High fives for simple ways to stay on top of your social media content!

Staying consistent on social media is hard. It's the number one reason people come to me for social media strategy and management, because without a plan, it's impossible to keep up - and I get it. It takes a lot of work to craft each piece of content, schedule it, and engage with it. Over the years, Facebook and Instagram have changed, but they way to stay consistent has not. There are simple strategies to plan ahead so you never run out of content or ideas. Keep reading to learn more or contact me today for a free 20 minute consultation. I'd love to learn more about your business and your unique challenges.

#1. Choose an app to plan and schedule your content
I have worked with clients that have tried creating their own "planners" with Excel or notes or a Word doc, but these DIY methods NEVER work. They are fine for organizing your ideas, but the easiest way to streamline your content is to choose an app that allows you to visually see what your posts will look like, and get them scheduled in advance. For Instagram, I recommend Planoly because it's simple to learn and allows you see exactly what your feed will look like. You can schedule posts, stories and Pinterest content too. You can share IG content directly to FB with Planoly, and you can customize your caption to eliminate all the hashtags or reword things so they make sense from one platform to another. What matters when it comes to consistency, is that you create a plan you can stick to.

Figure out how many posts or days you want to share per week, and make it a goal to schedule a post for each of those days. I work on a month at a time, but you can plan the amount of content that works for you. Start by making sure you've got posts scheduled for important days and then fill in from there. Need help coming up with ideas? Create an idea pattern that works for your business - it might be something like fun quote, about the business, new product, meet the team, sale or promotion, featured item/collab. The great thing about an idea pattern is that you can change what things look like visually, but if you stick to your idea pattern, you'll be sharing the important things consistently.

#2. Create a photo bank to pull from when you need visuals
This is key to making your planning go smoothly. If you don't have a bank of photos or videos to pull from, what are you going to share? Whether you're starting a new company or you're the third generation to run the family business, investing in professional images is always a good idea. You can also use websites like Pexels or Unsplash to create your own galleries. These images are royalty free and you can use them for your social media marketing purposes. Organize your photos by topic or service and when you are planning your content it will be easy to grab an image to go with your caption. Another great reason to invest in professional images - people love to see the faces behind the brands and businesses they support. It's a simple way to connect with your audience and gain trust. And people buy from brands they trust!