Monday morning and you have no content ready to post. You flip through your phone for a usable photo, ask somebody for an idea and throw together a caption between other tasks. A week later you’re doing it all over again.
A social media content planner can help get you ahead of these stressful situations, letting you record ideas, prepare posts and find what still needs to happen.
Here’s how to build one without adding extra pressure to what is already a busy part of your business.
What Does A Content Planner Include?
A content planner pulls together everything you need to turn an idea into a published post. This might include a topic, caption, photo reference, deadline and approval from your content approver.
Your social media calendar then shows the ideas across dates, helping you identify what is coming up soon, where there are gaps and whether you are covering the same topic too often.
A social media scheduler can take over with publishing the approved post on your selected dates and platforms where supported. You’ll want to start with what you want to share; deciding how to publish is a matter of next steps.
Start With A Customer Question And Business Goal
Choose a result you want your content to support
Before you brainstorm post ideas, decide what your content should help your customers do. Book an appointment, understand a service, find answers ahead of contacting you?
For example, a home cleaning business might explain what happens during a deep cleaning appointment. This means somebody considering the service has an idea of what to expect, and can ask about booking if it sounds like something they need.
Having a goal means it is easier to identify which ideas are worth pursuing.
Choose platforms you can manage
Consider where customers already engage with your business, and what you can realistically create time for.
If it is difficult to film regularly, you could schedule this in your content planner. There is also time to respond to comments and messages, in addition to publishing posts. This is only part of keeping an active business account.
Pick a workload which suits you, and accounts for slower and busier weeks.
Create content themes you can return to
You likely have many ideas to choose from, most of which are hidden right now in the conversations you have with customers, the tasks you complete and the work you have already approved.
Start planning with a few themes including:
- Questions your customers ask: What are the common queries about your process, pricing or preparations?
- Work your customers don’t see: What happens ahead of placing an order or receiving a service?
- Examples of your work: What approved customer projects or work can help explain what you do?
- Useful business updates: Are there changes to availability, new services or offers customers need to know about?
For a bakery, this could take the form of a cake storage tip, a short video showing decoration, a customer approved photo of an order and an announcement for seasonal items.
Rotate these subjects in your social media calendar to provide a helpful mix of advice, examples and updates.
Record What Your Team Needs To Publish
“Post about our service” is a great prompt, but does not include enough information for your team to get started. Who is writing it? Which photos should they use? Does anybody need to check it?
Your social media content planner should include:
- Publishing date and platform: Where the post appears and when it needs to be ready.
- Customer question: The question or concern the post addresses.
- Format: Whether it will be a carousel, video, photo or other format.
- Caption and next action: The message and what you’d like readers to do next.
- Visual location: A link to the correct image or video.
- Owner and approval status: Who is responsible and whether the post has been checked.
Simple labels such as “idea,” “in progress,” “awaiting approval” and “ready” help your team identify what to do.
Build A Week Round Three Useful Posts
Start with a week which is manageable for your business to prepare. Three posts with clear purposes can be a helpful starting point.
Here’s an example for a local service business:
| Day | Post idea | Suggested format | Next action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Answer a common question about booking | Carousel | Save the explanation |
| Wednesday | Show one part of your working process | Short video | Ask a related question |
| Friday | Share an approved customer project | Photo with caption | Enquire about the service |
Prepare Content In Batches Before Scheduling
It can feel overwhelming to start from scratch every time you need a post. You can reduce this by grouping together similar tasks. Take several photographs during a session, draft a few captions while your ideas are fresh and reserve a period to review the week’s content together.
Give every post a brief to make sure the message, visual and next step match. When reviewing different social media scheduling tools, check the details which impact your daily work including the supported formats, account compatibility, approval features and cost. Consider what you need help with to reduce extra scheduling tasks.
A social media scheduler is best used for content which has been approved and is ready to publish. If searching for “auto post instagram,” check whether the option you are considering will publish your selected format, or send a reminder that you need to finish manually.
Check The Details And Learn From Responses
Finding ideas, writing captions and preparing visuals can all take time. Aivolv can help bring your social media strategy, content writing, graphic design and short form video together into a co-ordinated process. Whether starting a new social media account or struggling to keep posts going, a clear plan can help your team work more simply.
Looking to plan your content? Contact Aivolv to discuss your audience, goals and the resources you have available.
