In the wedding industry, we typically find ebbs and flows in how busy we are each month. Typically the summer season overwhelms us with weddings that planning your social media content is the last thing we think of!

Firstly, it’s important to acknowledge that social media is not supposed to be the core focus of your business. By doing it well, you can ensure your brand is well known among your dream clients but it should only form a part of your overall marketing strategy. If you find that you’re spending more hours on your social media than any other part of your business, something isn’t right!

In this blog we are going to talk about planning your social media content so you can show up even in the busy seasons without that overwhelm.

1. Plan When You are Going to Post

It’s Wednesday evening and you realize that you still haven’t posted anything on your Instagram this week. You either put your head in the sand or spend the next hour trying to choose the perfect image and then have something meaningful to say. Sound familiar?

The first step is to decide the frequency of your posts. It’s important to emphasize here that quality & consistency trump frequency. Gone are the days when the algorithms for Instagram & Facebook favour those who are posting daily. Now, engagement levels are largely what dictate the success of your posts!

So what you post, needs to attract people to ensure the algorithm prioritize that content to your audience. Choose a frequency that you know you can commit to even in your busy season! You can always increase it when you feel more comfortable. I would recommend two or three times per week.

2. Schedule your posts

Writing content on the fly is not the way to rock your social media. If you’re inspired, write it down and save it. Batch working your social media content is the best way to make use of your time. I recommend booking time each month to sit down and plan your content. Decide what you want to post about that month and plan the content.

Now many of you want the timing of your content in real time. Remember… even if you are posting about a wedding on the day of, it may not actually be seen by your audience until days later (it’s not your choice… it’s the algorithms). No one is expecting real time posts anymore and if they are…. Those are for your stories! If you have lots of photos from last year…. Still post them!

When it comes to scheduling your content, you can use apps to help simplify this process. I personally use Planoly which allows you to create a beautiful visual grid, save favourite hashtags and plan your captions within the app. It’s completely free for up to 30 images (and a month is all you need to plan ahead!).

3. Re-purpose Content

At Schift & Co we plan a lot of our content around our blogs. This allows us to re-purpose them across our social channels (including Pinterest). If this is not the way you work, that’s fine but you shouldn’t try to create unique content for every single platform that you are on.

I was taught that Facebook posts should be resized to match their images but the benefits versus the time it takes, it really isn’t worth it! Just use that ‘repost to Facebook’ button on your Instagram!

4. Analyse What Works

Check to see what is actually working for you when it comes to social media! You have both Facebook & Instagram insights and I would recommend setting up Google Analytics for your website. This way you can see what is performing well and what isn’t.

In addition, when you book a client, make sure you’re asking where they found you! This will let you know which of your marketing efforts are driving the most bookings. So if you discover that Instagram brings in more clients than LinkedIn…. You know where you should be focusing your time.

5. Planning your Social Media Platforms

You do not need to be on all of the social media platforms. If you’re overwhelmed by trying to be everywhere but not doing any of them well, it’s time to reassess. I would recommend starting on Instagram & using the re-post to Facebook tool. Once you have that figured out, start working on Pinterest.

If you really hate social media but know it helps your business, hire a virtual assistant to take it off your plate. Remember that your time is valuable and if you find that your strengths lie elsewhere… then outsource what isn’t in your expertise.

Overwhelmed with where to start? Our 1:1 coaching takes you through 14 stages to make sure we check off everything you need to rock your business. Interested? Contact me today.