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How long does it take you to make a week's worth of social media posts? (Am I just really slow?)

Bekit

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I searched Google for this and everything that came up was useless non-answers.

It takes me almost an entire workday to publish a week's worth of social media posts. I feel like this is really slow. Does anybody else have an experience to share? How long does it take you?

More detail on my process...

One week's worth of social media posts equals:
  • One post per day on instagram with image + caption + hashtags
  • One post per day on facebook with the same image, same captions, and a link instead of hashtags.
So I feel like this should not be that hard. But the recurring thought, "This shouldn't take this long" is not succeeding at making it any faster.

Here's what I do:
  1. Grab an image from the pool of images designated for social media (preparing the images is not my task, so this is not part of what consumes my time).
  2. Write a caption.
  3. Research and insert relevant hashtags.
  4. Research a good time of day based on when the greatest number of my followers are online on that day of the week.
  5. Schedule the post using either Facebook Creator Studio or Later.
  6. Repeat.
That's it.

Every time I do this, I feel like I should be able to just fly through it, just crank it out. But every time, I end up getting bogged down somewhere.

Typically, where I get bogged down is silly little questions like...
  • OK, what was the image I used on Tuesday? Now what would fit nicely after that on Wednesday?
  • Wait a minute, which posts did I put on Instagram, and at what times? Now I need to coordinate that with the same posts at the same time on Facebook.
  • Hold on, am I getting a good balance of our different post types in here?
And then when I ask these questions, it's like my brain turns to mush and I end up tilting my head and staring blankly at the screen, trying to think through what I'm doing.

I don't know why this is, but I sense that I need a better system.

Or is this just par for the course in posting to social media?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
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Tourmaline

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How long does it typically take you per post?

Are you keeping track of information about different days so you don't have to look it up/determine it more than once?
 

BellaPippin

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Sounds like it's a task managing issue, how about you try things like Monday or Trello? Or a simple notebook with sketched thumbnails? Sounds like you try to keep it all in your head and it's not working

Maybe it would help of you planned the week based on a theme?

There's an app that helps you manage and suggest hashtags for insta, i'll check the name on my iPad and come back to you
 
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Ing

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I started insta posting recently. Because its fun. And I don t see a problem. Run through your world and male pics an than post and make a hashtags list and copy and paste!
But sure I don t know your needs in pics...
 

Kruiser

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What is the purpose of your social media posts? If it is to get copywriting clients, wouldn't you be better served with email, direct mail, and LinkedIn? If it is just to post for personal reasons... that's a lot of time. Not trying to criticize. Just wondering.
 

Primeperiwinkle

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It just takes a lot of time to do it right. You’ll get faster. You’re not doing that bad. Sounds like you’ll get faster if you separate out research stuff and put all your findings in a spreadsheet for key terms. That way, with a quick glance you can check off what you’ve used. Once you have thirty days of content you’ll be able to cycle back through.

You’re in the “making a system” phase. Frankly, I’m proud of you for being consistent with what you’ve got so far.. it’s mind bogglingly slow to me when I do it which is why I don’t. There are just. so. many. steps.

That’s prolly not much help but I’m cheering you on from the sidelines.
 
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broswoodwork

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I always mean to start getting social. I don't understand Instagram and I pulled my facebook page down because I was never boxing out time to update it as planned.

All of my competitors are diligently updating their accounts, and presumably where there's smoke there's fire, so they must be getting some sales. I really need to do this this year.

It sounds like you're much more on top of it all than I ever managed to be. :)

Following
 

MattR82

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It takes me ages too. But it sounds like you care about your work.

Create 5 hashtag sets of 20 with a spreadsheet that has another selection of a bunch that are relevant that you then choose 5 to 10 from that are image specific. Or just create 5 sets (min 3) and be done with it.

Consider posting every second day rather than every day. Personally I think 3 times per week is enough.

