It’s time to batch your marketing content

In recent weeks, we’ve shared videos about using holidays in your marketing and the marketing system we’re using this year (My [2016] Marketing System).

Now is the time for YOU to batch your own marketing content, before the holidays take off or things get busy wrapping up the year.

Because content can feel like a treadmill you can’t escape and it can feel overwhelming. By planning months in advance, you’ll save time and your sanity.

Marketing consistently helps you attract new clients, get your brand out there, and stay relevant in your field. Few businesses can survive without a marketing plan.

There’s always a lot going on in life and business so if you work in batches, months in advance, you can ensure consistency.

If your business stays pretty consistent, then you marketing can be done ahead of time.

Note: this isn’t possible for fast-changing fields like political commentary or weather predictions. Imagine if the Farmer’s Almanac was your only resource for today’s weather. It wouldn’t be very accurate or helpful.

When you know your content schedule, you have more time to make more in depth content. This might include downloadable resources, ads, custom graphics, edited videos, and an accompanying newsletter. If you always work last minute the content will necessarily be more shallow and give less value.

Batching allows you to create content faster

When you’re in a powerful, creative flow you can batch your written or video content so you can work ahead of the calendar. This gives you more space in your schedule week to week.

The trick to batching here is that you work when you’re energetic, excited and ready to share – not when content feels like a chore. Setting aside a full day for video can be exciting and (honestly) part of the excitement is knowing how much time you’re saving over the next few months.

Planning allows you to create themes

Take a big subject and break it down into smaller posts and content. Creating a series encourages people to come back for the next piece of content and naturally increases your click through to other content.

This has a two-fold benefit of keeping people on your site longer and learning more about what you do. This is part of the deeper content that is both intentional and strategic.

In my opinion people are getting tired of tips and hacks that don’t go deep enough into the why and how of what businesses are trying to teach. Show me it works, show me how it works and then I’ll be more likely to teach you.

Got vacation?

When you’ve batched content for the future, it’s a lot easier to take time off whether for an upcoming holiday or planned vacation. It also allows you to relax without worrying about your content creation.

If you feel like you’re on a never-ending treadmill of content creation then start by planning all the content you’re going to put out next month over the next 7 days. Keep working to get ahead and then slow down.

Remember you can include social media posts, images, custom graphics and Periscope topics. Batching allows you to reduce your stress around content creation.

Share in the comments: If you’ve batched in the past, what did you love about it? If you’re brand new to batching, what’s the #1 thing that holds you back?