One of the most common and hardest things about being an online business owner is planning your content. You should always have a plan or goal in mind of what type of content you want to be sharing with your followers. This ranges from content on Facebook, Blogs, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I have some weeks that I’ve done it with flying colors and other weeks that I’ve totally hit a wall. Lately, it’s been feeling like I’ve been hitting more walls than flying colors! So I wanted to share some ideas, tips, apps, and courses that I’ve learned and used that have helped me!
The first thing I do when I’m ready to start planning my content is printing out a blank paper calendar from Google (I’m a pen and paper kinda girl!). This allows me to mark it up, draw arrows, and just really brain dump what I want to share that month. I do try and plan at least a week at a time at a minimum. Like I said, if things are going well, I can plan up to a month in advance!
Apps: PLANOLY
If you don’t already use these apps/programs, I think you’ll find pretty quickly just how AMAZING and GAME-CHANGING they are for planning your content!!
- Planoly – I don’t know how I’ve lived without this app before! The app is free, but only up to 30 posts a month! So basically, Planoly is a great way to upload your photos for IG while showing you how it would look paired together on your feed! You also have the option to enter a caption, hashtags, AND schedule each post with a date and specific time. As you can see below, to the left you can see my feed and the right is the calendar. I love that it gives you a birds-eye view of when you have posts scheduled!
You can also add groupings of hashtags and save them in this program. When you’re ready to use them just select the “hashtags” button at the top right of the feed, scroll to the correct hashtag grouping, and click “add”. It will automatically add your hashtags into your post without having to enter them manually!
While there are many more options for Planoly – I love using it to get a better idea of how my feed will look with specific photos and getting them scheduled! Planoly does not automatically post your images, but it will send you a notification when your post is scheduled! Another app that is similar to this is Later, which I’ve never personally used!
Apps: TAILWIND
- Tailwind – This is another amazing program (I love using it on my computer best!) that has SO many more features! Not only is it for Instagram and but it’s also for Pinterest too!! Truthfully, I only know the BASICS of it because there is so much to learn.
But for the sake of this post, I love tailwind because it DOES automatically post to IG for you! You can also schedule your posts and see how your feed looks. The bonus is that it’s free (unless you upgrade!) AND there is no limit of how many uploads you can do!
Once you link to your IG account, it creates your posting schedule for you. It shows you based on the time that people will see your content most! (Another app I love to check my time to post is WhenToPost!) Out of all those time slots per day, the ones that are the light green are the best times to post!
This is another AMAZING feature – see the “recently used hashtags” listed below? It will auto-populate the “best, good, niche, and competitive hashtags” based on what you enter. So all you have to do is click on the hashtag that serves your post the best! OR if you don’t like any of the options, you can click on the double-crossed arrow icon and it will shuffle in different hashtags! Is your mind blown yet? Lastly, It also allows you to crop your image, enter the location, caption, hashtags, and if you want to share it directly with Pinterest and Facebook!
Here is the layout for stylizing your feed and getting a sneak peek at what your feed will look like!
WHAT TO POST:
Ah, the most dreaded part of planning your content. Ha! The overall theme that I’ve learned when it comes to posting is to use categories. So, what do I mean? There are a few ways to do this. Look at what you are already consistently posting about or what gives you a recognizable brand. Or if you haven’t been posting consistently, what would you want people to know about you/your business when they hop onto your feed. Put that into 5 separate categories, one category for each day of the week!
For example, I am a wife, a homeowner, and a wedding/engagement photographer. So when new people come to my feed, I want them to be able to pinpoint who I am/what I do without having to read my bio! Therefore, my categories (you should have 5 minimum) are Weddings, Engagements, Education, Personal, Business, KRP Experience, and Motivation. Let break it down even further:
- Weddings + Engagements: This is a great way to show off my portfolio, give wedding/engagement inspirational ideas (maybe sharing new trends in the wedding industry they’re unaware of), introduce your couples to your followers so they can fall in love with them too! :) Also with weddings, it’s so easy to pull content from MULTIPLE parts of the day: getting ready, first looks, ceremony, family formals, ETC! The list is endless!
- Education: This is a great way to share your knowledge and set yourself up as an expert! From long posts to quick little tips, no education is bad! It’s also a great time to be educating future brides that may be following along on your account!
- Personal: Life BTS, home projects, life hacks, our favorite things to do, etc.! Give people a look into your life (if you feel comfortable) so they can relate and get connected to you on a personal level!
- Business: Highlight your favorite vendors that you’ve worked with, sharing behind the scenes of how you do your job, or before/after images and videos!
- KRP Experience: I love this one! It’s important to share the experience that you offer brides or showing them what they can expect when they book you as their photographer.
- Motivation: I love to sprinkle into posts that are uplifting, inspiring, and motivating that may not have anything to do with being a photographer. Everyone can relate to feeling uninspired or unmotivated, so be a positive light to your followers!
CONTENT TIPS:
Here are a few important tips to remember when planning your content!!
- Each day should be something different than the day before. Try not to post more than 2 images in the same category back to back. The reason for the 5 categories is to be posting something new each day!
- When you’re planning out your feed consistency: don’t go overboard with making it perfect. Try to pick the best images that represent your brand, while maintaining a consistent overall look!
- Try to pick only the BEST images! Sometimes it’s helpful for me to go through past blog posts because I’ve already curated the images from the wedding!
- This takes time! Set aside a few hours once a week/month to schedule out as much as you can! You’ll be thankful that you did!
INSTAGRAM COURSES:
We’re ALMOST done so if you’re still with me, you’re amazing! I can’t end this post yet before sharing a little bit about where I find my caption ideas and so much more about IG!
- My friend Rebekah, of Rebekah Viola Photography, created the BEST Instagram Education Course. Hands down. She created this course from scratch and continues to add so much valuable information that she updates every. single. month! She has specific videos + PDFs about ice breaker captions, categories, tips, and tricks for booking clients through Instagram, using IG Stories to boost your engagement, and SO MUCH MORE. It’s a one-stop-shop with her course and you can bet your bottom dollar that you’ll walk away from that course with a whole new level of wisdom! And the best part is that I got a coupon code for you! Get your first TWO MONTHS for only $5 (after two months it only goes up to $10/month)!!! Use my code: KELSRENEE at checkout and click here for the course!
- Another course that I’ve been making my way through is from Champagne Copywriting: Social Media on Auto-Pilot which is another amazing course with SO much good information!! I love that it’s also a “go at your own pace” kind of course that includes 100+ content ideas (!!), Pinterest + IG Strategy, and more! Get this course HERE for a one-time payment of $58 before the price goes up!!
Both of these courses have been such a huge help to me and my business! I’m SO thankful that I can reference both of those courses at any time. I also love that they’re similar but also SO completely different at the same time. So, you can’t go wrong with either course that you purchase!
Whew! I think that covers it! I hope this post was helpful and that you are more excited and inspired when it comes to planning your content!
Here are more business posts I think you’ll love:
Productivity Tips and How to Stay Focused as an Entrepreneur