I'm a big believer in quality over qty so look at creating a content strategy rather than just pumping out lots of rogue content.

It's more stories oriented than ever before now as well so move some time away from feed posts to stories that support your feed post and encourage engagement.

It takes god damn ages still and I'm getting over it lol. Need to find someone with a team already to execute a lot of it.
 

GrayCode

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Hire someone to do this. First calculate how many hours you're spending on this task. You said a full day. So, I assume somewhere between 8 and 11 hours?

If someone on Upwork, onlinejobs.ph or otherwise would charge you $5 per hour to do this. Then you're basically saying your time is worth $5 per hour.

This is something I've recently started doing (hiring others to do things I hate or honestly don't want to do but know needs to get done) and it's pretty amazing.
 
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Itzemp3

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Hey there!

Sounds like you need a system to manage your social media. And also a tool to keep track of everything.

The reality is that it takes time in the beginning to create a dope system, but once you do it's about an hour a day to post and engage.

I agree that it's cheaper, time-wise to get help via Fiverr or Upwork. Yet, the cost could also be the issue for you or you wanna get acquainted with social media.

Here are a few ideas if you choose to do it on your own:

1. Make a calendar for your posts. And for each day of the week, have a theme. For example, if you run a productivity Instagram, you wanna look at each category. Some examples could be Time Management, Stress management, productivity tips, and tricks, inspiration. Then, attach each category to a day of the week. And of course, create content accordingly.

2. For content, you can choose one day of the week. Maybe it's a Sunday, so you can choose that day where you take a few hours to make content, as well as captions for the week ahead. This content can then be linked to your calendar which you created. Content can also be repurposed from your blog or videos.

3. For Instagram, you can use an app called UNUM to see how your grid or feed will look with each piece of content. This helps you place images as you would like them to look on Instagram. It's super useful, and with a bit of playing around on the app, you can have a great forecast and way to track your posts.

4. Lastly, another great tool is Tailwind which is a scheduling app. You can schedule your content including your captions which you created in the previous steps on tailwind. It's also got predefined hashtags that will help each post to do well when posted. And it gives you the best time of day to post. It's free, as far as I know.

5. Maybe this will help too. You want to spend at least 15 minutes engaging your audience every single day. Use a timer, and get in there by engaging with meaningful comments targeted at your ideal audience. This will help grow your Instagram over time.

Yeah, it is a lot of work. But the great thing is that you create unique content and set up a system in which you can eventually train up a freelancer at a later stage to do.

I think it's important to know the details of your Instagram and to be close to your audience in the beginning stages. And the best way to connect with a growing audience is via Instagram.
 
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Andy Black

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All of my competitors are diligently updating their accounts, and presumably where there's smoke there's fire, so they must be getting some sales. I really need to do this this year.
They may or may not. Maybe go through their funnels to see how they earn money.
 

RazorCut

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It takes me almost an entire workday to publish a week's worth of social media posts. I feel like this is really slow. Does anybody else have an experience to share? How long does it take you?

I have a couple of Instagram accounts I publish to.

I think the secret to speed is batching. You seem to be doing all the processes one at a time.

My first job when posting is to trawl a load of suitable images so I have enough for a month or more at a time. That will probably take me a good hour or so once a month. If I need 30 I will collect 40+ images as I know that some I will later look back on and discount.

Then I'll edit, optimise and save each pic using Photoshop. That doesn't take long if you batch them. Say a minute an image so roughly 45 minutes tops.

As the whole purpose of the accounts is to build an audience of like minded people each account has a recurring theme. That means I can have a list of say 6 or 7 groups of hashtags that will be relevant for pretty much every pic. So once the image is done I can assign the most relevant hashtag list to it. That saves a load of time. I might string another few tags on the end if relevant or delete one or two if relevant when I post.

