“I just really wish it took me longer to create my social media content!”
Said, nobody ever.
Because let’s be real, even if you love social media you probably want to spend less time creating content for your own channels.
Between finding the right pictures, writing the insightful and thought-provoking caption, and adding hashtags, that time can quickly add up! And that’s time you could be spending working ON your business, creating products and services or, ya know, just relaxing or living your life!
The great news is there are shortcuts you can take that can help you pump out quicker content without sacrificing the quality of your posts. Not only will they save you oodles of time, but they’ll also make your content creation process feel way more simple, streamlined and stress-free.
Read on to learn 5 time-saving hacks to speed up your content creation process!
1. Use Plann’s Free Content Prompts
Pssstt….we’ll let you in on a little secret.
You don’t need to come up with completely unique content each and every time you post. We know it sounds a bit cheeky and we would never advocate copying or stealing someone else’s ideas, BUT, by using content prompts as caption starters, you can let someone else do the heavy lifting with ideas on ‘what to post.’ Then, you can simply bounce off these ideas and put your own spin on them.
Where can you find Plann’s free content prompts? Right inside Plann Desktop
We’ve added a huge library of content ideas that have been specifically tailored to over 50 different industries!
If you head to the Plann strategy tool you’ll be able to select the industry that best matches yours and add the prompts to your grid as a guide. Then, you can use these to spark inspiration for your own content and captions.
The best part is that if you feel like you’re across multiple industries or spot more ideas from other areas that relate to your business, you can add them too for unlimited posting ideas.
Want even more guidance with what to post?
Check out our free content calendars, monthly calendars packed with important dates to remember and prompts for both feed and story content. Not only can you use them as seasonal prompts for the month ahead, but you can look back at our calendars for general content inspiration for every social media platform.
2. Repurpose Your Content
Ever heard the expression ‘give a man a fish he’ll eat for a day, teach him to fish and he’ll eat for a week?”
Well, the same kind of goes for content creation!
If you create a really powerful post and publish it on one platform, it will likely give you a few likes, clicks and comments and then get swallowed up into the abyss. But, if you create a post and repurpose it for multiple different platforms where you have different audiences? That’s the gift that keeps on giving!
There’s absolutely no shame in repurposing the same content across multiple different platforms. In fact, it’s the smart and savvy way to be more visible online without spending more time on content creation.
This could mean repurposing your blog posts into a LinkedIn article. Or, getting a video transcribed, and using the key points for captions on your social media. You can even use the complete same content on social media, but change it up to be appropriate for each platform (like, taking out the awkward hashtags that do nothing for Facebook)
Plann makes it easy to do this by allowing you to quickly copy, edit and autopost your Instagram posts to Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. We also recommend repurposing your Reels content on TikTok if you’re currently creating short-form video content.
3. Set Up Custom Templates
If you’re creating graphics from scratch every time you post, you’re likely adding loads of time to your content creation process. That’s where templates come in! So, say you regularly post stories promoting new blog posts, graphics with quotes, or meme-style content.
By setting up templates for these content types for your brand, you’ll be able to spend just a few minutes changing the text and image. While this might require a little bit of effort upfront creating the templates, it will save you so much time down the track. The best part is, you can create these in Canva and easily access these every time you post without even leaving Plann, thanks to our free integration with Canva!
You can also use templates for your written content!
Next time you find yourself getting stuck, pull out one of these prompts and fill in the blanks. It’s sure to get those creative juices flowing!
10 free content prompts for next time you’re stuck
1. The biggest lesson I’ve learned in the last month is…
2. One surprising thing my followers may not know about me is…
3. The best book I’ve read recently is…
4. One person I follow that really inspires me is…
5. The motto I live by is…
6. The destination I’m most excited to go back to is…
7. The ‘lightbulb’ moment that led me to start my brand is…
8. My fave way to reignite my creativity when I’m in a rut is…
9. The most life-changing advice I’ve ever received is…
10. My biggest role model is…
4. Make a ‘Dump File’
Ever wondered how some people seem to have an endless flow of inspiration for things to say on social media? Well, the thing is — you probably do too, you just don’t write it down!
Think about all those random, fleeting thoughts that pop into your head on a daily basis. Like “Wow, this song reminds me of the first day I started my business” or “gee, that’s the 5th time a client has asked me about X topic”.
While you might not consciously realize it at the time, these can actually be perfect fodder for social media content.
Write Down Your Ideas
Try to get into the habit of jotting down every semblance of an idea that enters your head, even if it feels fractured or unfinished. Whether it’s the notes section on your phone (or on your laptop — try to have these synced up), Trello, or a Google Doc, it’s important that you keep these all in one centralized place.
You can even create short voice recordings instead if you prefer to talk out your ideas rather than write them! (There are apps that will convert your voice to text!)
The goal is to dump your ideas down for later. And while you might not use any of those ideas for weeks, months or even years, this is something you can reference any time to sit down to create social media content. Over time, it will grow and you’ll find that you’ll never run out of things to post about.
We also recommend doing the same with images you like, as finding the right photos can be half the battle. Try using the ‘save’ button on Instagram to bookmark photos you like, or use the collections feature in Plann to save off free stock images you love, or create entire collections based on things you can use coming up.
5. Create In Batches
Write one sentence of a caption….backspace because it doesn’t sound quite right. Get distracted by notification and end up getting sucked into the social media vortex for 5 minutes. Rinse, repeat and realise you’ve only written one caption in 40 minutes. Sound familiar?
Yep, if you create your social media content in dribs and drabs it’ll take you way longer than it needs to. Why? Because we’re human, and we get distracted. But, every time we ‘task switch’ or give in to distraction, it takes 23 minutes to get properly focused again. No wonder it feels like we’re getting our socials done at snail’s pace!
The solution? Batch working! This is when you set aside a chunk of time (whether it’s an hour, a morning or a whole day), cut off any distractions and create as many social media posts at once. While it might take you a while to get into it, you’ll likely find that you’ll eventually reach a state of flow where the words start to come effortlessly. Plus, creating your posts in batch is a great way to ensure your feed looks consistent and that your sequence follows a strategic and logical order.
Want more tips on batch creating?
Check out our free eGuide How To Plan A Month Of Content In One Day, or How To Plan A Week Of Content In 20 Minutes
