Does your brand have a social media account? Facebook? Or maybe Instagram? [or perhaps you have multiple accounts!]
How much time does it take you every month to create your social media content?
Most business owners have the same issue: coming up with original social media content is time-consuming. Time is the one thing we all struggle with, isn’t it?
Good news! I have a few tips and tricks for you, the busy business owners, who want to increase your online presence but don’t have much of time available for this task.
You can still do it!
Set aside one day and mark it in your calendar. Allocate the entire day to create a month’s worth of social media content for your business.
Grab a cup of coffee, get comfortable and prepare for a fabulous creative brainstorm. Let’s get started!
1. Inspiration is the key factor
You’ve heard the “starting off on the wrong foot” saying, right? Well, inspiration will get you started on the right foot.
Warning! Inspiration comes easily when you get out of your comfort zone. Every successful creative process starts with an open mind and a thorough research.
[ctt template=”7″ link=”878fm” via=”no” ]Every successful creative process starts with an open mind and a thorough research. [/ctt]
Seems like hard work? It can be. But it’s also fun!
Here are some tips to start off on the right foot with your creative process:
- Identify a few brands and influencers in your field. You might have friends or other people whose style you admire and resonate with. Follow them on social media and find out Why Working With Influencers Can Be Exactly What Your Brand Needs
- Step two is to thoroughly research their content. Notice what they post to their social media accounts. Be on the lookout for fresh ideas that can work out for your own social media content. Write down a few ideas you’d like to try out.
- Notice which posts tend to get the most engagement. Users tend to engage with videos and images the most, but it ultimately depends on the industry.
At the end of your research, you should have a list with some awesome ideas. That will be enough to get you started on your creative process.
2. Get a creativity notebook
Write down all your likes and dislikes from your social media research. This will help you develop a clear creative vision.
Go even further and jot down your own ideas. Maybe a like or dislike inspired you to come up with a whole new idea. Awesome! Write it down.
Tip: Collect everything, even if it doesn’t seem important right now. Jot down colours, styles, images, post types, quotes, anything that caught your attention. Disregard nothing at this point!
3. Create!
Simply create! Let your creative juices flow boundlessly.
Here are some tips for an effective creative process:
- Don’t limit your focus on just one type of post. For example, most Instagrammers only post photos they take with their phones. Expand your horizon!
- Give design tools like Adobe Spark a try. You can use their templates combined with your original ideas. Who knows what amazing pieces of art will come out of it?
- Don’t be afraid to incorporate stock photos into your feed. The secret is – don’t overdo it. As long as you post your own photos you can have the freedom to play around designing posts with stock photos. See how your followers will react.
- Curate content like a pro. Here is a must-read guide to content curation.
There you have it! The secret to creating 1-month worth of social media content in one day is out now.
You might also be interested in: 4 Proven Ways To Increase Your Creative Confidence
4. Schedule all your posts in advance
Doing this will save you a lot of time – you can’t even imagine.
Plan all your posts in a Google Drive spreadsheet. Choose a content scheduling tool to organise your entire content. This way you only sacrifice one day to plan out your entire month’s content.
All your posts will be published automatically. How awesome is that? Do it once and you’ll be hooked!
Get your planner out and choose a day that works best for you. That will be your content creation day.
Here are some tools to get you started with scheduling:
- CoSchedule
- HootSuite
- Buffer
If you’re only using a handful of social media platforms – or maybe just one? – then maybe it’s not such a good idea to pay for such a service. Here are other alternatives:
- You can use an extension for Gmail called Boomerang to send you future email notifications of when you need to post – and then just post manually.
- Facebook already has a scheduling option, so if this is your number one platform, good news! It comes with an incorporated scheduling tool.
- Are you a big fan of Instagram? Try out Plann, a great scheduling app for Instagram that has over 60 filters, lets you plan content in advance and also helps you organise your feed so that it looks and feels ah-mazing.
Now you have all the tips you need for a successful creativity boost. Try it out!
Give your brand a creative makeover
I can help you find the right approach for your social media content. Here’s the thing with brands and online businesses, there’s no such thing as a generic solution. Each brand has its own vision and style and I can help you find and emphasise yours. I’d love to get in touch and discuss specifics!
