How to plan your social media content for the rest of the year

In today’s episode of the podcast, I talk about content creation. I take you through my exact process so you can get organised and start batching your content too.

KEY TAKEAWAYS COVERED IN THE PODCAST

Start with a content brainstorm – think about what you know and what would be helpful to your audience.

Need content ideas? Start by googling keywords related to your service/product and look at www.answerthepublic.com. You could also ask your customers directly what they would like to see or a Facebook group with your ideal customers in – see what they are asking.

My social media plan – set out week-by-week, focus area, what lead magnet can be promoted, and which podcast episode is going live.

You don’t have to be on every single social media platform.

If you have a podcast, try to match what you are talking about on social media with the topic that week.

Your emails can also match what you are talking about on social media.

How many times do you see an advert before you time to buy something? Usually, it’s not just once!

It takes 15 minutes for your brain to move from one type of activity to another – this is why it is best to batch your content.

Batching your content can sometimes make you feel a little disconnected from what you are doing as you have done it so far in advance.

If you are batching, you need to know all your key events for the rest of the year to make sure you are including all the promo you need.

Don’t compare your social media to someone else’s – you may be at a completely different stage to them.

THE ONE THING YOU NEED TO REMEMBER ABOVE ALL ELSE…

Don’t worry about posting similar content on each of your platforms – no one sees everything you post!

HIGHLIGHTS YOU SIMPLY CAN’T MISS

My content creating process 03:41

Batching your content 17:50

RESOURCES MENTIONED

My week-by-week social media plan:

Transcript:

Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the podcast. How are you doing? How's your week been? Good, I hope. Okay. So these last few weeks have been madness. Like basically I think for months now, I've been saying if I can just get to this point, if I can just finish that thing, if I can just do this, then life's going to calm down and it hasn't, it's just been crazy busy.

And as you know, as you listened to the podcast, not long ago, the Academy was open. Before that we did loads of other things. We have Build My List and lots of lovely, cool things going on. But it just means that like I'm constantly on the go doing stuff. So this week has been all about kind of regrouping and taking a minute. And I think it's so, so important to do that for all of us and everyone I'm talking to in the academy, all the customers I'm talking to, they're all saying the same thing.

They're all saying they're just so done in. They're so tired. They're so overwhelmed. And that just the bit done at the moment. So for me, I am taking quarter three as a reset. I am looking at my processes, looking at the team, looking at lead magnets and websites and landing pages and all the good stuff that we have out there that we just keep adding to and adding to and adding to, but we haven't stopped to look and see how it is and what we think of it.

So that's where my focus is going to be on quarter three. The other thing I'm focusing on which is leading into what we're talking about today on the podcast is getting ahead. Like, I don't know about you, but how many times have you said 'I just need to get ahead. If I could just like have a week that no one else knows about where I could just like batch and do stuff for a few weeks in advance, it would all be sorted.' But basically it's come up that I really, really do need to start getting very organized.

Now we're pretty good. I have to say like, you know, I batch things. I do things in advance, you know that, but we want to be really good in terms of like looking at things ahead and getting ready for it. So we're not last minute. So today I want to talk to you about content creation and how I do it and how I batch it, how I come up with ideas. Because when I sat down to think, right, I want to think about the content for the rest of the year and what I'm going to talk about every week on the podcast and all that good stuff.

My mind went blank and it happens so much. Like, I don't know about you but we know our businesses inside and out. But for some unknown reason, every so often when you think you need to post something or write a blog or do a podcast, you suddenly go, 'Well, I've got nothing to talk about. Literally no subjects in the world.' And it's ridiculous because we know we've got so many. So this week in my emails.

So if you're not on my email list, make sure you go and get on there. And also on the podcast, we're looking at how I go through the process of coming up with content and ideas so that I can plan the rest of the year. And it was really helpful because I was doing the process as I was writing about it and as I'm recording about it.

So it was actually really, really good. So the very first thing I do is I do an old fashioned brainstorm. I literally write down every idea around everything. So for me, and there's a really cool picture that I've sent in today's email of my very messy handwriting and probably loads of spelling mistakes. So please don't judge. But basically like, I put up content ideas in the middle. And then I literally go, what do I know? So it's things like social media. Well, what do I know about social media? While we can talk about platforms? We can talk about advertising. We can talk about posts, videos, reels, stories. Uh, we could talk about getting engagement, then I could go list building.

Okay. What can I talk about with list building while I can talk about landing pages and systems and onboarding emails and how to create consistent content emailing and all these amazing things. That's the very first thing I do. I literally brainstorm all the ideas and there are websites that can help.

There are things that you can do. Like you can just go to Google and type in your keyword of the thing that you need help with. So I could put, you know, list building and it might come up with some suggestions of what people have searched for. Also, you could go and have a look at answerthepublic.com. I've talked about them before.

