Holidays Have You in a Content Rut? These 3 Tips Will Get You Back on Track
We know the feeling. It’s the end of a *very* draining year and creative energy has officially hit a low point – especially when it comes to creating content and posting to Instagram.
The good news is that there are only 3.5 weeks left in 2020 (!), and we are confident that you can get back on track to finish the year off strong. Our 3 tips below will help you take a step back, look at content a bit differently, and boost your creativity for the home stretch. You’ve got this!
Tip #1: Consider what your customer actually needs from you right now.
When it comes to creating engaging content, the first step is considering what your audience’s current needs are and how you can help them through your product, service, or areas of expertise. In other words, what can you give them right now that is actually helpful? What problems are you helping them solve? How are you inspiring them? Think about accounts that you follow or online outlets that you check regularly – you enjoy following along because you are getting something valuable by reading them.
What can you give your audience this holiday season? This holiday season looks different than any other before, and people are facing new challenges and pain points. Could you provide gift ideas? Recipes? Wine pairing recommendations? Tips for the perfect charcuterie board? Gift wrap or tabletop inspiration? Travel safety tips? Holiday style advice? Suggestions for socially distanced gatherings? Holiday volunteer opportunities?
To help you get started, write out a list of what your audience’s current pain points and/or interests are, and then write out how you can service them through your product, service, or areas of expertise. Once you’ve identified what type of service oriented posts you want to share, , map out posts for the coming weeks that service your customer. Hopefully you feel motivated knowing you are providing value, vs. self-promotional content.
Tip #2: Repurpose Content
There’s no need to reinvent the wheel every time when creating content. Take a look back at your top performing posts from 2020, or even from December 2019, and consider what would be relevant to repost this month. The content could be holiday-related, or a thoughtful reflection from accomplishments or moments in 2020, or inspiration looking ahead to 2021. And don’t worry about posting the same thing twice. Most likely plenty of people didn’t see your post the first time, or if they did, they’ve forgotten.
Pro Tip: To check your top performing posts on Instagram, use Instagram Analytics. To do this, you will need to have your account set up as a business account. If you haven’t done that already, this article is a helpful step-by-step guide.
You can also repurpose content from other like-minded brands and influencers. As you come across photos that stand out to you, save them. To get permission to use an image, simply leave a comment on the Instagram post and ask the account “@ACCOUNTNAME, would you mind if we repost this image and tag you?” After you get permission, make sure to credit them by tagging and mentioning in the copy.
Pro Tip #2: To pull a full size image from someone’s Instagram post, paste the Instagram post URL to your browser and add “media/?size=l” at the end of the URL. This will pull up the image in a separate browser, and from there you can right click and save it to your dashboard. Airdrop it to your phone to post.
Tip #3: Collaborate
Before you completely check out for the holidays, spend some time pursuing a few simple content collaborations. Could you gift your product or service to a brand or influencer in exchange for content? Could you pitch yourself as an expert to another brand or account that you follow and offer them your tips (which would then be cross promoted)? Or could you co-host a holiday giveaway with an influencer or a like-minded brand or brands?
If collaborations feel overwhelming, start small. Make a list of 3 collaborations that you think could be attainable for this month and aim to execute one. DM or email the person or brand a thoughtful, personalized note about why you would like to collaborate, and see what happens. And don’t be intimidated by people who have larger followings than you – you have something unique to offer (whether your product, service, or area of expertise), and they are more than likely also yearning for some fresh content ideas themselves.
