If you’d rather listen to these insights, see episode 130 of The Powerful Content Podcast
Do you ever wish you could be more organised and efficient with your content creation? Today, I’m taking you behind the scenes of my own content creation process, sharing how I plan a year’s worth of content, transform podcast episodes into micro content, and reimagine it across multiple platforms. Whether you’re a precision planner like me or a free spirit (take the quiz here), the key is finding a method that works for you.
Embracing your content creator archetype
Knowing your content creator archetype and strengths is crucial in determining how you approach content creation. Are you a Precision Planner, a Free Spirit, a Collector, or an Observer? Understanding your archetype can directly impact your efficiency and success. (If you’re not sure, take the quiz here!)
As a Precision Planner, I thrive on being organised and in control. But if you’re one of the other archetypes, take what resonates from this process and implement it one step at a time. What works for me, won’t necessarily work for you. But you can be inspired by my process!
Ideation and planning for success
At the beginning of each year, I like to take advantage of the slow periods and long summer days to brainstorm a year’s worth of core content ideas. Core content is that meaty, bingeable piece of content like blogs, podcasts, or videos. With fortnightly solo podcast episodes, I need to come up with about 26 episode ideas plus a few extras for launches and end-of-year highlights.
To streamline this brainstorming process, I use a simple method and then amplify my ideas with AI tools. I also prepare a list of potential interviewees for the quarter and reach out to them, ensuring my schedule is planned well in advance.
Creating a content plan
With all my ideas in place, I move on to planning. I align my content calendar with promotions, launches, and monthly objectives. Inside my membership, we plan in 90-day cycles, but I prefer to plan a year in advance. Each month, I assign a theme, break it down into podcast topics, and allocate guests.
This thorough planning makes the production of each episode much smoother and ensures everything aligns with my business direction. Content-first creation is essential, meaning your main piece of content—blog, podcast, or video—should be the cornerstone of your content marketing strategy.
Producing and Reimagining Content
As a Precision Planner, I aim to batch my episodes monthly. Though it doesn’t always go as planned, I write out key points, record the episodes, and leave editing for later. This upfront work allows me to prepare two or three episodes in advance.
My aim is to upload at least the guest episodes to YouTube, but I’m still deciding about solo episodes. I’d love your input on this! Once recorded and edited, then I do a small amount of prep work to extract information from the episode into a spreadsheet, ready to use elsewhere. This includes:
- 2 x promo copy, one with a direct quote from the podcast.
- Shownotes
- Blog
- Audiogram / snippet
- Summary which I’ll use as the base for the pre-show intro and my email, which I’ll talk about in a minute
- Questions
- Reel ideas
- Insights – paragraphs of text that I can re-use
- Carousels
Reimagination across platforms
Reimagining content is vital. I use my podcast to drive my email newsletters and social media content. At present, I’m active on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, with each platform requiring different approaches.
On LinkedIn, I post three times a week, including an audiogram promotion. Facebook is more of a landing page, where I schedule a month’s content in advance. For my Facebook group, I use questions and direct promos derived from podcast episodes. Instagram is more spontaneous, with posts aligned to my current content strategy.
Leveraging social media effectively
Social media shouldn’t be your sole content focus, but it’s essential for visibility. Ensure your social media efforts are both efficient and strategic by following a simple social media plan based on the client journey: connect, subscribe, nurture, convert, and onboard. You can find out more about this here.
For LinkedIn, I schedule promotional content and additional posts aligned with my monthly objectives. For Facebook, I maintain a rolling schedule that includes direct promotions and nurture content. Instagram is used more dynamically, with content posted in the evening.
Keeping it flexible
While I have a comprehensive plan, it’s always flexible. Quarterly check-ins ensure that my proposed podcasts align with promotions and collaborations. Opportunities may arise during the year, requiring adjustments to my schedule. Examples of this include my upcoming presentation at the Breaking the Rules Summit with Cat Griffins, participation in the Business Planning Prep Kit Bundle with Dr Destini Copp and sponsorship of The Women In Business Conference with Angela Henderson.
I’ve adjusted my solo topics over the coming weeks to fit in with these promotions!
The Four P’s to consistency
So, whilst it may seem like a lot of work, my content creation process follows four key stages:
- Prepare: Generating ideas.
- Plan: Structuring those ideas logically.
- Produce: Creating and publishing the content.
- Process: Reimagining and repurposing the content.
By following these steps, I ensure consistent and strategic content production that’s super quick and easy! Whether you create core content monthly or weekly, this approach will give you more than enough material to repurpose across various platforms.
Creating content doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By understanding your archetype, planning ahead, and reimagining content, you can build an efficient and effective process. If you need guided support, consider joining my membership or working with me one-on-one in The Content Accelerator. Together, we can create a content plan that aligns with your time, energy, and resources.
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Content planning for success: Busting the myths that hold you back
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