You must work hard with your website to get traffic: publish several posts per day on every popular social network. If you publish posts manually, you’ll have to spend much time on these mechanical tasks. It’s better to spend it on creating some content, right? Use social media scheduling to get this opportunity.
What’s a social media scheduling? What is that used for?
Scheduled posting is an automatic publication of posts at the set time. Default tools of social networks and third-party services carry both these tasks out.
Social media scheduling works on the following tasks:
- Social media managers save their time. Specialists can set publications once per day or even more seldom. Whereupon they can focus themselves on other tasks.
- Optimal posting frequency maintenance. Imagine that your followers are used to your everyday posting at 10 a.m. and at 3 p.m. You can hold to the schedule with the help of social media scheduling or do posting by-hand twice a day. Is it worth pointing out that the first alternative is more useful?
- Crossposting. You can prepare a post and publish it on several networks at a time with the help of social media scheduling tools.
- Finding the best time to post on social media. Imagine that you live in London while majority of your followers live in Los Angeles. When the audience is about to start reading your posts you must already be heading off to bed.
- Social media scheduling has one more benefit. It’s that you can schedule publications. This opportunity spares both you from a lack of thoughts and your followers from a lack of data. This guide will help you delve into social media scheduling and getting to know third-party services of posting control. For your convenience, the info is divided into sections as follows:
- Default tools of social media scheduling:
- Third-party tools of social media scheduling:
How to publish scheduled posts with default tools of social media networks
If you’re dealing with one or two social networks default tools of social media scheduling will be enough. More than that, they’re free of charge. You won’t either have to give third-party services and applications access to your groups and pages.
How to schedule posts on Facebook
To publish a post on Facebook act as follows:
- Write content
- In the edit mode choose Publish – Schedule
- Select a date and time for when you want to publish a post
Your scheduled post is prepared
Third-party services of social media scheduling
If you’re dealing with more than 2 projects, pay your attention to third-party services of scheduled posting. They permit to create and schedule posts for several social networks at a time, as well as to work with different accounts on one network. You’ll find some mini-reviews of free and paid platforms that’ll make it more effective to work with social networks.
Buffer
Buffer is a social media crossposting and scheduling service. The platform supports Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and Pinterest. To use Buffer, you have to sign up or sign in with the above-mentioned social networks accounts. While signing up, the systems will offer you to add social accounts. To connect social accounts or profiles on social media networks with Buffer, go to the “Accounts” window.
On the opened page select a social network and connect your profile, group or page with it. Thus, imagine you need to connect brand page on Facebook with it.
Select a page you want to connect with. Mind that a free plan gives an opportunity to work with one page or profile on each network. To be able to work with several pages, you have to pay for subscription.
After adding profiles you can create publications. Go to the “Dashboard” window. Pick profiles and pages on which you would like to publish a post.
Write content and attach an image to it
To select scheduled posting go to the tab “Add to Queue – Schedule post”
Select a date and time for when you want your post to be published. Then select “Schedule”
In the “Schedule” tab you can select the time for your everyday publications. Thus, to publish posts on weekdays at 11 a.m. and at 7 p.m. select the days of the week from Monday to Friday. Then select the time.
In the “Analytics” tab you can measure the effectiveness of the publications. The system permits to track the posts by the number of retweets, favorites, likes, shares etc. Mind that this is a paid function.
In the “Settings” tab you are able to integrate Buffer with Google Analytics for tracking UTM-tags, select and activate URL-shortening services.
Paid subscription costs $10 per month. Business subscriptions cost $50, $100, $250 per month.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is an SMM service the main function of which is crossposting and scheduling. It supports Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram.
After you’ve signed in, connect social accounts with this service. Mind that Hootsuite doesn’t support Google+ personal pages.
To schedule a post, use the option “Compose message”
After composing your message, use the option “Scheduling”. Click the calendar icon.
Set the publication time and click “Schedule”. A post will be published at the set time.
You can check all your scheduled posts. Select “Publisher” in the pull down menu on the left.
Business subscription holders have access to the section “Analytics”. Here you can keep track of your visitors’ involvement, integrate Hootsuite with a Google Analytics account and make reports.
