I could write all day about the latest tools, their amazing capabilities and how I have a wonderful affiliate code attached to them (I do actually have a couple– more on that later), but I know a lot of people reading this won’t either have the budget or the time to sign up to a committed and professional platform at this time. What you’re looking for right now is what’s effective and affordable. To this end, scheduling in a platform natively will be the best thing for you to do, even if it is a little on the fiddly side of things. Like most things, you only get faster the more you do it.
Almost every one of the larger platforms has native schedulers that are part and parcel of the platform, sometimes it’s just a case of knowing where to look. Please note that this information was correct at the time of publishing, July 2023 and if this is updated in the future, I will mention it here.
A scheduler means you’re showing an online presence even when you’re busy, driving, sleeping, at conferences etc. It shows people viewing your online presence that you’re still relevant and present and with a bit of planning, still sending out the right message to your potential customers as well.
It helps you streamline content creation and keeps your posting consistent and if you’re looking at your analytics regularly it should also be keeping your engagement timely with your audience as well.
I schedule content so I can write blogs like this or create presentations for clients who pay me well! All the time I’m doing this however, I have got posts going out automatically and they're reminding my audience of who I am and the problem I solve.
If I don’t schedule and plan well in advance and I one morning get a dream quote request, or perhaps fall sick, I disappear completely for a few days doing stuff that either doesn’t pay me or I fall out of peoples minds altogether. It’s taken me a while, but I have found that it really wasn’t worth it, so now I plan ahead instead.
· Ideally keep up to date with all the changes that each platform is making. You can do this by subscribing to their emails and then actually reading them when they arrive in your inbox, it helps.
· Being far enough ahead of your content that you have time to create it, upload it and schedule it. My lower limit for this is 6 weeks. It doesn’t need to be perfect 6 weeks out but it does need to be written down and drafted at the very least. I then finalise and sign off usually with 4 weeks notice.
· Decide what format type you’ll be using eg, Stories, Reels, Posts and decide if you’re going to repurpose this content later as part of the “campaign” in order to drive home the desired message.
· Educate yourself on social media platform limitations, namely image dimensions, length of video and any character limits.
· Check your analytics regularly to see when your audience is engaging with your content and aim to post your content for that time.
· Try not to imitate others, we’re already seeing the same content so much, think of ways you can stand out and be authentic.
· Notably, don’t just schedule and ignore. If your content was a question, you might actually get answers! Make sure that you’re always “present” to continue any engagement you’ve earned as this is what ultimately what pays your bills.
· Don’t be predictable. If you write a blog and then do a video, go do it the other way round another time, it keeps it interesting as much s for you, as it does for the consumer of your content.
· Finally, keep checking back weekly, monthly to see not only what time your audience is engaging but what kind of content engaged them best and then do your best to duplicate this.
This starts and finishes with your Customer Avatar. The way you write to each one and on each platform should be different. Creating content that takes them through the Digital Marketing Sales Funnel and helps you speed up the “touchpoints” to purchase is the plan. This is where scheduling content comes into play.
Finally, it’s important that you measure on a regular basis and retain this information somewhere useful. Maybe a white board, excel spreadsheet or something like that. Over time it will help you better understand what platforms, what audiences and indeed what content is better driving your business forward. With this knowledge you can save even more time scheduling as you’ll have the "magic sauce" of what actually works for your business at that time!
If you would like any guidance with this, please contact me today by booking in a convenient time to talk.
As mentioned at the top of the page, I do have paid for tools that I've been using for a number of years now. If you're interested in learning more about them and want to have a FREE trial then please check out the codes below and let me know how you get on with them. As much as the natives are extremely good, once you reach a point in your business and you have the budget, its definitely worth looking at 3rd party tools like these.
Working with clients Nationwide from base in Mullingar.
