What to Post for the Last 8 Weeks of 2026: The 70/20/10 and Weekly Theme Strategies
Two batchable content plans for the final eight weeks of the year: one built for fast Instagram and TikTok growth, one built to keep YouTube, podcast and short-form organized around a single weekly idea.
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today
Duration
Format
Talking Head
educational
Views
2.5K
106 likes
57 · 43
Big Idea
The argument in one line.
With eight weeks left in the year, you grow fastest by batching a fixed content mix or one weekly theme, and by making every post carry something only you could say.
Who This Is For
Read if. Skip if.
READ IF YOU ARE…
A creator posting on Instagram and TikTok who has been inconsistent lately and wants a simple split of what to post each week.
Someone with a YouTube channel or podcast who needs to turn one weekly episode into short-form posts without inventing new ideas daily.
A busy or burned-out creator heading into November and December who wants a plan that can be batched in advance.
SKIP IF…
You want platform-specific mechanics like hook scripts, editing settings or posting times. This stays at the strategy level.
You do not post on a regular schedule and are not looking to commit to eight weeks of content.
TL;DR
The full version, fast.
Tess Barclay offers two ways to spend the last eight weeks of 2026. The first is the 70/20/10 strategy for Instagram and TikTok: 70% of posts come from two series (one evergreen, one timely), 20% is shareable content built to be reposted or sent to friends, and 10% is a personal post that builds human connection. The second is the weekly theme strategy: pick one topic per week and break it into a talking video, carousel, big-text post and clips across every platform, cross-promoting between them. Both are easy to batch, and both only work if the content carries your own voice.
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Sets up the eight-week window and the two strategies, then a Storyblocks sponsor read about building a visual world with repeatable assets.
02:28 – 04:03
02 · Strategy one: the 70/20/10 overview
Introduces the mix: 70% two series, 20% shareable, 10% deeper connection. She gained about 10,000 followers in a couple of weeks using it in September.
04:03 – 04:47
03 · Nail your foundation first
Before planning, decide what you want to be known for and how you would want a podcast host to introduce you.
04:47 – 06:18
04 · 70%: the evergreen series
A series that still works in six months, inward or outward focused. A talking-to-camera format with big text is the easiest for a busy creator.
06:18 – 07:02
05 · 70%: the timely series
A series built on current topics, such as hot takes on the creator economy, platform updates or a seasonal budget.
07:02 – 07:59
06 · How to come up with series ideas
Ask which questions you want to answer, then use thought starters like trending topics, lessons learned, mistakes, journeys and green-screen reviews.
07:59 – 09:03
07 · 20%: shareable content
Instagram's top KPI is shares and reposts, so make relatable, not-about-me posts people would send or repost.
09:03 – 09:51
08 · 10%: deeper connection
One post a week whose only goal is human connection, such as a personal struggle, apartment tour or mental health note. It may perform worst but still matters.
09:51 – 10:57
09 · Make it something only you could say
Trending styles work, but feeds look identical. Your voice, humor and perspective are what convert viewers into followers.
10:57 – 12:50
10 · Strategy two: the weekly theme
Pick one theme per week across all platforms. Example: this week's video about the eight-week plan becomes talking clips, a carousel and a big-text post.
12:50 – 14:48
11 · Weekly theme examples and cross-promotion
A vegetarian-protein question becomes a YouTube video, a talking video, a carousel and a recipe vlog, with each platform pointing to the others.
14:48 – 16:50
12 · Thought starters and recap
Theme ideas include answering a question, trending topics, hot takes and mistakes. Only eight themes are needed for the rest of the year.
16:50 – 17:45
13 · Breathing room and sign-off
Year-end overwhelm is normal, so a batchable plan helps. Closes with upcoming interviews and a Busy Blooming event in New York.
Atomic Insights
Lines worth screenshotting.
The 70/20/10 split puts 70% of posts into two series, one evergreen and one timely, because series are the easiest content to batch.
On Instagram right now the number one KPI is shares and reposts, so 20% of your posts should be things people would put on their story or send to a friend.
Shareable content works best when it is not about you: a relatable feeling about social media that someone would repost as their own.
The 10% personal post will probably perform worst, and it is still worth making because its only job is human connection with your audience.
A talking-to-camera series with big pastel text and pop-ups is the lowest-effort format that is still working for a busy creator.
Ask which questions you want to be known for answering, and you have a series idea.
Everything on the Instagram explore page is starting to look the same, so adding your own voice is what separates followers from scrollers.
A weekly theme is one idea per week, expressed as a video, a carousel, a text-on-screen post and clips, so you stop deciding what to post every day.
