Content planning. Personally, I love it — all of it.

The process. The strategy. The organization. Setting up calendars and color coding all the things. The to-do lists all primed and ready to check off as things get done.

Yes, I’m a nerd. We all know this. Moving on…

The truth is, the vast majority of business owners aren’t content experts — and they shouldn’t be. Creating content is a means to an end — but it’s typically not a primary revenue stream in and of itself.

I get it. You just need to get it done. Create the content. Post the content. Rinse and repeat.

But what should you post? What if it’s lame and doesn’t reflect your brand or what you want people to know about your business? What if you’re taking the time to post to your social media channels but you’re not gaining any traction?

Or even worse, maybe you aren’t sharing anything because you’re overwhelmed by it all and just do nothing instead.

No matter where you fall on the content planning (and execution) spectrum, chances are that it’s time you simplify your content planning process.

Fortunately, there are things you can do — immediately — to make it a lot less painful and a lot more effective.

Three ways to simplify your content planning

Don’t let perfection get in the way of good content.

So many businesses make social media content look easy. Like… stupid easy. But guess what? Behind a lot of those posts are armies of people whose job it literally is to create and publish that content.

And individuals and influencers? Sometimes they have professional help too. And they have years of trial and error under their belts.

Don’t let the idea that everything you post has to be perfect keep you from posting to your social channels. Sharing *good* stuff is always better than sharing nothing because it’s just not perfect enough to put out there.

Stop trying to appeal to absolutely everyone.

You can’t please everyone. So stop trying.

Your content should be targeted to your core audience.  Think of who you’re trying to reach — existing and potential new customers — and use it to create your content.

And if others who aren’t your typical customers happen to come across your social channels and decide to follow along? Even better. Just don’t adjust your content to cater to them if you don’t expect them to buy what you sell.

Don’t overcomplicate your content planning.

If you’re a content planning novice, know (and accept) your limitations. You need time to learn and feel comfortable with the process.

Even if you’re a content planning expert, it’s good to check in with yourself regularly to make sure you’re setting proper expectations.

Just because you *can* plan to post every single day of the week to every single social media platform using each and every one of their bells and whistles doesn’t mean that you *should* do that.

Figure out where your ideal customer is — and start there. That’s it.

If your ideal customer is on Instagram, post to IG. Over time, you can always add Facebook or Twitter or TikTok or whatever else makes the most sense to put your time and energy into.

But you don’t have to be everywhere. In fact, you shouldn’t be. Especially if you’re managing your business’ content planning by yourself. Ain’t nobody got time for that *and* running a profitable business.