I always say that if you’re not batching your content for Instagram, that’s fine. You don’t have to batch content for Instagram, but you do have to do something that works. 

Something that allows you to show up consistently and provide value to your audience. 

If you can’t do that, and you also think that batching isn’t for you, or that you can’t keep up with it, I challenge you to read this entire blog. 

I’m Annie Miller and I help you build a sustainable and profitable online health and fitness business without butt selfies or selling your soul to vanity metrics.

Batching content is creating mass content ahead of when that content is going to be released to your audience. 

In terms of Instagram, that more often than not refers to posts. Not Stories. 

Though you absolutely can pre-record stories, or create graphics to use in your stories ahead of time for particular topics. 

This would make sense during a launch, or a promotion of some kind. Maybe you have a weekly newsletter that you’d like to share, and you have some kind of graphic that you put in your stories regularly. 

For today, we are focusing on posts and ways that you can go about preparing your content ahead of time so that when you do post that content, that’s all you have to do. There’s no in-the-moment creation. 

You can just put out the post and focus on interacting with your audience on the app.

Why Batch Content for Instagram?

1. Consistency (even in storms)

The benefit of batching is that you remain consistent, and dependable with your content output. Regardless of shit hitting the fan in life, or in business, you know what you’re supposed to post, and you can get it up in five seconds. 

That’s only because the work was done ahead of time. 

And this is the beauty of batching.

2. Practice Getting in the Flow of Creation

When you batch content for Instagram, it allows you to only wear one hat at a time, or have one focus at a time within your business tasks. 

It is absolutely exhausting to have to put on your creative cap every day. Because inspiration comes in waves, we aren’t always creative every day, or at the same time every day. 

Later in this blog, we’ll discuss some options for people who prefer to post more on the fly. 

Traditional batching doesn’t appeal to all personality types, but I do think having some level of preparation and organization can help even those of you who like to ride the wave of creativity.

3. Separation of Creation and Posting

When the work is done ahead of time, it takes that self-imposed weight off of “having to post”, being under the wire, or watching the clock.

Posting becomes a mindless task that’s “done for you” every day.

This is the most popular response I get when clients embrace batching. 

Yes, it still takes time to batch content for Instagram, but it’s the distribution of that time and energy, which becomes the biggest aha moment for coaches and creators. 

There’s far less stress that revolves around having to post and being on the app.

I think there’s a sense of control that comes when you batch content for Instagram, so let’s get into my content creation process.

1. Determining your Post Frequency

You need to decide how many posts per week you are putting out. 

And I say posts per week, because that could be up to 14 or 21 posts per week. This is going to be smaller, bite-size content for someone posting multiple times per day.

Please don’t think you have to do that.

But if growth is your goal, I encourage you to try posting twice per day once you find your batching process and get those systems in place.

So choose your frequency, and then apply all of these batching principles and tasks to create however many posts you need for the week. I encourage people to have at least three weeks batched at a time. 

It’s going to be double the work upfront to get ahead… and then you have to stay ahead. 

2. One of the Biggest Misconceptions I see When People Start Batching. 

They batch their first set of content, and then wait until they’ve run out of content before creating their next batch. 

When you have one week of content left in your prepared batch, it’s time to create your next set. 

This is key to staying on top of your batching and continuing to experience the benefits. 

Otherwise, we just get into a perpetual cycle of getting ahead and feeling behind, getting ahead and feeling behind. 

It’s all the same amount of work.  But when we batch, we are ahead, versus being forced to create in the moment.

3. Apps I use & Stages to Batch Content for Instagram:

Oftentimes when people hear batching, they assume I am sitting down and coming up with the content ideas, creating the actual pieces of content, the video, or swipe graphics, writing the captions, and editing any video that needs to be done. All in one sitting.

That is not the case, and has literally never been the case.

I don’t know anyone who does that. 

Batching, more often than not, happens in phases. 

The apps I use for planning and execution are; Notes app, Canva and Final Cut Pro, and/or the Captions app. [paige pull up icons]

We’ll go over how each of these play a role as I explain each phase of batching.

