Did you know that content batching can be the secret sauce for getting on top of your social media marketing?
If you’re unfamiliar with this term, content batching is a productive way of creating social media posts by setting aside a chunk of time to focus solely on creating content.
Let’s look at some of the benefits, and 3 ways you can batch content for social media.
Benefits of content batching
Content batching is a smart move for your marketing. Not only does it help get your brain into a creative flow, but studies have shown that focusing on one task at a time eliminates the productivity loss that comes with multitasking.
Here are our top 4 benefits for small business owners:
Saves time: There’s no shortage of tasks for busy business owners, and we are all about saving time, which is why content batching is so great! Creating everything at once eliminates the need to spend time creating one-off posts.
Gives your content more life: Batching allows you to repurpose and repackage content. For example, a blog post can be broken down into multiple social media posts.
Creates cohesive marketing: Creating everything at once allows for a cohesive look and feel to what you post.
Allows for an active newsfeed: Getting a larger quantity of content created ahead of time allows for you to strategically space out posts and stay active in your follower’s feeds.
Now that you know some of the benefits, here are 3 tips to easily get started with batching.
Tip #1: Graphic creation and photo editing
Gather your photos and post ideas to create all your graphics at one time. Graphics could be anything from colorful shapes, textures, stickers, or any extra graphic embellishment you may have as part of your brand style. Doing this allows you to look at an at-a-glance overview of how your feed will look over time, which helps you to be cohesive and complete.
Here are some content ideas:
Product shots
Tips
Business updates
Sales and specials
Pre-made templates like the ones at Ripl make graphic creation even easier, and ensure that your posts look polished and professional. Click on a template to customize your own post.
Tip #2: Caption and post writing
Use your batching time to write your posts and captions in one sitting! This allows you to dive deeper into a topic, as well as to ensure a consistent voice and messaging in your posts.
Hot tip: When writing posts, always keep in mind how you can be more helpful for your customers.
Get the low-down on creating the perfect caption here.
Tip #3: Post scheduling
Scheduling posts is the final step of batching that automates your marketing efforts.
Using a tool like Ripl allows you to schedule your posts ahead of time, so you don’t need to be constantly glued to your phone.
Here’s how to schedule your posts with Ripl:
After you’re done customizing your post, tap “Next” to get to the final "Caption Your Post" screen. This is where you will do your scheduling.
Add your caption and relevant hashtags.
Select where you want to share your post.
Tap "Schedule Post" and pick a date and time for your post to share.
The final "Share" button should change to "Schedule" once you've successfully scheduled your post.
Want to take it a step further with a better way to organize your themes, posts, and ideas? A social media content calendar is your solution! Read our post on creating a content calendar.
