Why you should batch your content

If you run a small business, you won’t have failed to notice that the number one marketing tool right now is content creation. For you, that might mean posting to your social media channels every day, or creating videos, or writing blog posts for your website. It might be that you’re busy planning out sales funnels or PDF’s to grow your email list. Perhaps you’re planning an eBook or guide to showcase your expertise.

There’s no denying that all of these things are amazingly powerful aspects of your online marketing, and content creation is an important thing to get right if you want to attract more customers. But doing all of that takes a lot of time – how on earth are you expected to get it all done, on top of running a business, and serving the customers you’ve already got?

I’ve tried, in the past, to create myself a posting schedule. I’ve dedicated myself to writing a blog posts every Monday, set aside half an hour to update my social channels every morning etc. etc. But it’s not always possible – other things get in the way, you get busy with other projects, and your content ends up getting left behind, becomes inconsistent, and therefore unnoticed.

But lately, I’ve been experimenting with a different way of doing it. To be honest, I don’t know why it took me so long to figure it out – that is, batch content creation.

What is batch content creation?

Put simply, content batching is writing your content in a block, in one sitting. Rather than writing one blog post, for example each week, you write 4 posts at a time, and then schedule them for the whole month.

While that might seem like an awful lot of work, it actually saves you a lot of time, because you will be able to focus on doing that one task, rather than trying to flit from one type of projects to another.

I actually take things a bit further than that, in that I prefer to brainstorm ideas for posts separately. For example, I’ll spend half an hour simply listing ideas and/or titles for blog posts I want to write, and then I come back to that list on another day and start writing them out. Doing it this way means I don’t have to sit and come up with ideas, as they’re already there.

Different types of content batching

1.      Blogs

As I’ve already mentioned this one, I’ll start with blog posts. Many businesses choose to blog as part of their marketing strategy because it not only gives them a place to tell their audience what they know, it gives authority, and works well for relationship building.

Once you’ve got a bank of blog posts on your website, you can use those to create other types of content, particularly for your social media outlets.

2.      Social media

This is a really simple one, and it has allowed me to have so much more free time where I don’t have to worry about being active on social media 24/7. In fact, I’m rarely present on my social media platforms for more than half an hour a day these days, yet I’m able to post on them every single day, even when I’m not working, am on holiday, have a sick day, or anything else that takes me away  from my desk.

Every couple of weeks, I use an online scheduling tool (Buffer is my weapon of choice), to create my social posts for the weeks ahead. Set it and forget it!

3.      Videos

I’ll admit, I don’t do this one (yet!), but I know others do it with great success. By spending a day recording for video, it’s possible to have a whole load of content which can be uploaded to YouTube, social media and stories (which, btw, can easily be repurposed into other content).

Creating a plan

OK, so if you’re going to implement batching into your marketing, you need a solid plan. So follow these steps:

1.      Get out your diary/planner/scheduling app

2.      Pick a good day

3.      Write ‘batch day’, and block out the time you think you’ll need

4.      Add another hour and block that out too

5.      When that day comes – use it!

People, if you don’t plan it and schedule it, you won’t commit to it and it won’t get done. Trust me on this.

A few more tips

Here are some things that have helped me out in my batching journey…

Do one task at a time

i.e. spend an hour just planning topics or subjects. Then an hour searching for images. Then block out some time to do just writing/editing/research… you get the idea!

Be flexible

Yeah, I know I said block out a day, but sometimes, when you get there, you’re just not feeling it. Or something more important comes up. Or you’re sick. Allow it – and schedule it for another day, if you need to. Just make sure you do schedule it.

Be consistent

You will eventually create your own habits, that work for you. But in the beginning, it will be hard. You’ll find excuses not to stick to it. But it is important that you do – it gets easier, and it will make your content so much better in the long term.

Over to you

Try it, and keep me posted. Let me know how you get on, what works and doesn’t, and any tips you have for others who want to try batching!

About me

Tereasa Hedges, freelance copywriter for creatives, designers and makers.

I’m a freelance copywriter who specialises in writing content for creative people, helping you to reach larger audiences through blogging, web content, email marketing, and a little bit of social media for good measure.

Want to work with me? Contact me for a chat via shirecopywriting@outlook.com