5 Easy Tips For How To Simplify Your Content Creation Process

Feb 16, 2022

As you guys know, I could talk content strategy for DAYS.

But planning a good content strategy isn’t enough if you don’t actually have the time to execute it. Content strategy is important, but making sure you have a content creation process you can follow is just as key.

So today, I want to focus on how you can simplify your content strategy and make things a whole lot easier.

I want you to put LESS work into creating content that you absolutely LOVE. 💛

Are you overcomplicating your content creation process?

If you know me at all, you know that I am very type A. I’m ALL about the organization, planners, systems, and apps.

But sometimes, it can almost be a bit TOO much.

Back in 2020 and 2021, I was producing so much content. It felt like I was using a million different tools to do a million different things.

Tools for planning content
Tools for creating content
Tools for managing content
Tools for scheduling content

I was trying to maximize every single app and use it to its full potential.

But developing and managing my content process became a whole project of its own.

By constantly trying to optimize my content creation process, I was creating MORE work for myself.

Sound familiar?

This year, I’m committed to simplifying.

I’ve paired things down a lot, but keep in mind that I’m a full-time content creator! Your content strategy doesn’t have to look like mine, but hopefully, this post will give you some ideas for how to create a process that works for YOU.

So let’s talk about making content creation easier, shall we?

In this post, I’ll share five strategies you can use to save time and simplify your content strategy.

Start Developing Hero Content to Repurpose

In the past when I talk about content strategy, I’ve discussed using content pillars that align with the days of the week.

And I still very much use that strategy!

But my mindset has shifted around content creation now that I’ve expanded to new platforms.

Instead of focusing on creating 30 posts for a month, it’s helpful to focus on creating larger pieces of content that can then be broken down.

Your large piece of content is your hero piece of content.

This could be:

A blog post
An IGTV
A YouTube video
A podcast

My workflow revolves around my YouTube videos.

I focus on creating four videos per month, which then get broken down and repurposed into blog posts, newsletters, and social media posts.

To help my social media posts go even further, I repurpose them across different social media platforms.

I used to overcomplicate the process by creating new posts and graphics for each platform.

Now I keep things simple, because who has time for that? 😅 A couple of tweaks to make the post platform specific and we’re good to go. ✅

I’ve even taken bits of my blogs and social media posts and turned them into tweets! (Anyone else trying to get back into Twitter these days? Follow me here if so!)

With short-form videos being huge these days, I’m able to chop up the YouTube video and share shorter snippets on TikTok and IG Reels.

What this whole process means is that I no longer have to come up with a bazillion ideas for content.

I take one core piece of content, one core idea, and break it down into multiple different pieces, spread across multiple platforms!

More visibility with less work = my JAM. 🤩

Use Theme Weeks

Another great way to simplify your content creation process is by implementing theme weeks.

For example, maybe you want the first week of January to be all about your lessons from the past year, you want week two to be all about your yearly goals, etc.

That means that in week one every post would relate to your lessons, every post in week two would relate to your goals, and so on.

You can also look at your weekly theme and then tie it in with your existing content pillars. Or maybe you want to take it a step further, by integrating educational, entertaining, and personal content through the lens of your theme.

Let’s say you’re kicking off your weekly content theme on your yearly goals, and you aim to post three times a week.

👉🏼 Maybe post #1 could be an entertaining, relatable meme about new year's resolutions.

👉🏼 Maybe post #2 could be a personal post about why your business goals are deeply important to you.

👉🏼 And then maybe post #3 could be all about your goal-setting process and how you come up with your goals, so your followers can learn from you.

See how we’re taking ONE core idea and using it to create a TON of content?

That is the power of theme weeks, friends!

Leave Room For Inspiration

Using strategies like repurposing hero content and implementing weekly content themes aren’t meant to deter you from creating ‘in-the-moment’ content.

When you’ve streamlined your content process, you may even find you have MORE mental space and creativity for inspired content.

I find that while I rely mostly on my pre-planned content, I still post in-the-moment content when I hear about some latest, breaking Instagram news I *need* to share with my followers, or there’s a video on TikTok that I feel the need to stitch.

If you feel like tweeting something random, go for it! Want to throw up a mini-rant on IG stories? Rant away, friend.

There’s room to do it all.

Simplify Your Graphics

I used to put immense pressure on myself to make gorgeous, well-thought-out graphics.

But my new motto is the simpler the better.

As I said above, I’ve stopped obsessing over having unique graphics for every single social platform - I pop up the same square on IG, FB, and LinkedIn.

I’ve also stopped worrying about having the perfect Reels covers. Whereas before I would make sure to always go into Canva to design something, these days I might just take a quick selfie and put some Instagram text over it.

Remember, while aesthetics are important, getting your message into the world is the priority. If complicated graphics are creating a roadblock in your content creation process, ditch them and opt for simpler, minimalist images instead.

Audit Your Tools & Systems

I already mentioned that your girl got a *little* bit in over her head with all of the tools and systems.

What can I say, as a Virgo, a perfectly-colored, organized spreadsheet is my love language! 😍

But looking back on my old system gives me a major headache.

I’d store content ideas in Notion
I’d bring those ideas into Airtable
Sometimes I’d schedule on Later, sometimes I’d use Facebook Creator Studio

Now, I’ve paired down my process.

I plan my content in Airtable, and it gets scheduled in Later.

(Pssst. I did an entire post on why I’m lowkey obsessed with Later for social media scheduling!)

That’s it. 2 apps. And my life is far better for it! I’m intentionally keeping things as simple as possible so I don’t get stuck in overwhelm.

I’d love to know…how do you currently feel about your content creation process? Are you a maximalist or a minimalist? Let me know in the comments!

I hope these tips have given you some helpful ways to pare down your content strategy so you can create more *ahmazing* content without feeling you have to do all the things!

Till next time,

Amber

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