Consistant planning of regular content for Instagram: instruction

Smart preparation of a content plan is the key to high-quality, regular and varied posting. We'll provide several instructions on creating a content plan for your Instagram account.

The golden rule for successful business developing on Instagram and other social networks is the regular publication of posts. Audience is always eager to see new material, so regular content publication will help to increase engagement and attract new followers.

Prepared content plan will be a so-called reminder. We will talk about developing a publication schedule, creating a rubricator, and a reminder of the Stories posting.

Versatile content plan

Every day, various posts appear in the feed - personal, entertaining, advertising, informational, etc. Using the content plan, you can distinguish your publications among others. The higher the position of the account in the stream and in the search queries, the faster potential customers find out about your products or services.

A content plan is a publication schedule for posts based on the format of publications.

Tasks:

• facilitate regular publications;
• prevention of similar content;
• creation of informative posts;
• reach analyrics and audience popularity;
• generating ideas for new materials.

Opportunities:

• formulation of the structure and time of publication;
• logical construction of the order of posts;
• balance between advertising and informational types of publications.

Three plans for Instagram

Instagram provides the creation of content for feed posts (feeds), stories and IGTV. Therefore, your plan should consist of three tables (if it has only one table, it;s necessary to indicate the direction of the published content in it).

Step-by-step instruction on creating a content plan

The publication schedule consists of regular sections and additional topics, whish are added if necessary. This can be one-time actions, congratulations, informing about scgedule changes, etc.

Here is an example:

To create a plan you will need:

• paper, notebook and pen;
• tools for working with tables (Exel, calc, Google Doc);
• organizers for a mobile device (Essential PIM, memorizer, business calendar 2);
• posponed post service (automatic reminder of posting).

Inexperienced users make some mistakes while creating a content plan. Here are the most common ones:

• lack of time restrictions (users' activity and store features are not taken into consideration);
• fuzzy wording (randomness in topics, incomprehensible wishes for filling the profile);
• lack of clear goals.

For store's profile promoting, create two plans

The first plan will be one-tima use for the first couple of weeks. It should contain the following information:

1. Information about company/brand (history, personnel, address, contacts, etc.).
2. Description of goods/services (including the features description: composition, material, implementation technology, scope, price).
3. Purchase options (how to choose, purchase,pay, receive).

The second plan is drawn up during the development of the outlet. Over time, you will be able to establish regular columns and create the schedule of posting.

Set the subject of publications

Here is the interaction scheme of the customer with the store:

• acquaintance;
• analysis of goods and price;
• selection and purchasing;
• purchase review.

Each step requires specific content.

Example: oreo cookies shop

To get acquainted with the site, you can place high-quality creative images of oreo cookies. In order to demonstrate the assortment, use a carousel or create a photo collage. As a motivation, offer promotions and discounts.

Share personal information with a potential customer: information about the owner of the store, tell about the features of each unit from the catalog, prospects, benefits. You can occasionally publish news posts that are directly related to the topic.

Content for online store profile:

• informational (reviews, news, schedule);
• entertaining (polls, jokes, humor);
• advertising (promotions, special offers, etc.);
• bugging (tips for equipment use, life hacks).

Do not limit yourself to posts of an advertising nature only, since an overabundance of advertising often causes negative. Share photos from your personal life. 30% of the content may be occupied by posts that are not related to the product.

Determine the number of posts

The frequency of publications and their information content are two inversely proportional indicators. Do not post content for show. Visitors are waiting for exciting publications.

For example, cookies and cake shop may share several posts per day, while hardware stores may limit themselves to three-four posts per week.

Advance preparation of posts or their templates

Stock up on articles and photos for a couple of weeks in advance. This will help you to avoid disruptions and large amounts of work. It matters for pending publications.

Make a monthly publication order, make corrections and extensions every week. Don't forget to take into consideration holiday planning:

• vacation;
• New Year, Christmas, Easter, etc.;
• end of the school year.

It's common, that in pre-holiday period the surge of customers is gaining momentum. Make an action plan at least a month before the event. Cosmetic stores should prepare for the holiday season a few months earlier. The same concerns clothing stores.

In the process of preparation, a correction of the list of goods should be carried out, an effective advertising of sunblock creams, swimwear, beach accessories should be created. Additional benefits will help in building a customer base.

Let's summerize

We distribute the content in the following way:

• news feed - the main part;
• stories with polls, alerts, reviews, etc.;
• IGTV - a tour of the store, acquaintance with a product/service, contacting customers, workshops.