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Social media schedulers. The time-saving feature of marketing your business (even while you sleep!).

In a world where just about everything has gone digital, you can count on the fact that there will be some kind of program or app that will take care of the “work” for you. Something to free up some of the time you spend doing things manually. This world has evolved so much that there are now machines to take your order at McDonald’s, and cashiers are being replaced by self-checkout machines.

When you go into business for yourself, you usually don’t have an army behind you picking up the slack. (Unless you are extremely blessed to have a team!) This is where automation or schedulers come in to help. With programs, apps, and tools, you can create scheduled posts for your social media outlets and have a ‘robot’ do the nitty-gritty for you. By using these programs (most of them with free options!) you can free up some time in your day that you’ve spent posting on social media and use it for more productive things. 

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What types of social media schedulers are there, and what do they do?

In the business world, automation tools and schedulers have become an integral part of everyday work habits. The way I utilize them is to pick certain days to do certain tasks and “batch” them for a period of time. (Usually a week but sometimes for a month.) This way I won’t forget to post something or I can post something at a time where my audience may be active, but I may be sleeping. (Helloooo Hawai’i time zone). 

Tailwind

My number one (and most favorite!) scheduler is Tailwind. Tailwind is partnered with Pinterest and Instagram (although I only use it for Pinterest), and it uses a “smart schedule” to create time slots that maximize the potential reach of your content. This is great for all types of businesses (bloggers, small shops, etc.) and it can assist you in gaining organic traffic to your site and business.

There is also something called Tribes, (which is similar to Pinterest group boards), which allow you to post pins collectively to reach bigger audiences. They also recently rolled out a Smart Loop program, which recycles your evergreen content and posts it at the intervals you set it to. Tailwind is a game changer and well worth the $15 a month (per social media account) in my opinion. They offer a free trial for your first 100 pins and give you the option for a plus plan, which you can pay monthly or annually. Use my link to get a free month (for you AND me!) after your trial is over.

Tailwind also provides you with analytics that shows you how well all your boards and pins are performing. This is great to know because you’ll be able to tell what your audience is responding to and adjust accordingly.

SmarterQueue

SmarterQueue is an excellent scheduler that I use to automate my Twitter posts. They have a scheduling system that recycles your evergreen content. (Which is definitely my favorite feature!) I can basically add everything I want to add, set it and forget it! (Well, until I need to add new content each week.) SmarterQueue can be used to schedule Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and LinkedIn posts. After your free trial, it is only $19.99 per month. Get your free trial here. 

Planoly

I use Planoly to schedule my Instagram posts and to create a cohesive feed. The drag and drop feature allows me to design my feed the way I want it to look. Another plus that Planoly offers is that you can use the desktop version AND the app! I am OBSESSED with this scheduler. It also gives you the option to auto-publish, (as long as the photo you schedule is square), with a caption and hashtag sets (created by you beforehand and saved). You can even schedule an INSTAGRAM STORY (paid version) to post when you want it to. This is the best app I have ever come across for Instagram. Planoly offers a paid and free (limited) version. Try Planoly for free here.

In summary

These are my top 3 FAVORITE scheduling tools for the social media channels that I use in my business. (I also use the scheduler they have within Facebook, for my groups and pages.) I know it may seem excessive to use 3 different programs, but I don’t mind as they suit my social media needs nicely and get the job done. To make it easier on me (and my client’s work) I batch schedule my posts so that I am only scheduling content (and using these tools) once per week. 

What do you use for social media, and why? Comment below to share your thoughts!