Cool tips for hot days: Master content batching this summer

Summer is approaching, and one of the projects I work the most with this time of the year is content batching for my clients. Why? Well, because of Kevin.

You are probably familiar with Kevin: he is the character from Home Alone who is… well, left alone home while his family goes on a family trip. His family is caught up in the stress of getting to the airport after waking up late, and they leave young Kevin behind.

With social media, a similar phenomenon happens come the warmest months. Teams start closing up projects before the summer break; things get busy before everybody takes their summer holidays, and social media takes a back seat… or is completely forgotten.

So I like to remember “Kevin”. Not only as a reminder that social media channels shouldn’t be abandoned during the warmest months, but also Kevin as in “Keep Engaging Visitors, It’s Necessary”. Why? Contrary to popular belief, the summer period does not equate to a complete decline in social media usage. In fact, during vacations or downtime, people tend to spend more time on platforms like LinkedIn. Professionals are more relaxed, have more time in their hands, and use social media to explore opportunities, network, or seek inspiration for their careers.

Here are my best 3 tips to batch your content before the thrill (and stress) of summer holidays take a hold of you and your team:

1. Reuse, recycle, revisit

Re-share past campaigns, posts that got people engaged and excited, and do throwbacks to the biggest highlights of the year so far. You can also re-share content switching the format: for example, if you shared a report, make an infographic with the key data in it; if you shared pictures from an event, transform them into a nice video with music and key takeaways… The possibilities are endless – it all comes down to being creative!

2. Aspirational content

What are your businesses goals and challenges to tackle for the next 6 months? You don’t need to disclose everything, but a sneak peek behind the scenes of what is cooking in your business can keep people engaged and interested in following along. You can also talk about products or services coming up, events you will host or participate in and any changes you look forward to.

3. The toolkit

Refer your audience to any resources they might enjoy accessing in the summer time, with more time in their hands: reports, podcasts, video archives, articles and courses are all great resources to share.

Need help batching your content before the summer hits? Reach out for an informal chat at hello.aneley@gmail.com