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Introduction
Do you ever feel like you just waste time on Instagram with your Instagram business profile? I completely understand your pain. I’ve been in that situation myself, and I was going crazy to find time to do all the things. That is why I am so excited to share this blog post with you today.
It took some time, but I finally figured out a few ways to make my time on Instagram not only fun but time-efficient as well. If you’ve ever found yourself frustrated and overwhelmed with Instagram, this blog post is a must-read for you!
In this post, we will cover 5 ways to save time on Instagram!
Create a Content Bank
Batch Create Your Content
Create a Hashtag Bank
Schedule Your Posts
Schedule Time for Engagement
Create a Content Bank
Okay. So you may be scratching your head, thinking, “what the heck is a content bank?” A content bank is a list of content ideas that are derived from your content pillars. Not sure about content pillars? Content pillars are broad topics that relate to your brand. When you identify the topics that you will create content marketing around it provides for a clear and consistent message.
As a content marketing manager, when I create a content bank for a client, I utilize a content marketing strategy and break it up into five sections: Value, Personal Brand, Promotional, Inspirational, Funny. This way, whenever they need an idea for any type of content, they head over to their social media content bank and choose one of the ideas listed.
How often have you been staring at your phone, wondering what in the world you should post? Having a content bank will solve this problem and give you a plethora of social media content ideas. Also, all of the content bank topics are topics that you can easily speak about since they are all created from your content pillars.
Batch Create Your Content
You wouldn’t go into the kitchen to make just one cookie, right? No, you would bake a batch of cookies. This is how you should create your Instagram posts, a batch at a time. If you’re wondering how to create content for Instagram, keep reading!
Now, this might not seem like it’s a real time-saver, but I promise it is!!! When you sit down to create your Instagram content, you’re already in the creation zone. You have everything that you need: content ideas from your content bank, all your photos/graphics, and your hashtags from your hashtag bank (keep reading to learn more about a hashtag bank).
Schedule time to dedicate to creating your posts for the week/two weeks/month with an Instagram content calendar. Whatever works best for you. Then write all your captions, choose your photos/graphics, and gather your hashtags.
By batch creating your Instagram content Ideas, it frees up more time during the week to devote to other aspects of your business. I felt like I was spinning my wheels when I was posting every day. Batch creating content for myself and my clients was a game changer!!!
Create a Hashtag Bank
Now let’s talk about hashtags! You either love or hate them, but there’s no denying that if you want your fantastic content to be seen by people outside of your following, you need to use them.
Having a good Instagram hashtag strategy is very important. If you don’t have a hashtag strategy in place, then definitely read this post.
Choosing Instagram hashtags for your post is not a guessing game. You need to do the research with an Instagram hashtag search and determine if they are a good fit for your brand and content. Once you research those hashtags, it’s time to take them to the bank.
I like to use an excel spreadsheet to keep track of hashtags that I feel are a good fit for myself or a client account. You’ll want to go in and check your hashtags periodically to ensure that they are still a good fit for you.
If you’re an interior designer, let me help you out with your interior design instagram account. I created an interior design hashtag bank with over 250 research hashtags.
Schedule Your Posts
Now that you have created your posts, you’ll want to schedule them so you don’t forget to post! There are a ton of scheduling tools that you can choose from. Below are a few Instagram marketing tools that I have used and recommend.
Metricool - This scheduling tool is the one that we use to schedule our clients' content and our own. It is a robust tool that allows for easily cross-posting content to various platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest, Google Business, and Twitter. In addition, Metricool provides valuable insights into your social media performance, making it an excellent tool for refining your strategy based on real data. Plus, it's user-friendly, with an interface that's easy to navigate, even for those not so tech-savvy among us.
Want to give Metricool a try? Click here
Please note that the link provided is an affiliate link, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you choose to use the service. I want to assure you that I would never recommend something that I haven't tested and loved myself. Your trust means everything to me.
Meta Business Suite - This is a free tool developed and supported by Meta and allows you to schedule your Facebook and Instagram posts, monitor comments and direct messages for both platforms, and provides analytic information for both Facebook and Instagram. I like this scheduling tool because it allows you to customize Facebook and Instagram captions. This is especially helpful when you have links that you would like to include in your Facebook post.
Planoly – Planoly is a great option for scheduling your content. However, in order to get the most functionality, you will need to upgrade to their paid version. It’s straightforward to use, upload your images, and insert your captions. If you are on the paid version, you can auto-post (meaning that you schedule your post and Planoly will automatically post for you). Another great feature that Planoly offers is the ability to create hashtag groups. You can check out Planoly here.
Later – This is another tool that I often use for Instagram. The features are very similar to Planoly, although I do not recall a hashtag group feature. However, Later does provide hashtag suggestions, which is nice. Click here to get more information about Later.
Schedule Time for Engagement
You can’t just post and ghost when using Instagram for business. You need to hang out on Instagram and engage with people who comment on your posts, and you need to be engaging with other accounts.
It’s very easy to get sucked into the black hole that Instagram can be, so if you are looking to make it worthwhile, schedule it, and be smart about how you engage.
All you need is about thirty minutes a day. First, set a timer for ten minutes. Use this time to respond to anyone who commented on your posts or sent you a DM. After that ten minutes are up, set your timer for another ten minutes. Now engage with people that you are following and people that follow you. Use the last ten minutes to engage with posts that use a hashtag relevant to your brand and/or your ideal client.s.
If you feel like you’re spending too much time keeping up with your Instagram, try using the tips above. If you need extra help getting a process in place, then let’s chat!
I love to help interior designers, and other creative entrepreneurs grow their businesses through Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Just fill out the form below, and we’ll schedule a time chat.
Conclusion:
We talked about how to save time on Instagram with your Instagram content strategy. Here are the five points:
Create a Content Bank
Batch Create Your Content
Create a Hashtag Bank
Schedule Your Posts
Schedule Time for Engagement