They're excellent. Again, you put your keyword in and they give you ideas of what people are looking for. And basically just have a bit of a think. So that's the first thing I do. I write down all the ideas. Then I go to my Facebook group for my membership and my coaching calls. The other places you could go, if you don't have a membership or Facebook group is you could go to your customers.

You could go to other people's Facebook groups that you might be in where your possible customers are in there. Or you could go and find a Facebook group that has your customers in there. And look at what people are asking. Look at the questions that they're asking you. So I literally went and scanned back a few coaching calls and when we record the coaching calls, we upload them into the Academy.

And we timestamp when people have asked questions and roughly what my responses literally a few lines to give someone an idea of whether they think or when they rewatch that bit. So I literally looked down the recordings of like, what did that question? And what was that question? What was that question? What was that question?

And I just wrote down all these different questions. I looked at the Facebook group wrote down a loaded questions. So like I said, you could do that in your own stuff. You can do that in other people's. Because you're not going in and answering and saying, I've got this thing over here. You're just using it as content ideas.

The other thing that you can do is you can go and look in books. So if there's a book about coaching or I don't know, whatever you might do, whatever your servers and product is about social media or whatever, then go and have a look at the contents, go and have a look at the, you know, what is in each chapter.

I could have said episode then, um, I couldn't think the word is taking ages to come to me. Yeah. So what's in each chapter. So go through and see how they like put together the, the different bits of content for the book. So there's loads and loads and loads of places that you can find stuff. So once I've done that brainstorm and I've got it all down. Now, the way I plan stuff, and this isn't necessarily what I would suggest for everybody else, just because it took me all these years to get to this point.

So if you're not at that stage, then that's fine. Don't think, 'Oh my goodness, I can't do this. That's so much work.' I obviously have a team that helped me now. I'm just kind of saying it with a kind of like caveat of don't think, oh, this is what I'm meant to do as well. Cause that isn't necessarily the case.

But what I then did next is we have a spreadsheet called social media planning and I don't know what it's called social media planning because it actually has all the plan for the emails and the themes and the podcast and everything on that. But basically week by week, we have this plan and we have each day listed out and the date on the left hand side, then we have focus area.

And basically that's the, what are we going to be talking about this week? Because if you may or may not know every single week I pick a theme and I talk around that theme for the week. Then I have a section for, is there a lead magnet or a call to action that we want specifically for this? And actually, because I've decided to kind of just get my head down and do some internal work for the next few months, the chances are there may not be lead magnets for it, and that's fine.

Then I have the podcast. So who is on the podcast that week? Or what am I talking about that week? Then I have Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. I, I put all them together. My most favorite platform is Instagram. So I make sure that I have specifics for Instagram, but in terms of Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, I just put per posts there to have a presence. Because I have to be on those platforms because of what I do.

I don't suggest if you're not in this world marketing or social media. I wouldn't be on every platform. So then I have Instagram stories, Instagram posts, and then image ideas. And then in the next block, I have a list of sort of row for email one, row for email two, row for email three, and then the last block notes. I'm actually going to screenshot this so you can see it and put it in the show notes.

So either, um, I don't know if you'll be able to see it on the app you're looking at, you might have to go to teresaheathwareing.com/211 but basically what I do is in that section, I then write at the beginning on the focus area, what are we going to talk about? So I have my big brainstorming ideas.

I looked at all the ideas and then I picked some themes. The other thing I did cause I have a podcast is I looked at what interviews were coming up or what order I could put some of those interviews in and tried to pick a theme that sat well with that podcast episode. Now I've only just started doing this.

Up until now it hasn't been that orchestrated. It hasn't been that organized, but now I'm starting to do that because I've taken a step back and I'm looking a bit wider. So for instance, as I record this next week's episode is actually going to be Stu McLaren, which is a cool episode. I really enjoyed that one.

So that particular week. I put my focus as memberships, because I've got Stu on the podcast and we talk about memberships. The week after that is another solo one. And I've already decided because I looked at my ideas and thought, okay, I could talk about that, that week, that, that week. So the week after we talk about selling on social and how to get more clients or customers.

So that's what I've done. I've picked a theme for every single week and I've chose that that's what I'm going to talk about. So the next thing I do is obviously I try and hook it up with the podcast, which is easy at the moment, especially on solo episodes, because it's only me talking and obviously I record those podcasts.

So at the point I'm talking to you, I've already decided what theme we're going to have every week until December the 12th. So I haven't done anything like right to the end of December. I might not do a theme cause we're so close to Christmas, then that it almost feels like maybe I just do Christmas stuff rather than like teach or, you know, talk about a subject.

So I've picked one theme for each week until then. Then what I've done is I've gone through my podcasts and I've worked out who would sit well with that if it's an interview or otherwise, what am I likely to talk about on the podcast. Now I am batch recording three podcasts. So for the next three weeks.

