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Do you struggle to stick to a content schedule? Do you start a new week or month all excited to be consistent with your content and then before you know it you are back to your old ways and posting ad-hoc? If so, this blog post is for you! Keep on reading to discover the 7 tips to help you stick to a content schedule.
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Tip 1: Ensure that your content schedule feels achievable in the first place
One of the biggest mistakes I see business owners making is having a content schedule that is too ambitious. Usually, this happens when the content schedule has been designed by someone else who doesn’t understand the resources available or when the business owner has been blindly following best practices and tailored based on their situation.
For example, a business might have decided to add TikTok as a marketing channel for their business. They see that majority of TikTok experts recommend posting 2 to 3 times per day to grow on TikTok and so they decide to commit to 2 posts per day. That’s an extra 14 pieces of content per week. Now there is nothing wrong about adding this to a content schedule, but if you only had 1 hour spare per week for content creation then expecting to plan, record, edit, write the caption and post 14 TikToks in that hour is unrealistic. That would mean you have just over 4 minutes per TikTok.
This is what I mean by being realistic. You need to get brutally honest about the amount of time that you can allocate to content and then you need to be honest about the amount of time it takes you to create certain pieces of content. If you don’t know how long it takes you to write a blog post, create an Instagram post or write an email then start timing yourself. I use Toggl.
Tip 2: Increase the volume of content within your the schedule over time
You might have read tip 1 and feel restricted. You may only have a limited amount of time to create content and that results in a content schedule, which you know just isn’t good enough. Just because that is what you are committing to know, doesn’t mean it has to be that way forever. The aim is to have a content schedule you can stick to. If you manage a whole month where you have stuck to the content schedule then you can add some more in.
By increasing the volume of content over time you are giving yourself a better chance of sticking to the content schedule. Rather than going from nothing to everything in the blink of an eye you can increase the volume every month and before you know it, you could end up with a content schedule that is much closer to best practices and feels right in terms of what you want to achieve.
For example, I’m a solopreneur who creates all of my own content. I take being consistent very important so I never commit to more than I know I can deliver.
In 2021 this is what my weekly content marketing schedule looked like for my business:
Blog x1
Email x1
Instagram x5
LinkedIn x3
Then in 2022 it looked like this:
Blog x1
Email x2
Instagram x3
LinkedIn x7
TikTok x14
The biggest change was adding in the 14 TikTok videos. However, I didn’t do that straight away. In fact, I reduced the number of times I posted on Instagram to free up some time and committed to 1 post per day on TikTok. Then after doing that consistently for a month I decided I could increase content on TikTok to 2 videos per day.
Please note this content schedule is a lot for a solopreneur and none of my solopreneur clients, who don’t have any external help, create this volume of content. I would never suggest it and it isn’t how I started. I’ve been building up over years. Now creating that volume of content feels normal to me, which means I’m able to do it week in and week out with ease.
Tip 3: Review all of your content schedules together
In the example above I outlined all of the content I create over a week. Reviewing your content together is very important. A big mistake I see business owners making is they are looking at each marketing channels or platform in isolation. This usually happens when they’ve had a strategy specifically created for one channel or platform rather than having an integrated marketing strategy that works across everything.
For example, you might have been working with an Instagram coach and you now have a content plan that means posting every day but that is 2x live video, 3x reels and 2x carousels. Then you have an email content schedule that is mapped out for the whole year based on the seasons and what sells best at what time of year. Then you’ve heard LinkedIn is great for organic reach and decided you should start posting on there too and are aiming at 3x per week. All of a sudden you have 3 separate content spreadsheets or plans and you can’t easily understand what you’ve committed to or how they connect to one another.
That is why it is essential for content planning that you are integrated. If you’ve worked with a specialist for one specific platform or channel be sure afterwards to integrate that with the rest of your content. And in the future make your life easier by working with someone who creates integrated content plans – like myself!
| GET A PERSONALISED INTEGRATED CONTENT STRATEGY CREATED FOR YOUR BUSINESS
By now you can hopefully understand the importance of having a personalised and integrated content strategy for your business. I specialise in creating one-person marketing strategies that can be delivered by the business owner or a VA. I’m a Chartered Marketer, have over a decade of marketing experience and I’m a solopreneur that does all of my marketing myself. That means you’ll get a content strategy that is created combining best-practice, and tried-and-tested marketing techniques, but with a real understanding of what is possible for one person. If you are ready to take the marketing of your business to the next level and get a personalised and integrated content strategy created get in touch. |
Tip 4: Plan your content
There is a big difference between having a content schedule and having a content plan. A schedule will tell you when you should be posting, whereas a content plan will tell you what you should be posting. Having a plan will help ensure that you don’t look at your content schedule and think “I’m meant to post today, but I have no idea what to post”.
