A Content Creator's Guide to Batching Content

If you are a content creator with a bunch of stuff on your plate, you need to maximize your time to boost your consistency and avoid burnout. That's why you want to BATCH!

WHAT IS BATCHING?

When thinking about batching, envision a pastry chef churning out cupcakes. At any given moment while the chef is sorting ingredients, mixing, pouring, or stopping to take a break, there is a batch of cupcakes already in the oven and another batch on the counter cooling, waiting to be iced. Basically, you always want to have new content baking in the oven. Strategize and optimize by thinking ahead. Scroll down for nine tips to help you batch content with ease.

1. Set aside a designated amount of time every day, week, or month to work on your batched content. You’ll be amazed at what you could finish if you designated 30-40 hours per month or 7-8 hours a week to batching.

   The most overwhelming part of batching content is the beginning— when you have not yet broken your ideas down piece by piece and the thought of doing a million tasks sounds draining. But your future self will thank you! Think ahead and choose a projected date to complete a batch. You'll want a calendar/planner to keep track of dates.

   
   

2. Keep a list of the kinds of content you want to make. Brainstorm regularly. If you stay ready, you don't have to get ready! When brainstorming, be sure to look at your analytics. What is your audience most interested in from you— what performs well?

   You want to focus on content that gives you the most engagement from your core audience. How can you remix what your audience expects from you? What is the format? (Videos, Pictures, Blog Posts, Poll, Gif, Song, Thread) You also want to keep a brainstorming list of marketing strategies.

   
   

3. Create a formula for your anchor content!

   When I first started Intelexual Media, I had series like Two Minute History, Lets Talk About Sex History, etc that followed the same formula. I brainstormed, generated bibliographies and study lists, studied, wrote, fact-checked... and on and on until my finished product was complete.  I still use this formula to this day to maximize my output. Relatedly, keep a filing system!

   
   

4. Keep your digital assets organized. On apps like Canva and Kapwing, keep your go-to brand assets and formats saved as templates so you can easily tweak things for a quick upload. If you have Dropbox, Google Drive, or similar, keep logos, brand pics, fonts, etc in a designated folder.

   While online databases are great, make sure you back up your files onto a hard drive!

   
   

5. Organize the rest of your brainstorm list with a category system, ranking the desired piece of content by format and difficulty. Put short-format videos in a list, long-format videos in a list, curated photo sets in a list, etc.

   
   

6. One batch session should include outlining & planning each type of content. What do you need to get things done? Instead of sitting down to figure out how to do one task or spending future time sorting through the hardest things on your list, make a checklist to breeze through.

   For example, you want to make 5 videos? Make a list of what you need to research or shop for, what you need to write, what graphics you'll need, & what you need to film. Work on each category of things during every batch session with the plan of filming everything in one session. Account for any possible commissions you'll need (video editor, graphic designer, music producer, etc) and batch out those emails/requests too. Then the next batch begins: rolling out content. That means editing a batch of thumbnails together, writing social captions, etc.

   
   

7. If this is your first attempt at batching, choose five things-- videos, essays, social media posts, newsletters, etc-- to batch. When complete, you now have five pieces of content in the chamber that can be edited and scheduled while you batch other content.

   These videos can be turned into photos, shorts, carousels, bloopers, gifs, polls, etc if you’re creative enough. But the batching isn't over!

   
   

8. You can batch your social media strategy. Write all of your content captions for IG ahead of time, schedule YouTube community polls and posts ahead of time, etc. Designate a batching session to test these out early in case you need to track down a graphic, make changes for ad safety, etc

   Most importantly, schedule all of your batched content to go live in advance. Coordinate your batched marketing schedule and BOOM you've got the gist of things.

   
   

9. It’s ok if batching takes longer than you expect... you may need to get into the groove! But stick with it and over time you will form better habits and a protocol. Dare yourself to stay off of social media for a month and batch the entire time. You'll be SHOCKED at what you can accomplish!

   If you’re worried about losing your audience, repurpose your old content. Repurposing content includes:

   • Reposting old content with a fresh caption and thumbnail

   • Turning threads into carousels/blog posts

   • Editing a long video into a short one or a podcast

   • Turning photos or videos into a poll/community topic

   • Quoting blog posts

   • Turning posts into infographics

     
     

Of course, this entire process can be batched as well. Have fun!