Something that makes me jump for joy is the feeling after I schedule Instagram posts for weeks in advance.
Seriously – I get all giddy about it!
I’m one of those people you probably despise in that, I’m always organized. I have to be early to every event, and I (mostly) never forget to post to Instagram.
Today I’m going to sprinkle some of my organizing fairy dust into your life with this blog post!
Over the years I’ve picked up a few handy strategies for creating and scheduling Instagram content that is definitely going to help you out.
Ready for me to reveal the secrets?
Scroll on down!
Content Strategy
The first step to scheduling your Instagram posts whole weeks in advance is to get clear on a flipp’n amazing content strategy.
Your content strategy should (generally) feature a variety of content that is:
- ✔ Educational – delving deep into your ‘why’, ‘what’, ‘how’
- ✔ Inspirational – quote, a testimonial from a client, before and after photos
- ✔ Community- Focused – asking questions, chatting to your community, featuring a follower
- ✔ Promotional – promoting your products, your services, webinar, email list… etc.
We made sure to include a Strategy section in the Plann app so that you can quickly and easily create a content strategy without having to whip out a piece of paper and pen!
Alternatively, you could use an online tool like Trello to plan out your content strategy for a few weeks or a month, whatever floats your boat!
BONUS TIP!
Can you schedule Instagram posts? Yes, you can!
I find that scheduling 3 weeks to a month’s worth of content in one sitting helps me to keep my creativity flowing and ensure that all of my captions are written in the same tone of voice.
Why does tone of voice matter?
Well, if you happen to be going through a time when you feel sad, angry or desperate for sales and you reaaally need to write a caption on a whim, your feelings can actually seep into your captions.
Seriously! You’ll use words that you may usually avoid, and your audience will be able to tell.
Scheduling your Instagram content a whole month in advance also means that you’re not scrambling for content at the last minute, so you’ll be way less stressed.
Content Choice
Once you’ve got an outline for the content you want to create and captions you want to write, it’s time to start planning!
I use an app to schedule Instagram posts weeks in advance, maybe you’ve already heard of it?!
Open up the Plann up and let’s get started:
To add images/videos to your Plann grid, click on the ‘+’ button in the top right-hand corner. From here you can upload content from Google Drive, Dropbox, your camera roll, and you can even repost from other Instagrammers right inside Plann.
I like to plan row by row so that each group of three content pieces look like they belong together, and also so that my Plann account doesn’t get too cluttered.
With your content plan by your side, choose your imagery wisely and write captions that follow your content strategy.
Remember: You might need to have a document with testimonials or product information by your side so that you don’t lose your train of thought when writing captions!
Schedule Instagram Posts
Once you’ve got all of your content in your grid and you’re happy with the layout, you can start to schedule your content.
With Plann you can even schedule your Instagram Stories, how cool is that?!
This month (at the time of writing) I have all of our Instagram grid AND stories content scheduled… I am feeling schmick that’s for sure.
PSSST –> Want to know more about Plann? Check out our desktop version too!
Holy macaroni, we’re already at the end!
I hope you really enjoyed this blog post, planning in advance saves a lot of stress so I can’t wait to hear how you go.
Don’t forget that you can schedule Instagram posts free with the Plann app, it’s pretty flipp’n awesome!