Weekly themes make cross-promotion natural: short-form captions point to the long video, and the long video previews the week's short-form posts.
For the last eight weeks of the year you only need eight themes, which is what makes the plan feel digestible.
Before planning any content, write down what you want to be known for, because a plan without a lane just produces more of the same.
You do not have to post every day to benefit from either strategy, since both are built around batching.
Takeaway
Two simple systems for eight weeks of content.
WHAT TO LEARN
Pick either a fixed content mix or one theme per week, batch it in advance, and put your own voice in everything you post.
03Nail your foundation first
Define what you want to be known for before planning content, even if it is only a quick note, so every series points at the same lane.
0470%: the evergreen series
Make 70% of posts two series, one evergreen and one timely, because series are the easiest content to batch and keep consistent.
A talking-to-camera series with big text and pop-ups is the lowest-effort format that is still working for busy creators.
0720%: shareable content
Spend 20% of posts on relatable content that is not about you, since shares and reposts are Instagram's key signal right now.
0810%: deeper connection
Reserve about 10% for one personal post a week, expecting it to perform worst but to build the human connection that keeps people following.
09Make it something only you could say
Use your own humor, opinions and perspective inside trending formats, because identical-looking feeds make a unique voice the real differentiator.
10Strategy two: the weekly theme
With a weekly theme, turn one question or opinion into a long video, a talking clip, a carousel and a text post so you decide once per week.
11Weekly theme examples and cross-promotion
Cross-promote between formats by pointing short-form captions to the long video and previewing the week's posts inside it.
12Thought starters and recap
For the last eight weeks you only need eight themes, which makes year-end planning feel digestible and leaves room to rest.
Glossary
Terms worth knowing.
70/20/10 content strategy
A posting mix where 70% of content is two series (one evergreen, one timely), 20% is shareable content, and 10% is personal connection content.
Evergreen series
A recurring content series whose topic still works six months from now, such as outfit ideas, recipe ideas or a personal journey.
Timely series
A recurring series tied to current trends, news or seasons, such as hot takes on platform updates or a fall budget.
Weekly theme strategy
Picking one topic per week and expressing it in several formats across every platform you post on.
Shareable content
Posts built so viewers will repost them to a story or send them to a friend, which Instagram currently rewards.
“Everything has to be something that only you could say.”
A short rule that stands alone and applies to any creator.→ IG reel cold open↗ Tweet quote
10:36
“We're in this allergy to uniqueness right now on social media.”
A sharp, quotable diagnosis of why feeds look the same.→ TikTok hook↗ Tweet quote
09:00
“The number one KPI right now is shares and repost.”
One concrete claim about what Instagram rewards.→ newsletter pull-quote↗ Tweet quote
The Script
Word for word.
Read-along
Don't just watch it. Burn it in.
See every word as it's spoken — crank it to 2× and still catch all of it. The same dual-channel trick behind Amazon's Kindle + Audible.
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Okay, there are eight weeks left. of 2026. How did we get here?
How are there only eight weeks left as of the beginning of November to post and grow on social media? I have not hit my Instagram goals. I've had the content zoomies.
I've been all over the place, but it's okay because you have eight weeks left. It's 2026 and eight, and we're going to figure it out because today I'm going to bring across your desk two content strategies. One strategy is more focused on long form content.
So if you do YouTube, podcasting and short form. And then one is more focused on just trying to grow on TikTok, Instagram.
I'm excited. So let's clock in and let's get into it. Okay.
So we have been talking so much lately about the future of social media and what's going to work ending 2026, going into 2027. And one of the most consistent things I think that really works with social media right now is building a world for yourself. I love doing this through visuals, sound effects.
Like what you can basically do is pick a bunch of different assets like certain b -roll or green screen overlays like confetti or certain clicking sound effects from music that you continually repeat. And how I've done that is through always using Storyblocks for all of my assets.
This has helped so much build the busy blooming world. Storyblocks is a human -made stock media library that's essential for creators. And going onto Storyblocks is so fun because you can really shop around for certain assets to build your world.
I love using the city b -roll for the short form. content whenever we kind of do our like Claude series which is really fine. I also as you guys know I love the green screen overlays.
They have so many good like jazzy kind of beat lo -fi jazzy songs on there that I use all the time for the podcast. They have so much in there and it saves so much time rather than individually searching for everything you need. It's all in Storyblocks and my favorite part about it I think is that everything in there is totally covered by copyright whether it's for a brand deal or organic content which just gives me so much peace of mind.
So if you've been thinking, okay, how do I build my brand? How do I build my world on social media? Storyblocks could be what you've been missing.
