Scheduling social media posts: Professionals and cons

A query I get requested rather a lot by enterprise homeowners is whether or not it’s best to or shouldn’t schedule social media posts. And I completely perceive why enterprise homeowners ask the questions. When you’ve determined to make use of social media to market your enterprise you’ll shortly uncover that you’ve the choice to schedule posts whether or not it’s straight on the social media platform or utilizing a third-party app. It appears like a good way to flee the fixed creating and posting cycle. However then you definitely come throughout a advertising and marketing or social media professional who will let you know to not use a scheduler. So what do you have to do? Nicely, carry on studying to seek out out the professionals and cons of scheduling social media posts so you can also make a choice about what to do going ahead.

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SCHEDULING SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS: PROS AND CONS

Professionals of scheduling social media posts

 

Professional 1: You’ll be able to schedule your posts on the ‘optimum’ time

One benefit of scheduling your social media posts is you could schedule them to exit on the optimum time. This time will fluctuate from platform to platform, and your excellent shopper will even affect what’s the greatest time so that you can be posting. Now in some circumstances, the optimum time is perhaps at an inconvenient time so that you can submit manually. By scheduling your social media submit you’ll be able to set the submit up at a time that works for you, however then let it’s posted at what’s the greatest time.

 

Professional 2: You’ll be able to minimise time wasted from context switching

Each single time you turn between duties you waste time on account of context switching. Basically, it takes a while on your mind to maneuver from one process to a different. Now in case you are posting a number of occasions per week (possibly even a number of occasions per day) then that context-switching time builds up. By utilizing a scheduler you may add a number of posts on the similar time after which transfer on to one thing else.

 

Professional 3: Helps with consistency (frequency)

Posting persistently (at an everyday frequency) is a crucial a part of social media advertising and marketing. If you wish to keep on individuals’s radar then it is advisable be repeatedly posting. It is best to set a posting schedule for your enterprise for each social media platform that you just use. While it’s completely attainable to stay to a schedule by posting in real-time scheduling social media posts upfront will make issues simpler.

 

Professional 4: You’ll be able to take save time by batch-creating your social media posts

Saving time from a scarcity of context switching is a method you say time through the use of a social media scheduler. However one other approach it can save you time is by batch-creating your social media posts. Relying on the social media platforms you might be creating content material for you is perhaps creating all kinds of posts utilizing totally different software program. For instance, you is perhaps enhancing pictures in Lightroom, creating carousels in Canva and enhancing movies in CapCut.

Once you schedule your content material upfront you may have the chance to have the ability to make a number of posts which can be the identical sort of format back-to-back. For instance, at some point you might make 6 movies after which schedule these in. After which the following day you might make 3 carousels after which schedule these in.

By creating the identical sort of content material, probably in a particular software program, back-to-back you’ll save time.

Study extra about find out how to save time by batching your content material right here.

 

To benefit from batching your social media posts upfront you’ll must have deliberate your social media content material upfront. If in the intervening time you haven’t been planning your social media posts upfront seize this workbook.  On this free content material advertising and marketing plan workbook you’ll discover ways to begin planning throughout long-form content material, e-mail and social media me. All it’s a must to do is put your particulars within the kind beneath. 

Professional 5: It could possibly assist you to to repurpose your content material throughout a number of social media platforms

All the execs had been relevant whether or not you determined to schedule your social media posts straight into the social media platform or utilizing a third-party app. Nonetheless, this benefit is particularly for many who resolve to make use of a third-party app. In my enterprise, I exploit Later and this permits me to shortly schedule social media posts throughout a number of platforms concurrently.

You’ve got the power to tug in an asset (video, graphic, {photograph} and so forth) and write a grasp caption. Then you may customise the caption for all the social media platforms you’ve chosen. Meaning you may shortly be sure your caption is brief sufficient for X (previously Twitter) or add your hashtags in for Instagram.

Clearly you may manually submit throughout the a number of platforms, however this capability to shortly submit throughout a number of platforms saves a lot time.

 

WANT TO GET A CONTENT STRATEGY CREATED SPECIFICALLY FOR YOUR BUSINESS? Earlier than you begin repurposing your social media posts on a number of platforms you higher be sure you have a stable content material technique in place. As an award-winning content material marketer, who does all of my very own advertising and marketing, and a Chartered Marketer with over a decade {of professional} advertising and marketing expertise, I’m in a position to make content material with a stable technique behind it so it ends in gross sales. And the most effective bit is it doesn’t need to take endlessly.  In reality, I run content material technique days (evergreen content material and launch content material) so you will get an overarching content material technique, after which a launch or 3-month content material plan created in simply at some point. To search out out extra about my Technique Days click on right here. Undecided what open is greatest for you? E-book a free, non-obligation, introduction name right here.

 

Cons of scheduling social media posts

Con 1: Decreased attain 

Essentially the most mentioned drawback of scheduling social media posts is the decreased in attain. While there are few details out there (you understand what social media platforms are like) the overall consensus is that should you use a scheduler the attain of your submit shall be decreased.

Con 2: Your submit could possibly be irrelevant or outdated when posted

One other drawback of scheduling social media posts is that in case you are scheduling too far upfront it is perhaps that by the point the piece of content material is posted, it’s outdated or irrelevant. This isn’t normally a difficulty in case you are posting evergreen content material. Nonetheless, it may be that on account of timing a submit that was innocent when initially created could possibly be posted at a time when it has one other which means or is considered in a distinct mild.

Con 3: You’ll miss out on creating well timed content material

In an effort to make sure that posts aren’t outdated when posted it may be straightforward to give attention to creating evergreen content material (discover out extra about evergreen content material right here). While that may mitigate creating out-of-date content material it may possibly imply that your content material turns into a bit generic and timeless. That is tremendous for some platforms. Nonetheless, if for instance, you might be creating TikTok movies or Instagram Reels you would possibly miss out by not creating movies to trending audios.

 So do you have to schedule media posts forward of time? 

As you may see there are execs and cons of scheduling social media posts. Personally, I imagine the professionals outweigh the cons. The primary con is that the attain of a submit shall be decreased. Clearly, this isn’t excellent. Nonetheless, given the dearth of laborious details and provided that numerous profitable enterprise schedule their social media the affect isn’t detrimental.

And for many enterprise homeowners the time saved from having the ability to batch their content material and never shedding time by getting distracted when posting in real-time majorly outweighs.

Do you have to schedule straight within the social media app or use a third-party social media scheduler?

When you’ve determined to go forward with scheduling your social media posts there may be nonetheless extra choice to make. Schedule straight utilizing the social media platform or use a third-party app.

In case you are simply posting on one social media platform then I’d advocate scheduling straight into that social media platform. Often, the performance inside a social media platform is best than a third-party scheduler.

In case you are posting throughout a number of social media platforms it would depend upon the platforms. In case you are utilizing Instagram and Fb then you may schedule straight into Meta. In case you are utilizing a mixture equivalent to Fb and LinkedIn or Instagram and TikTok then you definitely’d be higher off utilizing a third-party scheduler that can allow you to schedule throughout a number of social media platforms.

My third-party social media scheduler of selection is Later. You should use Later to schedule throughout Fb, X (Previously Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and TikTok. Click here to try Later for yourself.

That’s it. You now know the professionals and cons of scheduling social media posts.

I hope studying this weblog submit has helped you to grasp the benefits and drawbacks of scheduling social media posts so you can also make an knowledgeable choice about find out how to transfer ahead with posting your social media content material.

Let me know within the feedback whether or not you resolve to schedule or to not schedule your social media posts.