Write a month of social media post ideas
A practical way to use AI for this job in a small business, with a prompt you can copy.
It's the last Sunday of the month and you've got nothing planned for socials. Again. You know you should post regularly, but staring at a blank calendar after a full week on the tools isn't anyone's idea of fun.
The prompt
You're helping me plan social posts for my small business. Business: [what you do] in [suburb/city]. Customers: [who they are]. Write 20 post ideas for next month, mixing tips, behind-the-scenes, customer questions and one offer. For each give a hook line, 2-3 sentences of body copy and a suggested photo. Keep it friendly, Australian English, no hashtag spam.
Replace everything in [square brackets] with your own details. Don't paste in anything you wouldn't want stored by the AI provider.
Steps
- Fill in the brackets with real detail about your business.
- Paste into your AI tool and read the list.
- Delete anything that doesn't sound like you, ask for 5 more in the style of the ones you kept.
- Drop the keepers into your scheduler or a simple calendar.
A worked example
Say you run a dog grooming van in Geelong. You fill in the brackets: mobile dog grooming, Geelong and the Bellarine, busy families and older owners who can't easily get to a salon. The AI gives you 20 ideas. Some are gold: 'Why we brush before the bath (and why your dog will thank you)', a before-and-after of a matted spoodle, and a 'what's in the van' tour.
Some are rubbish, like a generic 'Happy Monday!' post. Bin those. Then ask for five more 'like the van tour and the brushing tip'. You end up with 15 keepers in about 20 minutes, plus photo ideas you can shoot on your next job.
Time saved
If planning a month of posts used to take you a few hours of staring and scrolling, expect to get it down to 30 to 45 minutes, including editing. These are my estimates for a typical small business, not measured results.
What it costs (AUD)
For one person planning one month of posts, you won't need a paid plan. Scheduling is free in Meta Business Suite for Facebook and Instagram.
The free plans of ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini handle this fine. If you end up using AI every day, the paid plans are roughly: ChatGPT Plus approx. A$30 a month, Claude Pro approx. A$29 a month billed monthly (US$20, or about A$24 a month if you pay yearly), and Google AI Pro approx. A$33 a month through the App Store. Prices approx., October 2026. Some are billed in US dollars, so your bank may add a foreign transaction fee. Check the vendor's pricing page before you buy.
Australian notes
Ask for Australian English in the prompt or you'll get 'color' and 'favorite'. If you mention prices, say whether they include GST; for most consumer-facing businesses, displayed prices should be the full price including GST. Keep competitions simple: trade promotions can need permits in some states, so check before you run one.
Privacy: the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) cover most businesses turning over more than $3 million, plus some smaller ones such as health providers. Even if you're under the threshold, treat customer details with care: strip names, phone numbers and addresses before you paste anything into an AI tool.
Want this to happen automatically? See the step-by-step guide on our sister site: How to set up a social media posting bot.
My verdict
Great starting point. The ideas are generic until you feed it real detail, so spend the extra minute on the brackets.
Common questions
Will my posts sound like everyone else's?
They will if you skip the brackets. The more real detail you give (suburbs, customer types, recent jobs), the less generic the ideas.
Should I let AI write the whole post too?
Use it for a first draft, then rewrite the opening line in your own words. That's the bit people read.
How many posts a month is enough?
There's no magic number. Two or three good posts a week you can keep up beats daily posts you abandon in a fortnight.
Do this today
Open ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, paste the prompt with your real business details, and pick five ideas you could post this week. Put them in your calendar before you close the laptop.
More marketing use cases
- Turn one blog post into five social posts
- Draft a monthly email newsletter
- Write Google Business Profile updates
Next: Turn one blog post into five social posts · All marketing · Want a bot to do this automatically? See bot setup guides.