A good content plan will include the focus of the content and the format of the content. For example, a money coach might check their content plan and see that this week they have 3 posts for Instagram and they are going to be: a live video about reviewing your expenses once a month, a carousel talking about following a budget and a Reel about changing your spending habits. Creating this content is going to be much easier than just knowing you need to create 3 posts this week.
Not only will planning your content in advance help you to stick to a content schedule, but it will enable your content to be more strategic. When you plan content in advance you can be more purposeful. You can think about what the purpose of the post is and what the call to action is. Are you wanting people to join your mailing list? DM for more info about a service? Visit a specific webpage? Buy something? Book a call?
To get the most out of your content you need to ensure there is a purpose behind each post and having a content plan will help ensure that happens.
If you aren’t already planning your content then I have a free content marketing plan workbook to help you. Download your copy and you’ll be able to create your very own 2023 content marketing plan.
Tip 5: Batch create content in advance
One of the common reasons business owners don’t stick to a content plan is because of time. With a busy schedule, it is easy to put content at the bottom of the pile. You get to the end of the day and think “I was meant to post today” but by that point, you have no inspiration, are tired, or just can’t be bothered. That’s why I highly recommend batch creating your content in advance.
When you batch create your content you can set aside a block of time once a week to create all your content for the week. Batch creating your content not only means you’ll be more productive during that content creation period as you aren’t context switching. But when you are finished you know you don’t have to create for the rest of the week. Having a 6-day break between creating content is great whether you enjoy creating content or not. If you don’t enjoy creating content then the thought of doing it once a week could change your whole outlook as now it isn’t that thing at your to-do list every day. For those who enjoy creating content, a bigger break between creation allows you to be inspired and you are always allowed to create extra.
You can find out more about saving time by batching your marketing content here.
Tip 6: Schedule your content
A great way to ensure you stick to a content schedule is to create in advance and then schedule your content as per the schedule. Scheduling your content means you can tick that piece of content off your list and move on to the next things. Scheduling your content will also mean that if you have a busy day or have a day when you are travelling you don’t have to worry about getting something posted at a specific time of the day. In my business, I’ve used Later for years and love it. You can read more about Later and why I love it here.
Tip 7: Treat content as a priority
If you follow tips 1 to 6 then I have no doubt that you can stick to a content schedule. They are all the practical things you need to do, but there is something that is more important than the practical things and that is your mindset around content. More often than not when I come across business owners who aren’t sticking to their content schedule it is because they don’t value the role content plays in their business and they don’t see it as a priority. They’ll do everything else on their to-do list and content sits at the bottom which means if they get there great, but if they don’t they don’t worry about it too much. This mindset usually happens when content isn’t performing as well as the business owner would like. They aren’t seeing the return they expect from their content so they don’t feel like investing in their content. But if you don’t invest in your content then you can’t expect others to either.
If you want people to consistently open your emails, to listen to your podcast or to comment on your social media posts then first you have to show up consistently. They need to build a relationship with you, through your content, and know what they can expect. Then you have to keep up your side of the deal and post as expected.
If you are struggling to stick to your content plan get honest about how you feel your content is performing. If you are disappointed with your results and that is why you are struggling to stick to your content plan then it sounds like a new content strategy is needed.
| GET A PERSONALISED CONTENT STRATEGY CREATED IN JUST ONE DAY
If you are posting the wrong content you are wasting your time, which is why I offer Content Strategy Days to allow businesses to quickly get a personalised content strategy that they can start implementing in weeks, rather than months. In just one day I’ll help you to create an evergreen content strategy for your business over a specific number of months, or create a launch content strategy for an upcoming launch. To find out more about my Strategy Days click here. To discuss your specific needs and book a Content Strategy Day fill in my contact form here or book a call here. |
That’s it! You know now the 7 tips to help you stick to a content schedule.
As a business, there has never been more ways to freely, or very cheaply, create and distribute content. You no longer have to pay thousands of pounds for advertising. You can grab your phone or laptop, create and publish. The barriers to entry are low, but that also means it is easy to not value content highly enough. If you are serious about using content marketing as a tool to attract and convert your ideal clients then you need a proper content strategy and then you need to stick to it!
In the comments I would love to know what your biggest takeaway has been,
If you know you need to up your content marketing and would like some help, then I can help you.
| A 2023 Strategy Day is designed for ambitious coaches, consultants and online service providers who are ready to have their best year in business. There is a whole section of the day dedicated to sales and marketing where I’ll go help you plan for how to create content that is not only optimised for your chosen platforms but will also enable you to attract, engage and convert clients.
Sound good? Apply for your 2023 Strategy Day here.
Know that just having a plan isn’t enough? If you want ongoing training, support and accountability then I have ongoing mentoring programmes. For more information check out my services here. |
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