Have you ever seen a really good juggler juggle plates? It can be exciting to watch as the juggler begins with several plates, then adds more and more plates until so many plates are flying through the air you wonder, “How on earth does he do that?” As a fairly new blogger, I feel like that juggler with all of the plates flying through the air. Only, in my version of plate juggling I’m unsuccessful in keeping them all moving at once. I am so worried about “catching” one plate that I completely “drop” the rest.
Do you recognize the need to post content on multiple social media platforms but struggle with how to make this happen most effectively? Do you feel like I do? Are you constantly dropping one social media plate to focus on another? Are you worrying about the other social media plates that you know you should start tossing into the air? I don’t have an unlimited supply of social media plates to break and realized I need a better plan. After consulting social media experts, I compiled 5 helpful hints.
Brain Dump
Just like those spinning plates, there are often so many ideas running through my mind that I can’t keep track of them all. Brain dumping is one method for getting these ideas recorded. YouTube Creator Marley Jaxx suggests starting “with brain dumping all of your ideas and then organizing them into keywords and topics.”
Create Content Themes
Trina, from the YouTube Channel “Tips with Trina,” suggests creating themes for each week of the month. She calls them content pillars. “These are the pillars that you rest your business on. These are your areas of expertise.” She explains that while the main focus of her channel is YouTube strategy, she is able to tie in other themes. She weaves productivity tips, tips on building a business, and confidence building tips into her plan. These topics easily support her main focus and provide additional themes or pillars. She focuses on one of these pillars each week.
Batch Produce Content
The idea of producing content in batches can be applied in many ways. Ashlyn, from Ashlyn Writes, says this begins for her with “setting aside a big-time block where I’m going to dive deep, brainstorm, and really flesh out the research…” Her “hero content” is her weekly YouTube video. After creating the video, she determines what to post on other social media channels. Describing her process, she explains that this content, “gets stretched and broken up. …It gets teased on Instagram stories. It’s one full Instagram post. It’s three full Facebook posts, one email marketing campaign, about five different pins, and one tweet, all from that one video.” You might consider “batch producing” the photography needed for posts on your blog, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Video could be “batch produced” then edited. After editing for the appropriate platform, the videos could be used for YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, or your blog.
Create a Content Calendar
Phil Pallen is a brand strategist and social media expert. He explains the importance of taking the time to plan content. He explains, “Planning your content ahead of time is like the online version of keeping an agenda, anticipating in-person commitments, and relying on technology to help us perform our daily tasks. In fact, not just perform them, but enhance them.”
Creating a Content Calendar allows us to see the bigger picture. When we keep track of everything in one place, we can see where we need to refocus our efforts.
Conclusion
Creating and maintaining a presence on multiple social media platforms can be overwhelming. Hopefully, one or more of these ideas will help you go from trying unsuccessfully to juggle multiple social media channels to being the ringmaster of your online presence.
Did you try one of these ideas? How did it work for you? Do you have other suggestions? Please comment and let me know! OR send me an email at Teri@EatCraveCreate.com