Hands up if you feel like there is never enough time to commit to your social media? I hear ya! Having worked with realtors for over 15 years I know just how busy things can get, and unfortunately, the first thing to fall off of the to-do list is usually social media. I have a sneaking suspicion it’s because it doesn’t yield immediate returns, and even if you understand just how important consistent posting is when it comes to outsmarting the dreaded algorithm, it still gets the short end of the stick. But how can you make sure you’re consistently posting on Instagram while doing all the things? I’m going to show you exactly how I plan a month of social media posts in less than 40 minutes each month and how you can easily apply it to your busy real estate business.

ONE| PLAN

I know it sounds super obvious when someone says just plan it. But really, how many things do you actually get done when you don’t have it written down in your schedule? The first thing you need to do is set some quiet time aside once a month (start with an hour and once you get comfortable with the strategy you’ll need less time) Don’t skip this step! Planning time to do this is the first thing you need to do to guarantee your success. I have this time planned for the last Thursday of each month, and give myself 1 hour to fully flesh out my posts for the month. So whip out your planner and mark a day and time that you can commit to each month. Then, in your planner, or an app or even a printed calendar, open up to the relevant month, now you’re ready for step #2.

TWO | IMPORTANT DATES

Step two is super simple, just look at your calendar and mark down all the national holidays (Easter, Christmas, Passover) as well as fun social “theme” days you want to take part in (national cookie day, national Introverts day, national small business day).  You can visit nationaldaycalendar.com for a full list of all the national days throughout the year.  I generally acknowledge all the holidays and then choose one or two “fun” national days to participate in each month. Once you’ve filled those in, you’re ready for step #3. 

THREE | SPECIAL DAYS

Now it’s time for your own special days, look over the month and markdown birthdays (husband, kids, sister clients etc), anniversaries (work, marriage, school etc), special occasions (dinners, celebrations, awards) etc. You can even keep an eye out for client anniversaries (like their one-year anniversary at their new home) and share their story on your feed as well (With their permission of course). Think of things that you can use to connect with your audience, if it’s the day you first got your real estate licence talk about how you felt when you first got it. Share the first home you sold or your very first client story. Special days are a great way to connect with your audience and show a little insight into what makes you, you!

FOUR | WEEKLY CONTENT 

Next, you’ll want to write in any weekly content you have like blog posts, IG lives, podcast episodes or video series. If you know your weekly content goes live every Monday you can schedule posts to promote that content on Monday. A great trick is to multi-purpose your weekly content, so look back at old posts or episodes and choose another day of the week to promote old content and give it a chance to get fresh eyes on it!  If you don’t have weekly content you can choose to add value just on the ‘Gram and schedule a day to offer some tidbits or info that will help your ideal audience in some way, just make sure you’re doing this consistently, so you can build trust with your followers.

FIVE | LISTINGS AND REAL ESTATE

Now you’ll want to schedule your new listings or solds. If you know a new listing is coming out on a specific day make sure to schedule one coming soon, one just listed, and a few others that highlight the home’s characteristics. You can also schedule in any real estate related content you know you’d like to share every month like market stats, or buyer and seller tips.

SIX | PERSONAL POSTS 

Your calendar should be looking pretty fleshed out by now, so any remaining days should be reserved to showcase your personality. Share hobbies, activities, behind the scenes, personal life etc. Let your audience into what your life looks like aside from real estate so you can engage them in your human side. 

Once you’ve filled out your calendar it’s time to start designing all of the artwork that will go along with each post.  Use programs like Canva to create branded posts, and sites like Unsplash.com for free stock photography, if you know you’ll need photos for personal posts you can also plan those out as well or set reminders on your phone to snap a photo when you’re out to dinner for your birthday (I’m horrible at remembering to take photos so setting reminders is key!)

There you have it, my easy way to plan out posts for the month. This can take me anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, but when I first started it was closer to 2 hours so set enough time aside, in the beginning, to really allow yourself the space to get comfortable with this new process. I promise if you commit to this you will be able to post every single day without the dreaded overwhelm of trying to figure out what to post. Happy planning my friend!