And I've been using it for almost, I would say like three years at this point, every single week. I'm obsessed, as you guys know. So to get access to the human -made stock media library that is built for creators and essential to my workflow, visit storyblocks .com forward slash test Barclay.
For a limited time, you can get a special discount through my link. So definitely go check them out. Thank you so much to Storyblocks for sponsoring today's video.
And let's get into the episode. Okay. So strategy number one, this is like if you want to grow specifically on Instagram and TikTok, this is what we're going to do.
Okay. And I've already tried this one out. I did this, I would say in the beginning of September, it was working.
I think I gained, you know, 10 ,000 followers in about a couple of weeks from doing this. And then I ghosted my Instagram and I haven't done it since, but I know it works. So this is my plan for the next eight weeks.
I'm going to be doing, and you can do this along with me, the 70 -20 -10 content strategy that I've come up with. It's taking a lot of things that work, that we all know work here at the office. We know, you know, all these things work, but we're going to kind of blend them together to a strategy.
So 70 % of your content is going to be two series and one series is evergreen and one series is timely and time -based. So I'm going to break this down, but I'll give a quick overview. So 70 % of the content is two series.
20 % of the content is something someone would put on their story and 10 % of the content is a deeper connection. The reason this strategy is so good if you're really busy is because series are the easiest things to batch. So the strategy is really good if you want to batch because it's mainly series based, but then there's some strategy behind getting shares and connecting deeper.
So let's break down each piece and I'm going to give some examples of how we can do this. Also, as always, because we're at the office, if you have an idea or you need ideas for series, come. down below and the co -workers like here at Busy Blooming will all brainstorm some serious ideas if you need some thoughts.
So okay if you're feeling overwhelmed and if you're like okay I actually like don't know what kind of series I would do. I don't know what I would post. I think a good step before actually planning out this content is to just ask yourself two questions.
First do I have my foundation like my base in place which we talk about all the time of do I know what I want to be known for if I was invited as a guest on my favorite podcast. How would I want them to introduce me? What's kind of my lane?
What's my unique angle? What's my unique brand? Like all of those things we have to have in place.
You can keep it really high level of just like a quick pause and jotting down in a notes app or something. What do I want to have happen? What are my goals?
What do I want to be known for? And then like, what's my brand? And then come back because that is so important because you know, you want to be strategic and all this.
Okay. So back to the strategy. So 70 % of the content is too serious.
So the first one is. evergreen. So for example, this could be content ideas or it could be outfit ideas or recipe ideas.
Obviously you want to add some branding to that. So recipe ideas that take you 10 minutes or outfit ideas that cost less than a hundred dollars for corporate, like, you know, whatever, you're going to add your audience to it. This could also be inward focus.
This could be an evergreen series about you trying to build your dream career or how you're trying to overcome work anxiety or how you're trying to, you know, embezz your apartment or start waking up at 5 a .m like whatever so this could be inward focus outward focus however you want to do it but the first series is evergreen this is something that in six months from now it still kind of works honestly if i was really busy i would personally pick a series that i could sit down and talk to and film the whole you know 2026 the theme of 2026 content is sitting down with that damn mini mic and the big pastel text and some pop -ups.
Like that is just this formula of 2026 that has been just growing and growing and growing. So I would probably, if I was busy, pick my first series to be something that I could sit down and film and like talk to the camera to make it easier. You also don't need a mini mic.
I don't have one. I personally prefer my wired headphones. Like I think those sound better, but regardless.
Series one, evergreen, inward focus, outward focus, whatever style you want. And we can brainstorm the comments. Then the second series that you're going.
to do this is time based so this is talking about something that is within the trending topics it's something current so for example giving my hot takes about the creator economy or reacting in a funny way to social media platform updates or because it's fall doing like your fall budget for like maddie's doing this like doing your fall budget for clothing like if you have 500 if you have 200 this could be picking a topic that Everybody in your brand and like your world is talking about, like, let's say you do fitness and like nutrition content.
Everybody's talking about peptides and everyone's talking about Zembik. Like maybe you do a series giving your opinion and like breaking down that. Another good way to think of series ideas is to ask yourself, what questions do you want to answer?
Because for example, I could think, okay, like what questions do I want people to know that I'm like good at answering? What do I want to be kind of known for? One of them is content ideas.
Like I want to be somebody where people could ask. me do you have any content ideas and i do i want people to ask me what do you think about the creator economy like what's your opinion on the future of social media and what's working what's happening so that's a way i could think of a series some other thought starters for series okay so you could do answering a question trending topic unpacking lessons you've learned mistakes you've made a journey that you're trying to do something you're not trying to do how you're trying to transform yourself like even it could be trying to wake up by 5 a .m every day before the end of 2027 ideas outfit ideas kind of ideas there's so many serious ideas that you could do.
