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Everyone I talk to is looking for new time saving tips but is it possible to save time when creating social media content?
You know content can drive your business forward – It can build your audience, educate your potential customers, engage your followers and delight your customers.
In short: content is essential when growing your business.
But it’s so TIME-CONSUMING – right?
No matter what industry you are in, it takes time, energy and brainpower to create great content. And it’s hard to have all three of those factors for long periods of time.
Most of the time – it’s not coming up with the ideas that’s the problem but finding the time to actually sit down and create it….
…..especially when you’re busy juggling everything else in your business.
If you’re nodding your head as you read this then you’re going to love these 5 amazing time-saving tips that will make you fall back in love again with social media!
Before we dive into these 5 time-saving tips I’d like to recommend you read through my blog ‘Why you should have a Social Media Strategy for your Small Business’ to remind yourself of WHY you need to keep up your consistency
Here are five of my favourite time-saving social media content creation tips:
1. Batch your social media content
Our brains are wired so that the more we repeat a task, the more our brain understands it and therefore, speeds up the process of completing it.
In order to apply this theory to social media – try doing similar tasks in the same block of time to improve productivity. Ie if you regularly post quotes to your Instagram grid then spend time once a week or once a month to make 5/10 in one sitting. That way you’ll always have an option to pick from when needed.
Try it out for a few days and see how productive you feel!
2. Keep track of content ideas
I know I’m not alone in being struck with brilliant content ideas at the most inconvenient times -just as I’m about to jump on a client call or pick up my son from school.
The trick is to write the idea down as soon as possible so that you have a bank of ideas to look through the next time you start to put together some content.
I definitely haven’t found the ultimate solution for this but between saving articles to Trello and keeping a spreadsheet of ideas I always have lots of ideas ready to share.
3. Create variations
One very quick way to create tons of content is to create variations.
Creating variations means taking a piece of content and changing it slightly by either rewording it, using different graphics, pulling out relevant quotes etc.
The idea is the overall message is the same but the delivery is a little different.
Depending on how many and which social media channels you use then this is an extremely useful way to make your content go further.
4. Maximize your productivity while batching
There have been thousands of articles written about the best ways to maximize productivity so you can create more in less time so I’m just going to list the ones that work best for me.
a) Use timers
It gives you a single task to focus on, which is proven to boost productivity. As an added bonus, you’ll quickly learn how long certain tasks take you so you can set your schedule accordingly.
b) Turn off notifications
Switch your phone on silent, turn off notifications on your desktop or on your social media pages and put yourself to “Away” — even if it’s just for 20 minutes!
c) Use technology
There are lots of Chrome extensions, website blocking and other focus tools available that allow you to block websites for a certain period of time or play music to aid concentration.
Just don’t waste too much time finding one you like
5. Remember content is non-negotiable
Sometimes, finding the time means being clear on your priorities.
If you run an online business, content matters.
Make creating your content non-negotiable in your schedule.
Block out the time for it or organize your day so that you’re creating your content when you’re most energized. Don’t hesitate to make content creation a priority, even if that means saying no to other projects at that moment. Your business will be better for it.