5 Powerful Automation for Creators to Streamline Your Content Workflow
In this article, we plunge into five key regions where computerization can save you time and mental stability, assisting you with zeroing in more on what makes a difference — rejuvenating your best happiness.
Have you at any point had a splendid thought, jotted it in your notes application, and quickly overlooked it? Or on the other hand, did you find a piece of content you dealt with some time prior that might have been revived and reallocated?
Nowadays, with the right mechanization, you can skirt the turmoil and bounce straight into creating executioner content without the migraine of overseeing it all physically.
Computerization has become a unique advantage for content makers, transforming tedious errands into smooth, consistent cycles. From catching plans to planning posts, robotization apparatuses can deal with the quick and dirty so you can zero in on what you specialize in — making.
At Cradle, we love great computerization, and we've made it our go-to methodology for taking care of dreary assignments. Whether utilizing Zapier to keep things streaming between applications, Cushion to deal with our virtual entertainment like a breeze, or Idea to keep our ventures on target, these instruments have reformed how we work.
Prepared to chop down your plan for the day and smooth out your substance-creation process? We should plunge into five key regions where mechanization can save you time and mental soundness, assisting you with zeroing in more on what is important — rejuvenating your best satisfaction.
Mechanize your web-based entertainment thoughts list with Cushion
We as a whole know the inclination: gazing at a clear screen, attempting to concoct new online entertainment content thoughts, and missing the mark. In any case, imagine a scenario in which you could mechanize that conceptualizing cycle and at absolutely no point ever run out of thoughts in the future. That is where instruments like Zapier and Cradle become an integral factor, transforming your inventive block into a steady stream of motivation.
This is the way you can easily keep your web-based entertainment thoughts streaming:
Pinpoint your thought sources: Priorities straight — sort out where your smartest thoughts normally come from. Perhaps it's canny remarks from your crowd, connecting with email bulletins, or even those unrehearsed online entertainment communications that flash an idea. The following are a couple of additional puts to keep on your radar:
Email bulletins: Incredible for ideal bits of knowledge and patterns.
Web-based entertainment cooperations: Focus on what your adherents are discussing and inquiring about.
RSS channels from significant websites: A goldmine for industry news and thought initiative.
Client input or overviews: Direct knowledge into what your crowd often thinks about.
Set up your automation with Zapier and Buffer: Now, the automation. With Zapier, you can set up simple workflows (Zaps) to capture content ideas from your favorite sources and send them straight to Buffer. Here’s how:
Create a Zap for each source: Start by setting up a new Zap for every source of inspiration. Here’s a quick, helpful tutorial.
Choose your triggers: This could be anything from a new email with a certain label to a new item in an RSS feed.
Link to Buffer’s ‘Create Idea’ action: This is where the magic happens. Zapier automatically adds the idea to your Buffer queue as soon as your trigger event occurs.
Fine-tune your idea capture: Make sure your setup grabs the most valuable information for your content strategy. You can customize each Zap to pull in specific details—think titles, summaries, links, or even direct quotes that caught your eye. Add tags or categories to keep everything organized, making it easy to sort through when you’re planning your next post.
For instance, imagine you’re always finding inspiration in your favorite newsletters. You could set up a Zap that monitors your inbox for new emails from those specific newsletters.
Every time a new one arrives, you can add a new label to the email indicating Zapier to extract details like the subject line and body or images to add to your ideas list. This way, you’re constantly capturing fresh ideas from trusted sources without sifting through your emails manually.
With these automations, you’ll never be stuck wondering what to post next. Instead, you’ll have a steady stream of fresh ideas ready whenever needed.
Sync content calendars between Notion and Buffer
As your content creation efforts grow, keeping everything organized can become quite the juggling act.
Enter Notion — a powerhouse for managing projects and planning content. But if you’re using multiple platforms, staying on top of your social media schedule alongside your content calendar can quickly become overwhelming. That’s where automation comes to the rescue.
With Zapier you can connect Notion and Buffer to automate the scheduling of social media posts right when you plan new content. Here’s a quick rundown on how to make it happen:
Link Notion and Buffer through Zapier: If you don’t have a Notion content calendar yet, now’s the time to set one up. You can start with our template. Once that’s ready, create a Zap that triggers whenever there’s an update to your Notion content calendar.
Set Buffer as the action app: Map the fields from your Notion calendar, such as the title and publication date, directly to Buffer. This way, whenever you schedule something in Notion, it’s automatically queued up in Buffer, too.
Apply filters for specific content: You can set up filters in Zapier to trigger posts only for certain content types or statuses, ensuring that only the right content makes it to your social media channels.
Let’s say you have an editorial calendar in Notion where each entry represents a piece of content you’re planning to publish.
You could set up a Zap that triggers when a new entry is added to this calendar, automatically scheduling a post in Buffer to promote that content on your social media channels. You can even customize the Zap to only trigger if the entry has a specific tag, like "ready to publish," ensuring your social media stays aligned with your content strategy.
The benefits of this automation are clear. You’ll save time by eliminating the need to copy content details into your social media scheduler manually. Plus, you’ll reduce the risk of errors and ensure a consistent posting schedule, all while keeping your content strategy cohesive across platforms.
