Tips for Batching Your Social Media Schedule
Social Media Batching
Creating a strong social media presence can be challenging. Whether it’s finding the time to create content daily or ensuring that your social voice carries throughout various posts and platforms — we get it, it can be tough. So, if you’re scrolling through Instagram and wondering…how are these brands churning out content so seamlessly? Most likely, they’re leveraging the magic of social media batching. Keep reading for a guide to social media batching to grow your content strategy today.
What is batching?
Simply put, batching is the art of dedicating a chunk of time to one specific task or deliverable. Think of it like meal prepping. At the beginning of the week, you dedicate a few hours of time to cooking multiple meals so that you’re set for success for the days ahead.
Similarly, social media batching is the act of creating and scheduling a large set of social content in advance.
Why is it important?
Social media batching is important for multiple reasons. First, by dedicating a set of time to churn out content for the days, or perhaps weeks/months ahead, it gives marketers more time to focus on other tasks during their day-to-day. Often, it’s very difficult to create and post content daily. So with social media batching, you ensure that you’re keeping your social media channels always active.
Secondly, by leveraging social media batching you can ensure that your brand voice remains consistent throughout your content. You want your social channels to look, sound, and feel cohesive. So, if you’re creating a large chunk of content all at once, most likely the content’s brand voice will flow seamlessly.
Batch by Platform
As strategic marketers, we know that each social media platform acts differently. For Instagram, content is obviously visually heavy. But for Twitter, short and effective text works best. With this in mind, be sure to batch your social content by a specific platform at a time. This way, you can best gather the appropriate assets needed for each, and effectively craft content that will best align with the platform’s best practices.
Batch with Content Buckets
One common fear of social media batching is the thought of producing overly similar content in large chunks. To avoid content theme saturation, leverage content buckets. Content Buckets outline each specific theme your brand’s social strategy needs to highlight. With Content Buckets in mind, be sure to rotate which content bucket/theme you’re hitting on for each post.
Keep Timing in Mind
While scheduling your social content for the days, weeks, or months ahead, be sure to understand the timing in which your content will go live. While you may be crafting a TGIF post on a Friday, make sure that post is actually set to go live on a Friday. Or perhaps in October, and your creating continue that will go live into December. Be sure to keep holidays and cultural moments in mind as your creating content for the months ahead.
Marketer’s Tip: To avoid any timing typos – work to craft content that is evergreen. Simply put, avoid specific days or times of the week in your text!
Marketer’s Tip: While you may be scheduling your content in advance, that doesn’t mean the work is over just yet. Be sure to actively monitor your social channels as content goes live and proactively adjust content if the media and cultural landscape changes. Always be sensitive to timing.
Remember Quality over Quantity
Lastly, an important tip to understand for social media batching is the importance of quality over quantity. Yes, social media batching is meant to craft large chunks of social content in one sitting. But don’t let that pivot your content from being of high quality. Set realistic goals, to ensure your content creation remains effective.
And most importantly, remember that even the best content marketers hit creative blocks. If this is happening to you, simply step back, recharge, and dive back in when you’re creative juices start to flow again.