🪣 How do I categorize my posts?

Buckets are how you sort your posts by topic, such as quotes, promos, blog links, behind-the-scenes, or whatever you post.

Then you can add buckets to your Posting Plan's time slots so you can post the right content type at the right time.

This is the process in a nutshell:

Once your buckets have posts in them, your Posting Plan publishes those posts at those designated time slots.

This article walks you through creating your first bucket, customizing it, and organizing your buckets into groups.

In this article, you'll learn:

It can be hard to keep a good mix of content when you're scheduling posts one by one. Buckets make this easier by letting you assign each type of content to a specific time slot in your Posting Plans. When a scheduled slot comes up, Post Planner pulls a post from the assigned bucket, so the variety takes care of itself.

You can use the same bucket across several profiles, or build custom buckets for individual profiles that need their own content mix.

Your buckets decide what gets posted. Your Posting Plan decides when.

The fastest way to start is with Post Planner's suggested buckets — pre-built categories for common content themes that you can rename and adjust.

You can also build buckets from scratch.

To get to your buckets, just follow these steps:

Post Planner suggests buckets built around popular content themes, so you don't have to invent your categories from scratch. Choose the one closest to what you actually post:

NOTE: You're not stuck with the suggestion. You can edit the name, color, and description in the next few steps.

Don't want to start from a suggestion? Click "Create new bucket" under the Buckets dropdown in the left sidebar, then fill it in exactly as below.

Once you've created a bucket, you can make it yours.

In the section "Choose a bucket name and color" you can customize your bucket's:

TIP: Use descriptions to keep team members on the same page. Something like "Only evergreen how-to links — no product news" stops anyone from mixing up two similar buckets.

Click to choose which social media accounts this bucket will post to. Check the profiles you want linked to this bucket, and uncheck the profiles you don't want.

If this bucket is seasonal, set the window when it should be active by clicking on "Choose time period when bucket is active (optional)":

NOTE: Seasonal buckets are ideal for holiday content. Build your "Black Friday" bucket in September, set it to activate in November, and forget about it until it turns itself on. You can edit or adjust the timeframe anytime.

Groups are an organizational layer for buckets. If you manage several brands, clients, or campaigns, groups keep each set of buckets separate.

To assign your bucket to a group, click on "Choose a group for your bucket (optional)":

Click "Select group" to pick a group you've already made:

Click "Add new group" to create a fresh one. Give it a name and click the "Create group" button to save it and make it available for bucket assignment.

This finalizes your bucket and creates it:

From the "Buckets" screen, you can add new buckets, edit existing ones, or see which posts are currently planned in each:

Keep going until you've covered every TYPE of post you want to schedule. 3 to 6 buckets are plenty for most people to start.

Then head to the "Plan" tab to build your posting plan. That's where you tell Post Planner how often posts in each bucket go out.

TIP: For the next walkthrough, see How do I set up my Posting Plan?