So this one, the Stu one and the one after. And what I then do is I write and I have already actually I've written the emails for each of those weeks. So I write three emails a week. I'm only doing the three at the moment because I only ever do more when there's something that I'm promoting or talking about.

So each of those emails, so for instance, this week, I've got obviously contents and systems so this is what I'm talking about. So my emails this week are, how do I do it, I talk about batching and then actually have a bit of random email on Friday. Cause I'm talking about something that I'm doing with Bonjoro.

Cause they asked me to do some training and I'm sending you an invite. So. I've already planned what those emails are going to be. The week after I've already planned those emails. So the first email is going to talk about have you ever thought about a membership? The second email is going to talk about membership versus courses.

And then the third email is going to talk about how to get started if you want a membership. So can you see how I'm taking that theme? And I'm pulling it over to the podcast and talking about it here, then I'm splitting it out into three. And I'm doing three different emails and then not the same. So what I'm talking about here is never exactly the same as what I talk about on the emails, because things that I can write and demonstrate in an email can be very different from what I can talk about.

So. They complement, but then not copying because otherwise, why would you listen to this? And then why would you go and read the emails? So they are always different, but they're around the same theme. And then once I've got those three emails, that's when we create our social media posts. So we look at the subject.

So for instance, and I haven't done this yet, so I'm literally doing this on the fly as I talked to you. So the first email on that week when Stu's in, is have you ever thought about a membership. And I'm just trying to think about what I wrote in that email. Oh, I talked about how some of the myths that people think that membership is a get rich quick and all this sort thing.

And it definitely isn't. I am not rich and, uh, it hasn't gone quick. Um, so I might do a post that says the myths of having a membership. I might do a post. That is just a question that says. Have you ever thought about having a membership? So then the next one that's membership versus courses. Again, I can create a post that talks about membership versus courses.

I could write a question as a social media post that says, which do you prefer to be in a membership or to do a course? I could do a poll on Instagram maybe. And then I've got how to get started with memberships. And on that one I could talk about, I could list the ideas that I've got for people, or I could do a post round.

What's the one thing you should do if you want a membership. So can you see how I take the overall theme. I make sure it's linked to the podcast. I then pull it into three different emails and think about three different things I could talk about. And then when it comes to the social, I am using some of the content, not all of it, and it might be in a different way.

But I'm using some of the content and I'm putting that into the socials. Now I want address one thing about this, because you might be sat there listening, thinking, or basically for that week, whether you listen to my podcast, read my emails, look at my social. You're just going to hear the same thing. But someone once said to me, I used to really, I didn't like it.

Okay. So that was not the thing that I did. I liked different and unusual content everywhere. But someone once said to me, how many times do you see an advert before you decide to buy something? And like, okay. Sometimes I do get caught on the Instagram ads and things. 'Oh, I'll buy that.' And then I just buy it and I'm a fool. But a lot of times you do see things quite a few times and not everyone will listen to my podcast or even listen to it the week that it comes out.

Not everyone will see and follow me on every social media platform. Not everyone will be on my email list. My email list is considerably bigger than my downloads in my podcast. So. You know, there's obviously a huge amount of people who get my emails, who don't listen to the podcast. So I want, I want you to not worry about that.

I used to worry about that terribly, but I'm not going to worry about that anymore. So that's why I'm happy to tweak and change. Now, the reason I can do all this is because I have a team that helps me. So once I've written the emails, I just write them in a Google doc. And then the lovely Becci takes them out of the Google doc, puts them into Kajabi.

Checks them proofread them. Cause I'm terrible at spelling and schedules them. With the social media sometimes I will just literally write in the box. Let's talk about memberships versus courses and then Becci will go and look at what I wrote and take some content out there and use it. Even though sometimes some of the posts go out, I haven't physically put together.

It's always my tone of voice. It's always my thoughts, my ideas, because they came from the emails that I wrote. Now, in some cases like, well, this'll be a few weeks back now, but I did a week all about Q3 planning. A few weeks back. It hasn't in my world that hasn't even come out yet. But because obviously I'm trying to get ahead.

And those posts, I wrote all of them because I knew that it just, the email wouldn't translate into the post or by the time I thought about the post, I thought, 'oh no, I want to get that key point across.' So then what I do is I'll write the caption in the Google doc. And I will either tell Becci which image I wanted to use or I'll create one.

Now we're getting really ahead. I will use the very lovely Meryl who does my design work for me or some of the design work. And I will send her the caption and the, the kind of idea I've got for the post. Sometimes I like screenshot other posts and go, I want a post that talks about this. That looks like that.

Or this is a really good way to do this post. So, like I said, and with the podcast, obviously, you know, full well. The minute I've recorded this. I put it in a folder and magic happens that I don't have to get involved with. So the reason I want to talk about this or the reason I'm going through it is I'm trying to give you an insight as to how I do things.

I'm also trying to...