Also, a good way if you are busy to kind of like batch this is to do green screen style. So one of your series could be reviewing popular launches. So that's 70%.
Then 20 % of your content, this is going to be shareable because specifically on Instagram, the number one KPI right now is shares and repost. So 20 % of our content is going to be focused on, okay, how can I get people to post this to their Instagram story or repost it on TikTok.
This is where the trends go. This is where the big, the big, my op, the pastel, big yellow text on screen. What I'm going to do for this one is 20 % of my content is going to be like funny trends about being a creator, having the zoomies, like the creator economy, all of that.
But it's going to be something that's not. about me. The summer I crushed you out about content.
Something relatable that someone would repost or send to their friend about social media or being a podcast or how it's cringe. Like you're really here tapping in to the feelings, the inner thoughts that your audience and you have that people would send to their friend or post in their story. This is again, basically trends, big text, inside thoughts.
Like this is what you would put in the 20%. Okay. And then 10 % of your content.
This is probably going to be the content that performs the worst. but it's important. This is the content you post that the end goal of it is just to connect on a human level with your audience.
It doesn't even have to be on brand. You could talk about something really hard that you went through like in a relationship. You could have a quick coffee 30 seconds talking about something you've been struggling with, a thought that's been on your mind.
You could do an apartment tour. You could do a quick video talking about your mental health or like just something that you feel like builds a personal human connection with your audience. And this is gonna be one.
day a week. This is just 10 % of your content. So just think of one thing every week of like, okay, how can I connect on a personal level with my audience?
Okay. So that is the first. content and strategy.
In terms of like the styles and how you want to do this, again, I feel like what I've gone through in this video so far is really what's working right now. The big text, the talking to camera, 60 seconds or less, like that kind of content works. But I think what's important with everything that we post, it's so important to remember for the rest of the year, everything has to be something that only you could say.
It has your unique sense of humor, your personality, your perspective, your opinion, your journey, like something that is so you as Alyssa. said a couple of weeks ago here at the office you coded really really think about that because right now on social media it's like scrolling through just everything looks the same it does everything is that stupid big yellow text that I post and use all the time because it does work.
But I feel like we're in this like, you know, allergy to uniqueness right now on social media. Like everything on like the trending page on Instagram, the explore feed could be from one creator. Like it's so, so, so similar.
So I feel like, yes, the styles are working, but what will convert your followers and your brand and like really grow your world on social is doing that, but adding your own voice in it. It's so important. Okay, so that's strategy number one, 70 -20 -10.
That's like rapid growth, batching series. Like it's a lot. I know it's a lot, but this next strategy is a little more peaceful.
It's actually a lot more peaceful and it's something I've said before, but this is the weekly theme strategy. So what you could do for the last eight weeks is do... Eight weekly themes for the rest of 2026.
This strategy, again, I've said it before, maybe like two years ago, but I love it. I love to fall back on it, especially in this time of year or honestly the beginning of the year as well when you're like, okay, I have eight weeks, I have six weeks. Like how can I just grow the most, but I'm busy, I'm overwhelmed, I have all these ideas.
the weekly theme strategy so this is also great if you have a podcast or youtube because you're already done if you post every single week so what you do is you pick one theme for the week of content that goes across all of your platforms so for example my weekly theme this week could be this like my video idea it could be your eight week content strategy for the rest of 2026 so I'm doing this video on YouTube in the podcast.
So then my content on Instagram and TikTok would be about this. I would do a little sitting and talking to the camera, breaking this down. I would do a carousel, breaking it down.
I would do a big text on screen, breaking it down. I would give some content ideas about weekly themes. I would explain what a weekly theme is.
I had a list on the podcast a couple of weeks ago. So that would be my weekly theme. I would post on YouTube and then I would do clips and then I would do a voiceover about what I learned.
And then I'd do a carousel about what I learned having a list on the podcast. I'd show the behind the scenes. scenes of having a list on the podcast.
The reason I like this strategy so much is because it kind of organizes all the different ideas that we have and it helps you execute them in a more simple way across everything because there's 1 million social media platforms to be on right now and this helps organize it. So another example of a weekly theme could be answering a question like we talked about.
So it could be, okay, how do I get enough protein? Like let's say you talk about nutrition. How do I get enough protein as a vegetarian?
That's your weekly theme. So you do a YouTube video about it or a subsec article about it. Then you do a talking to camera video about it.
Then you do a carousel about it. Then you do a vlog style about high protein recipe ideas for vegetarians. Do you see what I mean?
