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Have you ever heard the saying “if you fail to plan,  you plan to fail?” Showing up, planning content and being consistent on Instagram takes a LOT of effort.

  • Taking photos
  • Editing photos
  • Planning Meaningful Captions
  • Sourcing Hashtags
  • Making sure your feed is aesthetic

Not to mention, Stories, Reels, IGTV, Lives, Guides and the never-ending task of actually ENGAGING with other accounts! – phew, it’s a full-time job in itself sometimes!

I thought I’d share some of my favourite tools and tricks for staying consistent and organized on the Gram! Ready?

Let’s go!

[1] SOURCING CONTENT IDEAS // Instagram + Notes

You can’t start anywhere unless you have ideas of what you’re going to share.

I often spend time on the gram, saving posts that inspire me, get me to comment, or that I feel drawn to.

Planning Content using Instagram Saved FeatureI keep a notes folder on my phone of a bunch of things such as:

  • topics I think my audience would like,
  • call to actions that I’ve seen and liked,
  • headlines that get me to click on the “more” button

On days where I’m totally stuck for content, I’ll go and look at my saved “content ideas” folder on Instagram and feel all sorts of inspired.

Let me add here that, it’s it TOTALLY okay to be inspired by others on Instagram.

It is NOT OKAY to blatantly copy and steal other peoples content and ideas.

Find what you like, add your own spin, make it uniquely yours and you are good to go.

[2] ORGANIZING + PLANNING CONTENT, THOUGHTS AND IDEAS // Trello

I LOVE Trello! I use it daily to organize all my thoughts and ideas.

I created a board called “content marketing” and on that board, I have a bunch of lists for planning content, including:

  • Blog Posts
  • Instagram Posts
  • Reels
  • Stories
  • Email Marketing
  • FAQ

On each of these lists, I create a card for each idea I have eg:

Instagram Posts > what to do when creating content is difficult / 5 way to repurpose your product photography etc

Within those cards, I’ll write down caption ideas, call to actions and create a to-do list such as

  • take / source image
  • write caption
  • schedule post

My favourite feature in Trello is the Calendar Power-Up.

Screenshot of Trello Calendar Tool for Planning ContentI can drag and drop all of my posts onto the calendar and easily plan out my next week or month of content.

[3] CREATING GRAPHICS // Canva

If you aren’t using Canva yet, stop reading, create an account and GET ONBOARD!

It is every small business owners BEST FRIEND when it comes to creating graphics.

I use Canva to create graphics for:

  • Educational Instagram Posts (some of my best performing content!)
  • Reel Covers
  • Stories
  • Carousel Posts
  • Blog Post Graphics
  • Pinterest Images
  • Email marketing

It saves me SO MUCH TIME! I honestly couldn’t live without it!

[4] PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER // Preview App

Now that I’ve spent time planning content, and I know WHAT I want to post, it’s time to put it all together.

Once I’ve sourced my image, drafted a caption, call to action and jotted out which posts are going to be shared on what days I head over to Preview App. 

Preview App Content Planning ToolI love both their desktop and mobile versions.

My basic workflow goes like this:

  • Upload Image or Graphic
  • Finalize my caption
  • Use the hashtag planner to source relevant hashtags (or you can create your own hashtag groups and easily paste them in)
  • Schedule post

Some other features of Preview that I LOVE include:

  • Analytics of Posts, audience, hashtags and best times to post
  • competitor analytics
  • Ability to plan stories, Reels and IGTVs
  • Grid Preview and easy drag and drop

I like to set it to give me a reminder to post my post because I prefer to engage a bit on Instagram BEFORE I post, and then some more AFTER.

I find it I auto-schedule it, I set and forget which means I post and ghost – and that is a big no no.

I hope this post gives you some insight into how I plan my content and stick to posting regularly on Instagram.

If you want some tips about taking quality photos for Instagram, check out my free guide here! 

It takes some time and practice. Once you find a system that WORKS, it becomes so much easier to plan and get organized!

From one small biz owner to another – YOU TOTALLY GOT THIS!