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Happy Tuesday! Today’s blog is focusing on a topic I know a lot of you have questions about:
How to spend just 30 minutes scheduling out a week’s worth of Instagram content.
I used to hate waking up, scratching my head, feeling stressed out, wondering, What the heck am I going to post today? What am I going to post today for 20 clients? That was extremely, extremely stressful! So, I’ve learned to schedule out my entire week, and my clients’ content one week in advance in just 30 minutes. Let’s be honest, we all have 30 minutes to show up in order to streamline our businesses, to engage with new customers, and to reach new people.
First and foremost, you need three things.
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A Scheduler.
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A Strategy.
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Photos, of course!
Now, if you’re thinking, Great! This is going to help me schedule, but I really want to know how to turn my new followers/prospects I’m reaching with my content into customers. Then read to the end where I’m offering a free ebook to teach you how to turn your new followers on Instagram into customers!
Scheduling is going to be your best friend. I used to schedule a full month out, but then I realized that things always come up. If something like a press hit happens, or a new event comes up, or something unexpected, then I don’t have to rearrange the entire content for the month if I only schedule a week or so at a time. I recommend one of two schedulers:
I personally use Later, where I can automate posts as well as your stories (on their $9/mo plan) , which is great!
(The only issue I have with Later is their customer support. I think they just grew way too quickly, but they are the least expensive method and typically you won’t even need to get in contact with customer support. I only needed too because I’m managing additional clients.)
I’ve tested out so many different scheduling tools, and I always come back to later. You can also schedule two additional platforms right from this one scheduling tool!
There’s also a tool called Planoly that I’ve not personally used, but I’ve heard amazing things. However, it’s only for Instagram & Pinterest. So, if you’re looking to also schedule posts for other channels, you won’t be able to do so with Planoly.
Once you’ve chosen your scheduling tool, you’ll want to create a strategy.
I like to choose nine different types of content to post. Go ahead and grab a notebook, and write the numbers one through nine.
(In terms of types of content, I’m talking about what the text is going to be, what the story is going to be, personal stories of you, you and your boyfriend, etc.) Here’s a few quick examples, but obviously you will want to curate your 9 types of content based on your life and favorite things!
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Personal stories
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Family/Friends
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Business tips
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Value added posts (If I can teach someone something, I’m always going to do it. Give as much value as you can because that’s why people are following you!)
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What you like to eat
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What you like to cook
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Trips you’re going on
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Your bucket list
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Your vision board
There’s so many different things!
You try it! Write down your nine different categories. Why nine? Because it’s the first three rows of your Instagram profile that someone sees when they click on your name to decide whether or not to follow you. Nine is also perfect because it keeps it gives enough focus where people can get a great understanding of who you are as a person, while also providing enough variety for your new followers. You definitely don’t want people to look at your profile and think, Oh my God, this girl’s posting motivational quotes again.
Now that you have written down your nine different content types, let’s talk about photo types. I also like to use nine different photo types, and with the combination of your nine photo types and nine categories, you’re going to be able to mix and match and cycle through these categories and photo types continuously. This means you’ll always have a great variety.
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Selfies are great (if they’re well lit),
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photos of your dog,
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meals or cooking,
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where you’re traveling to,
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quotes,
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the list could go on!
Write those down, and then mix and match those with the content you chose above.
Bonus Tip: If you don’t have great quality photos of yourself or your product, please hire a professional photographer. They don’t have to do as much as you might think! I have hired amazing photographers in New York City for $100. With that small investment, I got three plus months of content! I’m still using those photos too. I would schedule out a professional photographer to come at least once a quarter, if not more often. You’re going to see a huge benefit when you can post amazing photos, so get a photographer if you don’t have one already. After all, Instagram is so visual that you really need to be able to put your best foot forward.
Final Thoughts: After you have chosen your nine types of photos and nine types of content, you’ll simply go into your scheduling tool, and plan out a week (or more) of your post ideas. One more helpful tip I implement is when I get an idea pop into my head, I’ll add that to the notes in my phone, so that on Sunday when I’m planning out my week, it really only takes me 30 minutes max to fill in the blanks.
I hope this blog is super helpful for you, and if it was, make sure you’re also subscribing to my YouTube channel. There, you’ll find lots of marketing and entrepreneur tips for mission-driven entrepreneurs! A new video drops every week on Tuesday. Also, click the link to my free ebook to learn how to turn your new followers on Instagram into customers. Enjoy, until next time!
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