Automatically promote your content with RSS feeds and Buffer
Keeping your social media channels updated with your latest blog posts or newsletters can feel like a never-ending task. But what if you could set it and forget it?
With the right automation, you can ensure your newest content reaches your audience as soon as it’s published without lifting a finger. Enter RSS feeds, Zapier, and Buffer.
Here’s how this automation works:
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed: Think of this as your content detector. It keeps an eye on your site or newsletter and alerts Zapier whenever something new is published.
Zapier: Picks up the new content from your RSS feed and sends it over to Buffer.
Buffer: Takes the content and creates a draft social media post ready to be shared with your followers.
This automation is a huge time-saver and ensures your audience never misses out on your latest updates. It’s like having a virtual assistant who’s always on top of your content calendar, ensuring your social media presence is consistent and timely. Here’s how you can set it up:
Confirm your RSS feed: Most blogging platforms like WordPress or Squarespace and newsletter services such as Mailchimp and ConvertKit automatically generate RSS feeds. You’ll need to find your feed URL, which usually looks something like your website.com/feed.
Create the Zap: Use the "RSS by Zapier" feature as the trigger and Buffer as the action app. Map the RSS feed items, like the title and link, to the corresponding fields in Buffer to draft your social media posts automatically.
With this setup, you’re not just ticking off the Distribution to-do on your list — you’re building a system that keeps your social media presence in lockstep with your content strategy.
Automated content repurposing tracking with Zapier and Notion
Creating high-quality content takes time and effort, so making the most of what you produce is essential. That’s where repurposing comes in.
Repurposing content is a smart strategy for extending the life and reach of your work across multiple formats and platforms. By integrating repurposing into your content creation process, you can maintain a steady flow of engaging material without constantly starting from scratch
To streamline this process, you can automate the tracking of your repurposing efforts. With Zapier and Notion, you can set up a system that ensures every piece of content gets a second (or third!) life, making your content creation process more efficient and your presence more dynamic.
Here’s how you can set up an automated content repurposing system using Zapier and Notion:
Set up a content database in Notion: Start by creating a central hub in Notion to track your content and repurposing tasks. This database should include fields like title, status, published date, and repurposing tasks. Think of it as your command center for managing all your content, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.
Create a Zap in Zapier: Next, create automation in Zapier that triggers whenever a piece of content is marked as "Published" in your Notion database. This ensures your system knows when there’s new content ready for repurposing, seamlessly integrating repurposing into your content workflow.
Automate task creation: Once the Zap is set up, configure it to automatically create new entries in Notion for repurposing tasks whenever the content is published. For example, you could add tasks like "Create social media thread," "Design infographic," or "Write a summary blog post." This automation ensures that every new piece of content is primed for repurposing without extra effort from you.
This automation helps streamline your workflow by ensuring no content is overlooked for repurposing, saving time on creating manual tasks, and maintaining consistency in your content repurposing strategy.
Schedule and post evergreen content automatically
Evergreen content is the backbone of a sustainable content strategy. Unlike timely news articles or event-driven posts, evergreen content remains relevant and valuable to your audience long after it’s first published. It’s the type of content that keeps driving traffic, engagement, and conversions over time. Because it has a long shelf life, it’s crucial to keep these posts in circulation to attract and engage new followers over and over again.
However, manually promoting evergreen content can be time-consuming, especially if you have a lot of it. So, by automating this process, you can ensure your best content stays in front of your audience with minimal effort, plus maintain a consistent online presence without constantly coming up with new material.
Here’s how you can use Zapier, Notion, and Buffer to create a self-sustaining evergreen content promotion system:
Organize your evergreen content: Create a database in Notion to store and categorize all your evergreen content. Include fields like title, URL, topic, and last promotion date. This will help you keep track of what content is ready to be shared again and ensure that no valuable content gets lost in the shuffle.
Set up the automation: Use Zapier to connect Notion and Buffer. Create a Zap that:
Regularly check your Notion database (e.g., once a month) to identify content that hasn’t been promoted recently.
Selects a piece of content that needs a fresh push.
Creates a new post in Buffer with the content’s details, ready to be shared on your social media channels.
Fine-tune the Zap to fit your promotion strategy: You might want to change up the phrasing or rework a hashtag to make your Buffer posts more engaging.
This automation frees you up to focus on creating new content and ensures that your high-value posts continue to reach new audiences and drive engagement over time.
While this automation handles the heavy lifting, it’s still important to periodically review your content’s performance and adjust your strategy as needed. Automation is great for consistency, but your insights ensure it’s always effective.
Remember to check your automation
Automation can significantly streamline your content creation process, but it's not a set-it-and-forget-it solution. Like any system, your automation workflows need regular maintenance to perform optimally.
Schedule regular reviews—monthly or quarterly—to catch issues before they become problems, and monitor the output of your automation to highlight any hiccups in your system.
These are beginner-friendly automation — as your content strategy evolves, use your review sessions to brainstorm new ways to enhance your workflow. Consider implementing additional tools as your needs change. Here are some lists for inspiration:
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