Batching does not need to happen in this particular order, but all of these things will need to take place in order for you to create content ahead of time.

These are the steps that batching content entails. 

Based on your schedule, and time availability, you might do these on the go? Or you might bust out two or three of them at the same time. 

1. You will find what creative process works best, and feels the most natural for you. 

And this is very important, because I see the most resistance when people feel like they are being shoved into a box they don’t fit into from a creative standpoint. 

Whether you view yourself as a creator or not, you are. 

It’s one of the biggest struggles that online health and fitness professional’s face. They’ll say…

“I’m a strength coach” 

“I’m just a chiropractor,” “a registered dietitian” etc.

Well…guess what Susan, you have an online brand? You’re a social media creator and manager now too.

CONGRATS!

I encourage you to embrace it. Because the best way for you to get your messaging across, lies on the other side of finding your creative process.

You’ve got your posting frequency. 

It’s then time for…

2. Idea Generation

You can keep a running list of post ideas in your Notes app or wherever it makes sense for you. 

This one can happen on the go. When you’re in the car, after you get off client calls, or when you receive a DM. Jot down the topic or idea for a post in this ongoing list. 

This could also be an actual brainstorming session where you sit down and list out as many contact ideas as you can. 

Either one, or both work.

** this is not required, but if it makes your life easier, you can also make a note next to each idea as to which medium of content you think makes the most sense for that particular topic….

Whether it should be a swipe graphic, an educational real, a lip-synching real, or something along those lines.

Once you have that idea generation down, you are going to plug those content topics into your schedule. 

So whatever frequency you chose, you are going to decide what days those ideas are going to be posted on. 

I also do this in my Notes app. 

I have a note for content ideas, and then I plug those ideas into my weekly schedule. 

Sometimes that’s posting once a day, sometimes that’s posting twice per day.

3. Draft your Captions

From there, I personally write all of my captions before doing the creatives. Some examples…

I jot down captions while I’m walking on the treadmill. I’ll use voice texting in the car. I write them when I’m in the shower or bathtub. 

It’s very rare that I’m sitting still and writing a caption. 

Again, this is why it’s so important to find what works for you. 

And that’s only going to come through trial and error.

You might find that making your content idea list and then doing the creatives, is what you need before writing the captions.

More often than not, I find that captions help lead me to what medium of content this particular piece should be.

If it’s a swipe graphic, I’m typically just taking the whole caption, or parts of the caption, and putting them directly into the graphic. 

**If you’ve never considered doing that before, there’s a little tip.

****You also just heard me mention that I use voice texting a lot for my captions. 

If you struggle with inserting your voice into your captions, or any of your copy, this is a great place to start. 

Use voice texting and then go back and fix any grammar or formatting that needs to be fixed.

The next three pieces of batching are going to be dependent on the type of content you are creating. 

But these would be the actual “creation mode” of the post.

I could be wrong, but this tends to be where people feel like the creation process takes more time than it’s worth. 

That is also caption writing for a fair amount of people. But I tend to see it more in the actual piece of content – making videos, creating canvas, graphics, individuals, etc..

Setting up Canva Graphics

Purchase templates from a BRANDING designer. Go on Fiverr and see if you can pay someone to make graphics for your brand…

Or go to Canva, and designate an hour of your time upfront to find 5 to 7 post graphics. You will edit these and reuse for your brand.

If you are creating every single Instagram post from scratch, you are wasting so much of your own precious time. Please stop doing that.

Once you have 5 to 7 templates, use those to create a week of content or more. Then reuse them over and over again. 

You’ll end up making small tweaks and changes, and they will likely evolve over time. 

But they will make your life so much easier.

Planning Video / Scripts / Notes for Batching

With video, we have some options. 

We have a face-to-camera video, and then different styles of reels….

1. Take a video of yourself lifting or making a meal, and then put in a voiceover or text over the top of it. 

2. Use trending audio, or a song that you want in order to make a point with your content.

I create most of my reel content directly in Instagram especially if I’m using Instagram audio. Otherwise, I edit all of my video in Final Cut Pro. 

