Social media can be awesome. There’s cat videos. Memes and GIFs. Powerful social movements that start with a single post or a hashtag. You can find “your people” on social media, or stay connected to the people you already know.

Social media is great and all… until you have to use it to build your brand. Uggghhhh.

All of a sudden, social media turns into an overwhelming timesuck. Do you have the right images? Are you using the right hashtags? Are you posting at exactly the right time??

If this sounds familiar to you, we got your back. In fact, we recently posted on Instagram about being slightly burnt out with Instagram.

Yup, even us most social media-savvy folks can get stuck in a rut. That’s why we’re sharing some tips on reducing overwhelm so you can keep kicking ass on social media. (We may also be writing this for ourselves, for future reference.)

Fill in the blanks on your calendar

Look at your future content going out in a given month. You do have an editorial calendar or content schedule, right? If not, enjoy our Content Planning Spreadsheet freebie.

Anyway, check your publish dates for any future blog posts, new podcast episodes, guest spots or interviews, emails, and so on. Mark those dates on your calendar with placeholders like “PODCAST LIVE DATE” or “PEACE OUT I’M ON VACAY” in the copy.

Then, it’s time to fill in those blanks. Write out captions for the posts you identified. Set a timer for 15 minutes, 30 minutes, one hour, however much you can spend on social media.

There you go. When you’re completely blanking out on what to post, it helps to just start somewhere and go from there.

Mix things up

We see a lot of people using fluffy, filler posts celebrating “holidays” like National Ice Cream Day. AND THEY DON’T EVEN LIKE ICE CREAM. Yes, those people do exist.

There’s nothing wrong with sharing fun content like that, as long as you don’t rely on those posts all the time. Think of them as empty calories: they generally don’t help you meet your biz goals, and they don’t give your followers anything of value. But sometimes, they are delicious.

To avoid sharing too many filler posts, we like to have a few different “buckets,” or types of posts, to keep things interesting.

For Uncanny Content, that might mean sharing a blog snippet, promoting our audit, giving a writing tip, writing a behind-the-scenes post, and promoting a client or sharing a testimonial. Those buckets rotate out so we never get bored sharing the same type of content.

If you’re getting tired of writing the same social media captions every week or month, there’s a good chance your audience is tired of reading them.

Theme it out

Okay, you know you need a good mix of posts on social media. How do you actually create a great, brand new post from scratch?

Theme it out. We like to take one theme or concept — say, copy and content problems we see on websites — and build a blog and our social calendar around it.

Take your theme and write a blog about it first. After your blog is written, did you find that there’s more you could say on the topic? Like what a kickass website looks like, for example? Write that blog next.

Reread those blogs and parse them out into a bunch of social media posts. Easy peasy.

Reuse Content

Guess what? You don’t have to write a new post EVERY DAY.

If you created an especially engaging post back in January and it’s now August, you can reuse it! Just read through it a couple times to make sure it’s not outdated (because, you know, coronavirus, the race revolution, 2020, etc.).

We recommend you cycle through content every three to four months, and only to fill in blanks when you’re stuck.

Start a launch sooner than you think

Look at your launch calendar. Do you have an upcoming sale or a new offer you want to promote? Start a launch runway to tease your new offer or product. Start it even earlier than you think you need to. TRUST US ON THIS.

We like to start “teasing” that something is coming at least two weeks out from the cart open or sale date. How do we start building awareness?

• We’ll share content that teases why someone might need that solution (without mentioning we have the solution, just hit on the pain points).
• We’ll share behind-the-scenes content that talks about what we’re doing and why.
• We’ll share content that hits those pain points so your audience is primed by the time you have the solution.

Avoid platforms you hate

This is a big one, and it’s something that many people struggle with. You see a lot of marketing experts telling you that you have to use this one platform to grow your biz.

You don’t.

So many of our clients hate Facebook but they feel like they have to post on it. Before you commit to using it, check your results! If you’ve gotten ONE client off Facebook after years of use, ditch it. It’s not worth the stress.

If you feel like you have to be on a certain platform, create a routine so you don’t have to think or worry about it too much. Write a post and schedule it in advance. Then focus your energy on other platforms. You get more momentum from the platforms you actually enjoy using.

Hire someone to help

Latasha here: I fucking hate taking pictures. Hate it. I’m not good at it, and I have zero interest in designing flat lays or worrying about lighting. My brain just doesn’t care.

SO… I hired a designer. Best choice ever. Now all I have to do is worry about the writing.

A few of our clients outsource their writing (and sometimes scheduling) to us because they hate that part. They hire a designer sometimes, too. The takeaway from this? Social media doesn’t have to be hard, nor do you have to hate it when you have the right support.

Yes, hiring someone to help with copy or scheduling or graphics costs money. But isn’t it worth the peace of mind? Less time spent angrily staring at your computer monitor? Less stress? Fewer month-long gaps between social posts? (Of this, we are also guilty.)

We say yes. Speaking of hiring…

We no longer offer social media as a standalone service. We know, we know. Debbie Downer, right? But if you do want help with your social media, contact us. We’ll send you a list of great social media writers we’d recommend for you.