Running a
social media strategy as well as being a business owner will only lead to
stress and sleepless nights. But everyone
is on social media, right? Even the Pope.
You need to
strike the balance between informative and annoying. Studies show the optimal
postings for the two most popular networking sites are:
Twitter: 3 posts, daily
Facebook: 5 posts, weekly
Facebook: 5 posts, weekly
Doesn’t
require a lot of effort, does it? But finding free time is any business owner’s
challenge, so you need a method of having active accounts, without it taking
hours and feeling like a chore.
Welcome to scheduling. It’s a strange
thought that people can tweet without actually being behind the screen at the
time, but it’s a time-saving approach to social media marketing.
Having a consistent online presence is a necessary part of marketing, but you don’t want to be doing it every day.
So which schedule tool should you use?
TWITTER
1. Tweetdeck
For Tweetdeck newbies, this is your new best friend
when it comes to developing your Twitter presence.
You don’t have to create an account; just sign in
with your Twitter logins and you’re off - no email confirmation required. And
it’s free! Music to everyone’s ears.
You can plan posts into the far future. Ideal for
those who have a lot to say. A huge pro is that Tweetdeck’s layout looks
similar to Twitter (probably because Twitter bought it in 2011).
At any time, you can log back in and amend
scheduled tweets or delete them. This is a great idea if something you have
scheduled is no longer accurate or relevant. You can keep track of when your
posts are, too, if you log in often.
HOW TO USE IT
1. Visit https://web.tweetdeck.com
2. Sign in using your Twitter login details
3. Click ‘New Tweet’
- Select your account
- Type your tweet you want scheduling
- Click ‘Schedule Tweet’
- Select the relevant date and time
- Once you’ve proofread, click ‘Tweet at…’-
TIPS
- Don’t be confused by all the columns. The
beauty of Tweetdeck is that you can see your direct messages, timeline,
notifications and messages all on one screen. Delete all the columns apart from
‘Scheduled’ to tidy up your dashboard.
- Scroll to the right of the page, so you
can just focus on the Scheduled column. Here you will see all the tweets you
have planned for the future.
- If you have multiple accounts, you can
add them all. You can even post the same content across all accounts easily, by
selecting all the accounts.
- Don’t forget to add an image with your
text, too. Just select the ‘Add Image’ option, before submitting the tweet.
- Once you become an expert, utilise all
the columns by monitoring what your followers are retweeting and your
notifications.
FACEBOOK
1. Facebook
Even avid social media users don’t know you
can use Facebook to schedule posts and many are paying for services that do no
different.
Using Facebook to schedule is free and you
can prepare a post using the same process as posting normally. You can only
automate on a page, not a personal account. Again, you can see your scheduled
posts and amend or delete them at any time.
HOW TO USE IT
1. Sign into your Facebook page.
2. Type the post you want scheduling. Do
not click ‘Post’.
3. Click on the clock symbol.
4. Select the date from the calendar and
choose the time you want the post scheduling.
5. Click on ‘Schedule’ once you’re happy
with your post.
TIPS
- With a 63,000 character limit, utilise
this space with detailed posts.
- You can schedule up to 6 months ahead, so
plan time-relevant posts, such as Christmas.
- Be consistent with your postings. Aim for
at least 5 a week.
- Avoid newsworthy content, because for the
date you’ve scheduled it, it will no longer be news.
- Select your times wisely. People are more
likely to see your post at 7am, when they are waking up, than 9pm on a Friday
night. Target locations will also play a part.
It’s tempting to rush scheduling, but your
followers will notice if you’ve just posted anything. Interesting posts about
the industry, links to your service and entertaining posts will vary your
content and make your account interesting.
Be wary of posting at the same time and day
across your accounts, because you want to mix it up a bit.
Scheduling makes life easier, but don’t
neglect your accounts. Regularly checking notifications and interacting with
your followers will further improve your social media marketing.
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