theme, you can create smaller content nuggets to share on your social platforms.
4) Fill in the gaps
Now that you've identified what posts you can re-purpose and re-use from previous months (or years!), you can fill in the gaps in your content plan with new post ideas. For All Things Green, I re-purposed four posts from January 2022, so I only had 16 post ideas to come up with! This made my life so much easier, but I was still able to create relevant and exciting content without getting burnt out from having so much content to create.
5) Create & schedule
This is my favourite step! When you finally get to be creative and start making all these amazing posts you've been planning! I really recommend using a platform like Trello or Notion to put your content ideas into a calendar, so you can be clear on what days you're posting what. They also have great tools to help you keep track of where you are in your content creation.
If you'd prefer to using something more simple, then check out my Content Planner template. It's the exact one I used to use to plan my content before moving to Trello. It has spaces for you to schedule your reels and in-feed posts, in-line with your marketing goals. Get it here for only £15!
I hope this post has been helpful and given you an insight into how you can easily plan your content!
If you'd like to learn more marketing tips and strategies, take a look at some of my previous blog posts or follow @all.things.greenn.marketing on Instagram.
And if you'd like to see what other digital products we have on offer to support your social media goals, we have products for creators and for businesses.
Thanks for reading, speak soon! 💚
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