In the section “App Directory” you can also install applications which will let you create posts for YouTube, Instagram, etc. in the Hootsuite interface. Mind, most of applications are to be paid for.
The professional subscription is $9, 99 per month
DoShare
DoShare is an extension for Google Chrome. It’s worth noticing because it lets create scheduled posts both for Google+ brand page and for your personal accounts.
After adding it to Chrome, its installation and activation the icon “DoShare” will appear in the extensions bar. Click it to create a post.
On a new page compose a message. If it’s necessary you can add a link or opinion poll to it as well as you can also change default privacy settings. When finished composing a post, click “Schedule”.
Set the posting time and date. Then select “Schedule”. The post will appear on your Google+ page at the set time.
Remember that DoShare is an app for browsers. The browser saves your scheduled posts. Your computer has to be plugged in and stay connected with the Internet if you wish your post to be published at the set time. This is the most evident con of this application. But its main pro is that you’re able to publish scheduled posts on your personal Google+ page.
Postcron
Postcron gives you an opportunity to create scheduled posts for Twitter, Facebook and Google+. After signing up, you can select a time zone and interface language. Currently it supports the following languages: English, Portuguese and Spanish. Add profiles and pages, on which you would love to publish posts, in the control panel.
To create a scheduled post pick profiles and pages on which the post is to appear.
Choose that type of post you feel like creating. It can be a text, photo, link with comments. You can also upload several photos with descriptions at a time.
After editing a post, click “Schedule”. Set the publication time and then select “Done”. The publication will appear in the subscribers’ highlight at the fixed time.
You can check and edit scheduled posts in the control panel in the section “Review your scheduled posts”. In the Chrome Extension Menu you’ll find the link to the extension for the browser. It allows publishing scheduled posts on Facebook and Twitter without opening them. Paid subscription ($9, 99 per month) provides users with the following extra features:
- Increased number of accounts to work with
- Unlimited number of scheduled posts
- Shared access to Postcron for colleagues
Other advantages of Postcron are handy interface and availability to install the extension for the browser. Among the disadvantages a lack of analytics.
Latergram
Latergram is a service of scheduled posting for Instagram. To create a user account you will have to sign up and indicate your time zone. You can also download and install the app Latergram on your phone or tablet. Its interface is similar to the default Instagram’s. You can take a photo with your camera and schedule the publication time.
Latergram gives no possibility to apply filters and add descriptions. In Latergram personal account you can upload a prepared photograph and schedule a post. To use it select “Add new image”.
Add description, set the publication time and save changes. An image will appear in your account at a given time.
The free plan permits to publish 30 photos a month. To lift restrictions you’ll have to purchase a premium-account at the cost of $16 per month.
The service is worth paying attention to because it has an option to schedule posts on Instagram. A lot of unpaid services have no such opportunity.
ViralTag
ViralTag is a social media posting service. With its help you’ll be able to post on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest. After signing up and indicating a time zone, go to your personal account and connect social media accounts with this system.
To publish a post, select “Post”. Upload a photo. If necessary add descriptions and links. If you’ve integrated the service with Pinterest select a pin board.
To schedule the publication time use the option “Add to queue”. Select that time and save changes. In the “Discover” menu you can add some content appropriate to sharing on your pages on social networks.
After using a trial version you’ll have to purchase a paid one. The cost of Pro account is $29 per month. Business account will cost $99 per month. ViralTag will be useful for SMM managers thanks to the possibility to work with the most popular social media, Pinterest included. As cons we have to mention that they don’t offer free plans and don’t give an opportunity to keep track of effectiveness of posts.
Which service of scheduled posting to choose then?
If you’re dealing with one or two social networks you will do without third-party services. Use default tools of post publishing on Facebook, for instance. If you’re planning to post on more than two social media networks, pay your attention to Buffer and Hootsuite. They have a simple interface and handy analytics.
If you’re dying for publishing scheduled posts on Google+ account, you won’t do without the extension DoShare. The platform and app Latergram will help you control posts on Instagram.
Please, share your experience in working with scheduled posting in comments. Feel free to ask me any questions.