My other account takes longer as it is MEME based so I'll start with assembling a list of quotes, saying etc.. That will take, say, 1/2 hour for a weeks worth. I then have to find a suitable pic for each one. That is what takes the time. Say up to 10 minutes per quote. I will have a list of quotes to the left and a browser with 3-4 image sites loaded up next to is and I will just search until I have picked an image for each and every quote.

Then I have a template in Photoshop I import the picture into and add the text and attribute the quote where necessary.

Once done I'll create a short write up and pick the most suitable hashtag list I have and amend as necessary.

Batching it like this makes it much quicker as your mind is not bouncing from one thing to another and you are in one software program.

My simple account takes say 10 minutes per post maximum.
The MEME based one will take double that so say 20 mins.

So, even allowing for delays, a weeks worth of content takes less than 90 mins for the simple account and no more than 2 1/2 to 3 hours for the complicated one.

If you have already analysed the most appropriate time for posting I wouldn't bother checking again for at least a month unless your likes/engagement goes down (don't over think it, you are just making more work for yourself).
 

Andy Black

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I have a couple of Instagram accounts I publish to.

I think the secret to speed is batching. You seem to be doing all the processes one at a time.

My first job when posting is to trawl a load of suitable images so I have enough for a month or more at a time. That will probably take me a good hour or so once a month. If I need 30 I will collect 40+ images as I know that some I will later look back on and discount.

Then I'll edit, optimise and save each pic using Photoshop. That doesn't take long if you batch them. Say a minute an image so roughly 45 minutes tops.

As the whole purpose of the accounts is to build an audience of like minded people each account has a recurring theme. That means I can have a list of say 6 or 7 groups of hashtags that will be relevant for pretty much every pic. So once the image is done I can assign the most relevant hashtag list to it. That saves a load of time. I might string another few tags on the end if relevant or delete one or two if relevant when I post.

My other account takes longer as it is MEME based so I'll start with assembling a list of quotes, saying etc.. That will take, say, 1/2 hour for a weeks worth. I then have to find a suitable pic for each one. That is what takes the time. Say up to 10 minutes per quote. I will have a list of quotes to the left and a browser with 3-4 image sites loaded up next to is and I will just search until I have picked an image for each and every quote.

Then I have a template in Photoshop I import the picture into and add the text and attribute the quote where necessary.

Once done I'll create a short write up and pick the most suitable hashtag list I have and amend as necessary.

Batching it like this makes it much quicker as your mind is not bouncing from one thing to another and you are in one software program.

My simple account takes say 10 minutes per post maximum.
The MEME based one will take double that so say 20 mins.

So, even allowing for delays, a weeks worth of content takes less than 90 mins for the simple account and no more than 2 1/2 to 3 hours for the complicated one.

If you have already analysed the most appropriate time for posting I wouldn't bother checking again for at least a month unless your likes/engagement goes down (don't over think it, you are just making more work for yourself).
I like this, although I find batching doesn’t work for me.

When I was doing Snapchat videos and uploading to YouTube I got into a habit and rhythm of creating the content throughout the day, then sitting down in the evening to download the story, upload to YouTube, send a link to rev dot com, get the transcription and add it to the YouTube video, etc.

As I got more used to the steps I’d get quicker, and then I’d add another step. But I always published each evening (for 30 working days straight).

If I’d persisted with this I’d have honed the process to be really quick, so that it would become the sand between the rocks in my day.

I like to produce and publish, produce and publish, catch mistakes earlier, and get better each time.

Not sure that helps you @Bekit! In your case I’d likely hone the process, document it, then outsource it.
 
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Ninjakid

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Almost an entire workday?

So you're spending an hour to research and create well-thought out social media posts...

That seems pretty reasonable, I think you're being too hard on yourself.

On a side note, as you get better at something you tend to get faster.
 

