Why You Need To Batch Brand Photos & Content
When planned day-by-day, the social media and content marketing overwhelm is real (and: not so sustainable). It can soak up far too much of your time (thus: budget), when you’re scrambling to write today’s post, or digging for an old photo or graphic to share.
There’s an easier, more effective way: batching
What is batching? Think of it like meal prep for your content. If you plan each meal, one at a time… you’ll find yourself at the grocery store on the daily, constantly washing produce and chopping ingredients. Batching is like a big grocery haul, providing days of ready-to-eat, delicious, nourishing food.
Batching content is the same: a collection of images, graphics, videos that can be pulled into a content calendar and scheduled… and you’re covered for a full not, if not three months, at one time.
Three reasons why you should start batching now
1 . It’s more efficient, and strategic
By carving out a day or two to dive into bigger goals and and strategic brand content that supports each and connects to your target audience, you’ll knock out more at once. And ultimately, have a higher quality collection of images and creative content that supports your strategic goals.
2. It lowers expenses
The thought of investing in a full day shoot or a dozen graphic templates can feel like a lot at once, but ultimately you’ll end up spending more if you’re doing each month, or week, piece by piece. Invest in quality that will have you covered for months.
3. It adds daily ease
This one is obvious… rather than the scramble of what to post, you’ll have dozens of options ready-to-go. Content and photos that are already on-brand and look cohesive together. You can’t go wrong when you pull from your beautiful batched library, and it saves oh so much time.
How often should you batch photos and videos?
It totally varies on your brand, industry and content goals. But here are some rough estimates that have worked well for many of my clients:
Personal brands: One shoot every 3-6 months (aka 2-4x/year), either a half day ay or full day shoot at numerous locations, and in numerous looks, will provide you with core content . Plus every six months is a good time to evaluate what’s resonating with your audience, and what’s not, which can help guide the next shoot and other content too.
Product brands: One shoot every 8-12 weeks (aka 4-6x/year), which allows you to weave in seasonal content, product promotions, new product launches — with a blend of settings and styling. This is spaced out just far enough to reap the time-saving benefits of batching, but frequent enough to evolve photo plans and content strategy around analytics.