This is a paid program for Macs I believe. 

I used to do all of my captions manually in Final Cut Pro. 

But, I finally gave in to using the Captions app in order to add closed captions quicker for my video content.

 3. Video Recording & Editing Batch Content for Instagram

With video content, there are really three separate pieces.

There’s the planning of the actual video. 

And that will depend on the type of video you are creating. Some take more planning than others….

Some take no planning if you are literally just pulling a video you took off your phone and putting text over the top. 

These are some of my best performing reels on Instagram. 

…If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. 

Please do not do more work than you need to do. Just like in health and fitness.

Just be sure to leave time for recording a video and then actually creating that piece of content through editing or adding text. 

This is where the time can add up if you are unprepared to complete all of the pieces for the video.

…CREATING ALL OF THAT:

Much like batching allows us to put one hat on at a time. Within creating different types of content, you have some options as well.

You can go down your list of planned contact ideas and create a graphic if it’s a graphic. Then create a video if it’s a video….

Or, go down your list for three weeks, or however long you want to create content for. Then create all of the swipe graphics, and then create all of the videos. 

This is my preferred method.

If I’m in Canva, creating swipe graphics, I want to create swipe graphics. 

If I am editing video, I want to be editing video. I do not enjoy bouncing back-and-forth between those two creative processes.

*Planning the grid*

This is optional from an aesthetic standpoint. I want my grid to be somewhat searchable by people who come to my page. 

But it’s not going to make or break when I post something. 

I am aware that the aesthetic of my page is mostly organized and branded. 

When I go to somebody’s page, and I’m deciding whether to follow them(or not). I typically won’t follow if their page is a mess.

Again, that could be anything. But it’s something to consider.

Engage with me

Do you plan your grid? Or care what someone’s grid looks like? Even from a navigation standpoint? Let me know below.

I only put planning the grid on here if you want content to come out on a certain day. Planning your grid is one way to do this. 

You can use apps like Later, Plann, Planoly. I’m sure there’s a ton out there now. 

I don’t suggest scheduling posts from these apps. Simply because, you want to be organically interacting with people after you post anyway.

But they can be useful to plug your contacts into one place.

FOR THE PERSON WHO “HATES” to batch content for Instagram, or prefers to ride the creative rollercoaster…

It can be both. 

I like to be very planned in my contacts simply because my life has always been hectic. If I don’t plan ahead, it’s not going to happen. 

That’s just me. I do think that’s the case for most people. But I also think that structure and batching can feel very restricting for different personality types as well. 

I also don’t think that posting only when you feel like it is a great business plan. 

And we are on social media in order to establish trust worthy, dependable brands…

Part of that comes through consistent value added…

Consistent connectivity with your audience, goes back to why we batch content for Instagram.

So I want you to leave room for creative waves.

 If you have something planned in your batched content, but you wanna fly off the handle about some topic in the moment, do it. 

Batching doesn’t mean that you have to post what is batched. 

It gives you something to fall back on if you do not have creativity in the moment. 

It rids you of that feeling that you have to post or have to come up with something when you don’t feel like it.

I also encourage you to batch content for Instagram when you are in a wave of creativity. 

If you wake up one day, and you feel super creative and inspired, get the most out of it that you possibly can.

You have a conversation with a client, and it brings up several contact topic ideas. 

If you have the time and space, go to town on that. 

And then use the batching tactics I gave you in today’s video to maybe get those on paper, created, and in some kind of schedule. 

Feel free to move things around, or change up the piece of content or caption. 

If you want to take it in a different direction on the day you’re supposed to post it, by all means do that..

There’s also no harm done in posting it as it is. Then create a different piece of content with the new take on how you’re feeling for that day.

OUTRO

So essentially I want you to still batch content for Instagram; but maybe less per week. This way, you leave yourself one or two spaces to create on the spot.

I don’t want your mindset about batching to be the thing that holds you back from getting content out to your audience when you have things to share.