You're basically taking one question, opinion, theme, and breaking it into multiple styles, but it's across everything. I also like this because you cross promote. So then if you're doing a YouTube video on how to get protein as a vegetarian, at the end of all of your Instagram, content, your TikTok content, the little caption could be go check out my YouTube video.
So you're kind of like cross promoting. And then in your YouTube video, you could be like, OK, this week on Instagram, I'm going to post recipe ideas so that your YouTube viewers go to your Instagram. Like it's a really good way to break all this up.
Cross promote, stay cohesive, stay organized. A couple thought starters for weekly themes. So this could be your YouTube video or your podcast topic.
Answering a question. Also answering a question could be inward or outward focus. You could be like how to.
Do I have content ideas? Or you could be answering the question of somebody asking you, how did you change your relationship with food? Or how did you start dressing better for corporate?
And then you could share that. Obviously, trending topics are a good weekly theme. It could be an opinion you have, a hot take you have.
Like my weekly theme could be, I feel like you don't have to post on social media every single day. I'm going to break that down into a talking video. Then I'm going to do a text on screen.
Like this is your reminder. You don't have to post on social media every day. Then a carousel about it.
than my favorite podcast that I listen to when I'm trying to take a break from my phone. This could be mistakes you've made, ideas. But what I like about this is for the end of 2026, you only need eight.
themes but it makes it feel more digestible more peaceful weekly theme and then you just break it into a bunch of different styles so those are the two content strategies for the rest of 2026 2026 in eight we have eight weeks left as of november you could do the 70 2010 strategy or the weekly theme strategy and you guys we could do this like we got this when it comes to content at the end of the year i find that i am always on the brink of a complete mental breakdown because usually like November, end of November, December, like we're, it's been, we've had a whole year behind us.
And so when it comes to social media content, I do find this can often be a time where you're overwhelmed and stressed and it just feels like a lot. So having a strategy like this that you can like batch out is really nice where you don't have to every single day come up with a new content idea, film every single day. Like that is really a nice way to approach.
to end of the year or give yourself some breathing room. Anyways, okay, that is our eight week. plan for the rest of the year.
And I'm really excited. I hope you're doing well, by the way. I feel like I haven't even seen you.
Like one -on -one, we've had two interviews the last couple of weeks on the podcast. We had Scout and we had Alyssa when I was out in LA doing some interviews. And they're so much fun.
I don't know. I'm like, really? I'm heading out to New York literally today, actually.
I'm going to do a couple more interviews with one person who hired me for a brand deal and we became friends. So That person is going to just have, I'm so excited for that interview of someone who literally I met from them working at a huge brand and hiring me.
We're going to talk about all of that, like what turns them off from influencers, whatever, rates, everything. But I'm really happy or like in the interviews, I kind of like weave in the men every so often and it's been a lot of fun. So we have our busy blooming Rella event really, really soon in New York, which I'm so excited about.
I think we have maybe like three tickets left. at the time of filming this. So if you want to go check it out, there might be a couple of tickets left, but I'm so excited for that.
And anyways, Huffy, this is not coming out on Monday. This is like a Wednesday or Thursday episode or something. But you know what?
In 2027, we'll be so back on the Mondays. Like I can feel it. We're going to be so back.
Let's have an amazing week creating on social media. And thanks for clocking in. Bye.
The Hook
The bait, then the rug-pull.
Eight weeks left in 2026, no Instagram goals hit, and a creator who admits she has had the content zoomies. Tess Barclay answers with two plans: a three-part posting mix for fast Instagram and TikTok growth, and a calmer weekly-theme system for anyone with a podcast or YouTube channel.
Frameworks
Named ideas worth stealing.
02:28model
The 70/20/10 content strategy
70%: two series (one evergreen, one timely)
20%: shareable content built for reposts
10%: a personal connection post
A posting mix designed for Instagram and TikTok growth that is easy to batch because most of it is series-based.
Steal forany creator planning a month of short-form posts
10:57model
The weekly theme strategy
Pick one theme per week
Express it as a long video, talking clip, carousel and big-text post
Cross-promote between platforms
One idea per week, broken into multiple formats across every platform, with cross-promotion tying them together.
Steal forcreators with a weekly podcast or YouTube episode
07:22list
Series thought starters
Answering a question
Trending topic
Unpacking lessons learned
Mistakes you have made
A journey or transformation
Reviewing popular launches
A list of starting points for deciding what a recurring series is about.
Steal forbrainstorming series for any niche
CTA Breakdown
How they asked for the click.
VERBAL ASK
16:50link
“Busy Blooming event in New York, with a few tickets left at the time of filming.”
A soft closing mention after the value is delivered, with no hard sell.
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