How can something so simple make someone’s life better? Well, let me tell you how the simple act of preparing and scheduling your social media can actually reveal a lot more about your business and planning than you’d realise. And make your time spent far more efficient!
What is Social Media Scheduling
Posting on social media really only gains traction when it is done with regularity and consistency. And this requirement to be consistent and constant can be so tiring, especially when you are starting your business and have a zillion other things to think about.
Scheduling your social media posts can give you the space you need to concentrate on the ENGAGEMENT side of things – which is actually the more fun part. There are also some unexpected benefits to this to, which I will expand upon below.
There are various apps and platform features that will help you lay out your social media posts and plan in advance…
A note: Scheduling IS NOT a replacement for the time and energy you will need to put into Social Media – it will just help you FOCUS and be more efficient!
Apps and plugins for scheduling
Buffer
Buffer is an easy to use scheduling platform that has a free option perfect for small businesses. The basic free plan offers 3 social channels, 10 scheduled posts / month, 1 user. Their next level plan offers 8 social channels and 100 posts / month. I have been using Buffer for a couple of years, just to manage one of a few of my Facebook pages.
Pros: It’s user-friendly and offers LinkedIn as a channel option. Cons: You can’t auto-post carousel instagram posts from third party sites – this isn’t Buffer’s fault, but it can be a hassle. You can receive notifications via the Buffer app to remind you to manually post these from the draft you’ve created though.
You also can’t link your Pinterest account to Buffer in their free package which is sad 🙁
Later
Later’s free plan is slightly better than Buffer’s, yet I don’t find it quite as intuitive to use – but that could be me! The bonus of Later is that it shows you your content in a calendar format, rather than a list like Buffer. The free plan offers 1 x media set (1 of each FB, Twitter, Insta and Pinterest), 30 posts per profile, 1 user.
Pros: You can link your Pinterest account, AND you get 30 posts per profile per month, which is great! Cons: You can’t add multiple Facebook pages in the free plan.
Tweetdeck
I am an old school fan of Tweetdeck. This is a web-based twitter platform, that is owned by Twitter. It allows you to see different feeds, notifications, and scheduled items in columns on your browser. This is actually where I manually schedule my twitter content. Why would you choose this option instead of Buffer or Later? That’s a post for another day!
It’s important to differential WHAT kind of content should be scheduled vs. what should be done ad-hoc, especially with a platform like twitter (the CONVERSATION platform!). On twitter, I only schedule my travel blog content, just to keep my own work out there; in between retweeting other interesting content and conversing on the platform.
NOTE: Twitter is all about engagement, so scheduling for twitter is really just to bolster this, and to catch people in a different timezone.
Tailwind
Tailwind is a paid platform that offers both Pinterest and Instagram scheduling. I’d only suggest that you use Tailwind if you are running a website / blog with a lot of content, and want to push your traffic. I use the Tailwind service to schedule my pins from my travel blog – I have over 150 posts and 1000s of pins, so scheduling these well in advance across a number of boards is useful for me. I usually schedule a few months at a time.
Pinterest has recently added some scheduling services in their free plans that rival Tailwind somewhat. I still think Tailwind has a superior user-experience and extra features, so am willing to keep paying for it. But Pinterest’s own platform is fast catching up!
WordPress Blogs & Websites
Blog2Social
The Blog2Social plugin is a basic and relatively user-friendly way to auto-post or schedule your social posts after you’ve published a new blog article or web page. I recommend this kind of plugin if your business doesn’t really rely on social media, and your audience is more website based. This allows you to maintain a social media presence, just for appearance, rather than increased business or traffic.
What kind of content should be scheduled?
That really depends on the platforms you use, and your goals for each (I will link to my guides on this shortly).
Perhaps you run a weekly twitter chat, and need to schedule the questions? Maybe you run a #MondayMotivation thread on your Facebook page, and want to plot these out in advance? Or maybe you just want to spread out your content so it doesn’t rely on your hopping in and out of your channels constantly throughout the day?
Scheduling doesn’t replace engagement, but it can kick it off, so that you can concentrate on responses and interaction instead.
Remember:
Facebook is the COMMUNITY platform – create your community of supporters and foster a feeling of support.
Twitter is the CONVERSATION platform – Twitter without conversation does not exist. Don’t get involved with the platform if you don’t want to converse and interact.
Instagram is the RELATIONSHIP platform – you have to have a give and take on Instagram to make it work. It isn’t about posting pretty pics and hoping people see them, you have to foster relationships with others in order for your pics to get seen.
A note about scheduling for insta – I always advise my clients to spend time engaging with other content before you post. It is good practice + sets you in good stead with the algorithms. If you schedule your posts you will bypass this important step. To counteract that, I schedule posts at the same time each week, and spend time daily interacting on Insta (I call it my ‘coffee activity’)
LinkedIn is the Professional platform – I would describe LinkedIn more like a professional portfolio or CV site, rather than a social media. It is best used for networking, rather than entertainment.
Pinterest is the VISUAL search engine – Pinterest is the visual version of google, and an incredible resource for traffic. But the biggest thing on Pinterest is to ensure that your visual content is engaging! See my services page or contact me to discuss my pin creation services.
By-products of planning & scheduling your social media posts
- Planning ahead makes you think about what content should appear seasonally and how you can leverage those ebbs and flows
- You don’t have to remember to post consistently! If your memory is anything like mine, this is a huge advantage
- You can batch create visual content and maintain a look and feel. One of my favourite jobs for clients is creating visual content – so if you need a hand, please get in touch
- You can focus your energy on the interaction and engagement with your social media communities, rather than coming up with ideas and remembering to post
- Brainstorming content once a month is great for product development, identifying trends, and keeping your business fresh. You CAN buy pre-made content and caption packs from Marketing ‘moguls’, but personally I would recommend my bespoke content packages – these will be based around your business alone and totally tailored to you
- You can take a break without impacting your small business too much. It’s important to take time out and not burn out!
Be sure to avoid these Bad Habits on Social Media to save your sanity!
PIN IT FOR LATER…
