The holidays are coming, and you deserve to unplug and fully enjoy them this year! Here’s your complete guide to planning and scheduling your social media content ahead of time, so you can focus on what matters during the festive season.

Why Plan Ahead?

• Reduce holiday stress
• Maintain consistent presence
• Capture holiday shopping audiences
• Actually enjoy your time off

Planning Your Holiday Content Timeline

December needs a two-part content approach. Early December is prime time for showcasing your holiday offers, sales, and time-sensitive promotions. Think gift guides, special deals, and shopping deadlines. But while you’re pushing out that active content, use any quiet moments to batch create your “offline” content for the holiday period.

Schedule posts that will keep your accounts warm while you’re enjoying family time – think inspirational quotes, holiday wishes, or behind-the-scenes glimpses of your year. Include a few strategic prompts that encourage engagement without requiring immediate responses.

For January, plan a soft re-entry. Draft a few “welcome back” posts and New Year content now, when you’re still in planning mode. This gives you breathing room to ease back into work without starting from scratch. Consider creating a simple “Best of 2024” series – it’s engaging content that you can prepare entirely ahead of time.

Remember to sprinkle in real-time Stories or quick check-ins during the holiday break if it feels right – but keep these optional and pressure-free. The goal is to maintain presence without sacrificing your holiday enjoyment.

Batching Like a Pro

Batching your content creation isn’t about marathon 12-hour sessions – it’s about breaking tasks into focused chunks that make sense for your brain and schedule. Think of it as meal prepping, but for your social media. Here’s how to divide and conquer:

Content Creation Days:

• Photo Day: Shoot multiple products, behind-the-scenes moments, and seasonal shots in one session
• Writing Day: Draft your captions, craft your CTAs, and write any blog content when you’re in flow
• Design Time: Create your graphics, format photos, and design any holiday-specific templates
• Video Focus: Batch film Reels, Stories, or longer video content while you’re camera-ready
• Planning & Scheduling: Set aside dedicated time to organize and schedule everything you’ve created

Pro Tip: Match these tasks to your energy levels. If you’re most creative in the morning, that’s your content creation time. Save the scheduling and organizing for when you need less creative energy.

Setting Expectations and Communication

Your out-of-office strategy needs two key elements: automation and clear communication. Set up auto-responses for DMs and comments that acknowledge the message and set realistic response times. You can do this within Meta or with an app like Manychat. Create a few FAQ templates for common questions and schedule posts announcing your holiday hours well in advance. Let clients know your availability, including any emergency contact protocols if needed. Consider having a simple “emergency content kit” ready – pre-written templates and responses for unexpected situations that might pop up while you’re enjoying your break. The goal is to create a system that keeps your social presence warm and your clients informed, without requiring you to be glued to your phone during family dinner.

Tools & Tips for Smoother Holiday Content

The right tools and systems make holiday content management significantly easier. Use scheduling platforms like Later or Hey Orca for your main content and set up a holiday-specific content library in Canva with templates ready to go. Organize your holiday assets (photos, graphics, copy) in one easy-to-access place.

Pro Tip: Create a simple spreadsheet or Notion doc tracking:

• Pre-written captions and responses
• Holiday hashtag collections
• Essential contact information
• Quick-post templates for common scenarios

Having these resources organized and ready means you can handle most situations quickly, even if you need to check in briefly during your break. The key is creating systems that work even when you’re not actively managing them.

Remember, the goal isn’t just to maintain your social presence – it’s to give yourself the gift of actually enjoying the holiday season. Start planning now, and future you will be incredibly grateful.

Want this made even easier? Let’s build you out an action plan for your next 90 days! Book a call here

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