Businesses nowadays need social media. It is how you get seen, how word of mouth spreads faster than before and with the struggles of 2020, social media is a priority when it comes to making your business a success.
However, being seen on every platform is hard and almost impossible to post daily as well as interacting with your followers. One way to make this job easier is to use a social media scheduler. Some of these are free, there are also paid plans that give you more for your money ie analytics, hashtag suggestions and more.
So I’ve compiled a list of the pros and cons of using these below to help you decide if it’s an online tool that might suit you!
Pros:
1. You can schedule ahead of time The most obvious, but in my mind; the best part about using a scheduling tool is the ability to schedule content in advance. This is what makes my life as a Social Media Manager easier as I can schedule posts for the whole week, across all platforms in advance. So whilst it seems I am online and active everyday, I might actually be on holiday – who knows!
2. It provides flexibility If you are hot on your analytics, your optimum time to post might coincide with doing your kids bath-time. Well worry no more as with the ability to schedule posts, you can do both and no one would bat an eyelid! What is great is that certain schedulers have analytics built in that lets you know the best time to post without you having to do too much leg work!
3. It saves time As a working mum, it’s hard to work, do the school runs AND the housework. But with a scheduler things can be done in the matter of seconds. Most schedulers allow you to store hashtags and images to be used over and over again. Plus your content can be published during the school run to make peak time for those whose demographic will be commuting! BAM!
4. Cross time zones If your brand is international, the ability to schedule in different time zones is beyond amazing. The ability to auto schedule allows you to target any market, any time.
5. Stay Involved Scheduling your posts means that your accounts will stay active, and won’t fall into that stage of inactivity where they lose momentum. On days when you can’t get to social media or if you are traveling without an Internet connection, your accounts will be alive and active.
6. Strategic approach When sitting down to plan the next week’s or month’s content it is easier to stay focused on the overall message and objective, rather than getting carried away with ad-hoc posts that don’t add anything to your overall strategy.
Cons:
1. Failed posts Sometimes posts fail and it means you have to manually post something. This can go horribly wrong if you miss a post completely. This is a nightmare for platforms like Instagram especially if you have a theme as it makes things look out of place.
2. Time-zone confusion Sometimes due to human error, if you’re scheduling a post using a foreign timezone, it might not be the time you think it is and then it goes out when your audience isn’t online. This can be pretty embarrassing but it’s something that can easily be tweaked.
3. Posting on the wrong account Imagine sharing a post on Twitter when it’s actually meant for another platform! With numerous accounts on one scheduler, it could get a bit confusing and easy to get mixed up.
4. Inappropriate content Unfortunately, given the current world circumstances, you might schedule something that ends up being bad timing or in bad taste. This is not your fault as you don’t have a crystal ball – but you still need to be aware of what is due to be published and get to it asap to reschedule or remove completely.
5. Mistakes happen Sometimes when you schedule several days’ worth of social media activity at once there might be mistakes. This could be a simple spelling mistake, sharing the wrong image on the wrong platform, even sharing the wrong link and you won’t even know until it goes live! This could cause followers to unsubscribe if it happens frequently as they might deem your site to be poorly run.
6. You may seem impersonal If you schedule your social media you aren’t necessarily around to respond to comments in real time. Not only is this missing out on the key time when it can boost your posts, but it also makes your page seem less personal.
7. Your page might not seem current Managing an effective social media presence can be daunting for business owners. Not only do they need to ensure their social media content is always relevant and interesting to their audience, but they also need to decide which scheduler to use!
The world of social media really can be a confusing place, knowing what works, what doesn’t, when to post manually, when to schedule a post etc. I know this first hand and this is why Pinned is happy to help you with your social media presence – just give us a shout below or via email!