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How to plan and create content for IG–this is a question that I got the other week when I asked you to share your questions about working as a blogger and/or influencer (also, be sure to check out my blogging tips for more posts!) I’ll start by saying, everyone’s process is different. There really isn’t a right or wrong way (IMO), it just is dependent on what works for you, and your brand and schedule. I’m first going to explain how I plan content and then share what other approaches I’ve heard through others, and on podcasts, etc!

I’ll be honest, I typically do not plan my content more than a few days in advance (if even that). As a lifestyle blogger, I feel like content that is too pre-planned kind of takes away from my brand and message.  A big part of my brand is showing everyday, real-life content. If it was pre-planned and curated I don’t feel like it would be as relatable if that makes sense. Am I saying that if you’re a lifestyle blogger that you can’t batch content and plan in advance? No, absolutely not! But for me, I feel like my brand is very “what you see is what you get” and I like to really show you parts of my everyday life. So for me,  it makes more sense and feels more on brand to show you what I’m doing each day, or at least share content that is pretty relevant to that week or point in time. This doesn’t mean that I won’t ever share content that I shot last month, but I usually keep it pretty close to real time. As far as captions go, I don’t pre-write captions either. For me, I write what I’m feeling that day. So maybe it’s something more lighthearted and funny, or maybe it’s something a little more thought-provoking; it just depends on what I’m feeling that day and what I feel like will resonate with you.

Regarding an actual posting schedule, usually before each week starts, I look to see what my schedule and content calendar is like and then go from there. Do I have any sponsored posts? Am I going anywhere or doing anything where I’d want to get a photo? Once those days are filled in, I may have an extra couple days left to fill/find photos for. Then I go through my recent photos and pull some options for those days. Then depending what my mood is that day, I’ll go through them and see if one jumps out at me, or if one goes with a caption/topic I want to talk about.

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That being said, I get that this may not be the best approach but my schedule permits it, and I feel like it works best for my brand. In general, I know that a lot of people plan and batch content ahead of time. Meaning, once a week or a couple of times a month they will go out and shoot all their content for the next week or month. I would say this is fairly common–you’re saving time batching content. In fact, I’ve listened to plenty of podcasts that say you should always pre-plan your content, and to never post in real time because your captions aren’t as thought out or effective and that you may end up sharing a photo that isn’t “up to par”. I can definitely see this in certain niches. For example, if all my photos and captions were fitness related then it would be easy to batch and pre-plan content around that one topic. Same goes for someone like a food blogger. If you’re a food account, it makes sense to prep a bunch of food in 1 day and shoot all your content and then plan your feed accordingly.

I get that planning ahead like this can make your content more intentional and save a lot of time, but as a lifestyle blogger, I never work in this way. I say as a lifestyle blogger because I feel like my job is to post content that showcases my everyday life. If I curated and planned a bunch of content, I don’t feel like the lifestyle element would be as authentic or translate as well. If I posted predominately fitness, or another topic like recipes, styled outfits, etc. I can see how this approach would work. For me though, I like showing you all my real, everyday life so it’s more authentic and easier for me to post more in the moment. That doesn’t mean that every photo I post was taken that exact same day (even though a lot of my content is) but the photos I post were usually taken at some point within the last few days or couple weeks.

So as you can see there are definitely different approaches and I think it just depends on what works for you and your brand. It’s kind of like IG stories–some people never talk in theirs and they are perfectly planned out and curated, and others (like me) just throw up whatever is going on in that moment! Lol. Different approaches work for different people 🙂 Any questions on this topic leave them below–happy to answer!