Creating content is one of the most important parts of maintaining a strong Instagram presence as a business owner. Your content is a much-needed tool that gives you the opportunity to show your audience what your business is all about and why your products/services are so incredible!
As a marketing and business consultant, I place a big emphasis on content strategy with my clients. Consistent and strategic content drives engagement, visibility, and sales — if you post only occasionally or sporadically, your audience will lose interest in your posts or forget about your account altogether.
Unfortunately, content creation is one of those things that I see business owners struggle with the most when it comes to marketing. Typically, most of the entrepreneurs I speak to have a hard time knowing exactly what to post and when. Another common issue I come across is time management — as busy CEOs, how do we stay on top of a consistent Instagram content schedule without burning out entirely?
If you have wondered the same things, you are in the right place! Today we’ll be diving deep into my best information on how to build out a winning content strategy for your brand in a way that will preserve your time and sanity.
Step 1: Look at Your Calendar
The first thing you want to do when planning out your content is figure out the “gaps” between your promotions and time off. Let me explain.
It’s likely that you already know when you will be holding your biggest promotions and product launches throughout the quarter or year. Take a moment to block those dates off on your calendar. This content will be launch-centric — we’ll come back to it in a moment.
Now, go through your calendar and block off any time that you will not be working on marketing your business.
What you have left are the “gaps” between your promotions and your desired time off. It can be difficult to know what exactly to post during these stretches of time as you aren’t launching or promoting anything. Don’t worry, we’ll cover some ideas a little later. For now, it’s just important to have an idea of what your schedule will look like so that you can plan your content effectively.
Step 2: Plan Your Promotional Content for IG
Once you’re aware of the dates that you will be launching or promoting a product/service, you’ll want to plan out promotional content for Instagram. There are two types of promotional content to focus on:
About 4-6 weeks prior to your launch or promotion, you will want to begin to warm up your audience through pre-promo content. During your pre-promo content phase, you should be creating content that is focused on growth, connection, and engagement. This can look like educational content, mindset rewiring, or debunking industry myths. Fun, relatable, and entertaining content that helps you form a relationship with your audience also has a place in the pre-promo content phase.
The best way to save time and avoid burnout in the pre-promo content phase is to take advantage of the content format that will give you the biggest bang for your buck. Right now, Instagram Reels provide the biggest reach and visibility. Carousel posts are also a good option because they are easily save-able and share-able. Finally, don’t neglect your Instagram Stories during the pre-promo content phase — this is the tool that you use to nurture your existing audience and build deeper trust!
Once you’ve adequately warmed up your audience with 4-6 weeks of pre-promo content, it’s time to shift into the live promo content phase. This is exactly what it sounds like: content that you create and post while your promotion or launch is active. This is when you really should be focusing on the product or service you are offering, what it is and who it is for, and why it’s unique. You’ll also want to tap into your audience’s pain points (AKA what they are struggling with) and how your product or service acts as a solution for those problems.
During the live promo phase, it will be in your best interest to keep driving visibility and traffic towards your profile via Instagram Reels while also utilising your Instagram Stories to provide as much information as possible about your offer — examples of great IG Story content include Q&A sessions, tips and tricks, product/service breakdowns and demonstrations, etc.
From there, you want to make sure that your content creation process isn’t unsustainable or overwhelming. Launching or promoting a product or service can be exhausting and content adds an entirely new layer to the process. The only way to stay consistent is to ensure that you aren’t burning out on your current method. Here are a few of my best tips and tricks to help you manage content creation during this busy time:
Step 3: Plan Your Content In-Between Promotions/Launches
Remember those “gaps” I mentioned briefly before — the time in-between your launches and time off? Your content strategy during this phase shouldn’t default to “fluff” simply because you aren’t actively promoting something. Instead, you should be thinking about ways you can continue to form relationships and connections with your target market, build your brand, and establish yourself as an expert. This will prepare your audience for the next time you launch or promote a product/service.
So, what should your creation process look like during this phase? You’ll want to focus on the following two things in order to make an impact while staying consistent:
And there you have it! A simple, no-frills content strategy you can use to stay on track throughout the year, no matter what is going on in your business.
As an award-winning marketing consultant, I know a thing or two about creating powerful content. In fact, the bespoke strategies that I’ve helped my clients create and implement have led to massive, transformational results. If you want this to be a reality in your business as well, learn more about booking a strategy call with me to discuss creating a highly lucrative content strategy for your own business, minus the burnout or frustration!