How guilty or stressed do you feel when you slow down or stop posting on Instagram? I’ve been there. It nags at the back of your mind, ‘I need to come up with a post, but there are so many other things to do, ahhhhh.’ Does that sound familiar?

So many of us have kids out of school, want to spend more time outside, and book holidays that Instagram just falls to the bottom of the list. Well, I’m here to tell you, it’s ok to take a break from posting in the summer.

My chant of staying consistent won’t change, however; almost the whole world sees a dip in engagement, views, and follows over July and August. It’s not you! Everyone is busy doing things that are simply more important and fun than scrolling the ‘gram, making it the perfect time to slow down your post schedule (or so it may feel), get back to your IG roots, and create the content that fills your cup! Not to mention, focus on the easy stuff!

If you would like to take some time away from your phone this summer, here are my 5 easy steps to creating content your audience is more likely to engage with, is easier for you to create, and that you love!

5 easy steps to slowing down your post schedule this summer

Batch, batch, batch

I know I’m starting off with the worst one. I promise, if you set time aside to create content in a certain order, you can do your entire summer of content in LESS time than you are spending on one week right now! Start by creating your skeleton; one or two sentences on the days you want to post with the central topic of the post. Choose or create the media for all of your posts at once! Follow that with a caption writing party, you are writing all your captions in one or two short sittings. (Hint: set a timer to stay within a limit). Finally, schedule them all in a system like Later.com so you can walk away and everything gets posted for you!

Create LESS feed posts

Hallelujah!!! I hope this one makes up for Step 1. The truth is, people just aren’t on Instagram as much in the summer, so there is no point putting in a ton of time and effort into creating content that less people will see, and even fewer will spend the time reading or watching. If you are all on your own, cut those regular schedules down to 2 posts per week, and spread them out evenly. Mondays and Thursdays are great days to stick with.

Choose the media types that you enjoy

If Reels are fun for you to create then do lots of those. If it’s photos with short captions, that works too! I suggest choosing 2 different media types (unless you have a passion for more) and alternate them throughout the summer. You will be surprised how much easier and fun content creation is if you don’t force yourself to film that Live video you are dreading so much.

*Small biz tip: choose your content type based on your goals. Check out this blog post to learn how anyone can post the right content for your strategy!

Blog - Not all IG posts are created equal

Show up on stories more

The great thing about Stories is that they don’t need much, or any, prep! Great content for Stories in the summer for small businesses are behind the scenes of product making and content creation, testing out things to come in the fall, or just a simple boomerang with a kind or funny message! Don’t overthink it, just get on there a couple days a week (I suggest days you haven’t posted in your feed), show your face a bit, and let the personal side of your business shine through.

Don’t forget about your fall launch!

September is a fantastic time to launch new products, remind your audience about services, sales, website promotions, webinars, and so much more! The thing is, most small biz owners start planning for their fall biz launch too late. If you are planning on re-invigorating a part of your business in September, make sure to start launching 30 days before! This means, beginning your marketing in August! This gets your audience primed and ready to buy ON launch day, rather than 30 days after you launch.

Now… did you just get to the end of that and think, ‘now I feel like I have MORE work to do’? You don’t have to! I have created a FULL launch bundle to help with the stress of content planning, hashtags, caption writing, engagement, and all the ‘not-so-fun things’ that go into a launch.

If you are itching for a slowdown in the summer but are really excited to launch your products/services/website/or more in the fall, check it out. It takes all the guesswork out of planning your next launch and is fully customizable for your brand. Just follow the schedule which includes media ideas and caption prompts telling you exactly what to write, pre-written templates of over 20 call to actions to plug and play as you like, 4 full hashtag sets to cut and paste right into IG, my unique caption formula to make writing captions that convert a breeze, PLUS an engagement schedule to follow to get more eyes on your content and interested in your launch!

The best part is you can use it over and over again! My launch formula, which I’ve used to launch my own businesses and products, is engrained inside the schedule to maximize selling without feeling sleazy. The schedule is balanced to provide just the right mix of value and information, so your audience can’t wait to hire you or get their hands on your products.

I’m super excited about helping small biz owners with affordable social media tools get the most out of Instagram and back to growing your business!

If you are planning a launch in 2022 and want it to be as easy a possible, get the Instagram Launch bundle today!

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