For my blogging goals of May I set myself the challenge of posting to Instagram everyday. Which was indeed a challenge as I normally only post around 3 times a week.. and they’re usually the photos from my blog posts, which makes it a lot easier.
I started planning for this before I even set myself the goal in that blog post because I knew it was going to take some behind-the-scene work. But it was worth it and I really enjoyed it.
Whilst I only gained around 50 followers in that month my engagement rate is around 3% and steadily increasing (a good Instagram engagement rate is usually between 1-3%), so the followers I do gain are those that will actually like and comment on my posts. Because whilst having thousands of followers might look nice, there is no point in stocking them up if they don’t actually interact with your content.
Today I am going to show you the different steps I took to make sure I posted *hopefully* good content everyday for a month. I will quickly just mention here that if you don’t have an Instagram theme this will be easier for you. I am in the process of now trying to find a theme that works for me. Personally I want one that will work with any photo and I don’t have to limit what I can post. Round of applause to those who do maintain a theme, you’re crazy good… – give me tips, please.
How To Plan A Month Of Instagram Content
Find Inspiration
Whilst I knew some of my content was going to be photos from my recent blog posts, there was still going to be an awful lot of days where I had no photos to post. So I did what any none creepy person would do and skulked around the internet looking for inspiration. Pinterest and Instagram are great for finding photo inspiration, anytime I come across an image I particularly love I will screenshot it. Either to recreate with my own spin on it or because it gives me an idea for a picture. A great way of doing it on Instagram is just to search some of your favourite hashtags.
The next step is obviously to take the photos and edit them. I did a post some time ago about my favourite photo editing apps which you can see here. I will do an update on that soon too.
Preview App
Once I had my edited photos, or at least some of them, I started putting them into Preview App. Which considering I don’t have anything resembling a theme might be pointless, but I still wanted there to be somewhat of a flow… somewhat.
You see the flow right..? If not, just indulge me, it’s too late now anyways ;P
Hootsuite App
Next I would head over to the Hootsuite App and schedule all the posts. I would write my captions and find all the hashtags that I would use and have it all ready to go. When the schedule time comes you will get a notification telling you to post to Instagram.
Captions
Whilst captions might not seem as important as your images, after all Instagram is primarily a visual platform, they are still valuable. They will help your community and followers get to know you better, to gain insight into who you are.
You can do this by using a consistent voice in your captions, getting personal and letting them in on the behind the scene events of your life. Be funny, genuine and sincere, people instinctively know when someone is being disingenuous.
However, in contrast to the above point of being funny, genuine and sincere, don’t feel that you always need to go out of your way to say something unique. If you find that you have nothing to say don’t force it too much. Sometimes all my caption says is that I have a new blog post out. I say what it is about and give a call to action asking people to check it out. It’s no Shakespeare but I’d rather a caption be on the boring side than insincere, for example, because I am trying to seem perky when I am actually feeling gloomy.
During my month of posting I got lucky by getting three days of captions out of my laptop breaking. So – you know, silver linings.
When I did reach my caption creativity I downloaded a caption app. Which in turned worked to give me a caption about the caption app. Inspiration can strike whenever.
This is another reason why I’d suggest you prepare before the month of daily Instagramming starts. It takes the pressure off and you’ll feel less like an unimaginative stone.
Instagram Hashtag Library
During those first couple of months when I actually started using my Instagram, for more than just its filters to then post to Facebook, I rarely used hashtags because searching for them was such a hassle. Over time I have developed my own go-to library of hashtags for all the different niches I post about. I will still search every now and then, but you can guarantee that around half of the captions I use, in every post, is from this library.
Content Calendar
Now this I did more because I love lists, or anything resembling lists; such as a calendar of when the content is being published. Did I really need it when I had the schedule in the Preview and Hootsuite app already? No, not really. Did I want it? YES.
These are my tips for planning and staying organised during a month of daily Instagramming. I hope it was helpful.
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ok, these are such great tips! i started doing some sort of IG calendar that i quickly wrote out on lined paper in my blogging folder back in April when I did my 30 days of makeup because it helped me keep my theme intact. I don’t use it as well as you do, but I like the idea of posting once a day and maybe that will be a lot easier on me since I kind of suck at IG right now LMAO, sometimes I post three times a day, sometimes only once and then forget when i need to post.. I have an app called Later but I hate it because it only allows me to do 30 IG posts each month which is BS, so I’ll have to get rid of that one and use hootsuite 🙂
thanks for all the tips, i’m sure you know this blog post is going into my monthly review ;D
Author
I can send you the template for my Instagram calendar if you want? I was going to give it out as an opt in freebie soon but if you want it I’ll just send you the link?
Ah, I’ve been seeing a bit about the Later app but haven’t tried it yet, I was hoping it was good as Hootsuite can get a bit glitchy at times but as far as I’m aware there isn’t a limit on the amount you can preschedule.
After my month of daily posting I’ve been slacking on Instagram too, I’m really wanting a theme but struggling to find one that is just an edit and won’t limit the types of photos I can post.
🙂 Thank you lovely! I need to start doing shout out posts like that too, I keep meaning to do a shout on on Insta stories about my fav Instagram accounts but again – haven’t gotten round to it yet.
Omg that’d be so sweet of you if you could 😭 I’ve been trying to get more organized because I just have so many ideas to write out and dates and deadlines and social media isn’t something that has my full attention lol.
I won’t lie, I like Later, but if I need to post more than 30 photos, I have to go back and delete other photos which is dumb, I’d rather have most of laid out as is..
I will keep browsing for an IG app and if I come across something good, I will be sure to share it with you 😃 or everyone lol.
No worries! I always say I’m gonna get around to doing many things and in the end I forget haha
Author
Of course 😚
That’d be great, I’ve heard of good ones but you have to pay for them and I’m not willing to do that.
LOL me neither!
I’m so excited to receive my freebie with hashtags!! I feel like mine are silly or redundant. Thanks so much for the post!
Author
😊 I’m so glad. Did you confirm your subscription after filling in the form? After you’ve confirmed you will get access to the freebie. Let me know if you have any issues receiving it 😉