Plan posts around the week you already have

Why it matters

A post is most useful before the event, not after it. Someone who sees your open day on Wednesday can come on Saturday. Someone who sees it on Sunday can only wish they had.

The trouble is that busy days leave no time to post. The gig, the booking or the open day takes all your attention, and the post slips. When you plan from the week you already have, the busiest days get their post early. Quiet days carry the rest.

How to do it

1. Write down what is already fixed this week. List every gig, booking and open day, with the day and time.

2. Put it all in one place. A paper diary or a shared calendar both work, as long as the events and your posts sit side by side.

3. Mark the busiest days. These are the days you will have the least time to post.

4. Work back from each one. Give every busy day a post two or three days ahead, such as a reminder, a teaser or a "spaces left" note.

5. See the whole week at once. In Amplify you'll see gigs, bookings, social posts and open days on one calendar.

6. Write those early posts first. In Amplify you'll compose a post with its caption and media, and schedule when it goes out.

7. Fill the quiet days last. Add a lighter post, such as a photo or a quick tip, where the week has a gap.

What to track

Count how many of your busy days had a post go out before them. Check once a week, when you plan the next one. Aim for every busy day, and if you keep missing the same kind of day, plan that post earlier.

Also note which early posts led to bookings, replies or people through the door. In Amplify you'll track how each post and each channel performs. Look once a week, and plan the next week around what worked.

Coming soon

Amplify will be one workspace to design a post, schedule it, publish it to your channels and answer the replies. It is coming soon. Until then, the practice works with a paper diary, a shared calendar and the scheduling tools your channels already offer.