Tblock1985

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Great post. I’m in a similar situation where I am currently trying to gain traction for my mobile App business. I’m looking at investment eventually, but initially I’m looking to gain a following and promote my App. I got all my social media profiles set up and feel I’m posting the right content, but I don’t seem to be attracting as much followers as I hoped. My landing website below with instructions to get to my social media profiles

Www.outswitchit.com

Would love some advice.
 
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biophase

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Sounds like you should lay out all 5-7 images on your screen then write the captions. Then you have everything side by side. Then upload them all at the same time. Schedule then for the same time everyday.

Then you can see them together.

but I highly doubt people care that much in FB. Maybe on IG.

I post whenever I feel like it and don’t do hashtags.
 

RazorCut

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I post whenever I feel like it and don’t do hashtags.

That has me curious. Hashtags are search terms so interested potential customers can find your content.

Why would you neglect a simple operation that enables your posts to be discovered by others and increase your following and therefore bottom line?
 

biophase

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That has me curious. Hashtags are search terms so interested potential customers can find your content.

Why would you neglect a simple operation that enables your posts to be discovered by others and increase your following and therefore bottom line?

Because it’s part of the friction for me posting. So I figure it’s better to post with no hashtags then to not post.
 
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Bekit

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Wow, thank you for all the substantive replies! Sorry I'm late in responding. Will reply more in depth after work. Just wanted to say - I owe a bunch of people REP++++!!!
 

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Here´s my advice as a Community Manager and content creator, Split your content into recurring weekly sections one for each day, don´t forget to make a post about Holidays of the Month be it National, Regional or just Curious ones. Try to vary your content with games or trivias to engage with your audience, make creative posts to attract even more potential followers, in my case, since i also edit videos, i use these from time to time to promote my Sister´s entrepenourship (a English Language learning academy), i do slip my posts and still the instagram account of the academy gets around 2-4 New followers, daily. And im talking about an Instagram account that started out from scratch. On the company i previously worked last year (also an English Learning Academy) i took my first take as a community manager and i recieved the account of my city´s branch of the Academy. It was literally a dead account. As soon as i started to post content, the account revived gaining around 500 followers between June and August (when the company chose to terminate the community managers of the company nationwide in favor of another company to lower the costs). It´s not easy to crank out content that fast but if you find a way to connect with your audience, it becomes easier, yet, challenging because you are compelled to improve yourself to keep that connection with your audience.
 
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TommyG

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I do a week's worth in about two hours. That's for our company LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.... 3 - 4 posts a day for each.

It's low priority for me though, social is just something thrown in so it's done. I use recycled newsletter content, our own blog posts and random interesting articles I've bookmarked during the previous week and just use the most common industry hashtags.

I'm guessing if you're really focused on social though it would take a lot longer!
 

Patrick Besong

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i made a bunch all at once and use RecurPost (free) to automatically post them at certain times during the day. I only use FB and LinkedIn to post. I used to use Twitter but then they made a rule that you couldn't repeat posts. It was too much of a pain to change them every day so i slacked off of Twitter. If anyone knows a better way to make new posts for Twitter I'm all ears.
 
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Dereklacrone

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If you'd like some advice:

Don't over think it. Also, different businesses require different processes for posting. I run a venture development firm and oversee our social media management department and we had a massive shift when I started pushing people to think less and post more. Our clients are super happy. So top tip: Don't overthink it. Also, have you heard of a VRIN score? It's a formula for knowing how great your post will be. Once you use it enough it becomes habit and makes it easier. Message me if you'd like to chat more.
 

windchaser

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That has me curious. Hashtags are search terms so interested potential customers can find your content.

Why would you neglect a simple operation that enables your posts to be discovered by others and increase your following and therefore bottom line?

In my case (I started my business Insta less than twi months ago) I do hashtags but 90% of my organic traffic comes from other sources.
I still use some because they bring some traffic but I personally don't like posts with too many hasthtags, it feels spammy. I can see the argument for no hashtags at all, also, it depends on your following, if you have a very big account hashtags are little value added in my opinion.
 

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