Need a break? You need to start scheduling content

It’s that time of the year, when everyone is thinking about holidays or a break. As a business owner, you’re thinking the same thing, but wondering how you can leave your business. Even if it’s for a few days. My answer: Scheduling Content!

Let’s start at the beginning

What do we mean by scheduling?

At the basic level, it’s a matter of planning out what you’re going to post on a regular basis.

You can stick with a manual process, where you have everything prepared to post, and you decide when you’re going to post. You make a note in your diary or calendar, and sign into the platform to post it on the planned date.

It gets you organised – you know what you’re talking about, and hopefully have the text and images ready, but you still have to manually post it.

Today a lot of the platforms, from email to social media have options that allow you to “post it later”. These can be good (and are a future blog).

Then you’ve got the external systems – these are sites that allow you to prepare and schedule across platforms. Rather than having to visit each social media site individually.

Batching

Going along with scheduling is the idea of ‘batching’.

Here you set aside time to focus on one thing, and repeat the process several times.

For example, you put aside 2 hours to plan out, and create your posts for Pinterest.

You do’t go off and play with Facebook, instead you focus on Pinterest.

By the end of the two hours, your next months pins are all scheduled.

You can batch any number of things.

While I try to batch creating my blogs, I can’t do everything. Instead, I brainstorm the next months idea. Once I’ve decided, then I brainstorm (again), the topics that I can cover during that month.

The next time, I’ll find my keywords for each topic, create the blog pages on my site and write good titles. The final ‘batch’ process is to write the meta description, select categories, add tags and find a featured image.

Then I’m free to write the content for each post, at my own schedule. (Hopefully not the day before it’s due to go live 😋).

Once the blog is written, then I batch create all the social media post and schedule them so I don’t have to worry and can move onto the next thing.

You can watch/listen to me explain it here: Should you be using scheduler software in your business?

So that’s what it’s all about, but it’s not ‘perfect’ for everything…

Pros of Scheduling Content for Social Media:

Time Efficiency:

person sitting on yellow armchair, make time for yourself with scheduling content. — Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels.com

Pre-scheduling content allows you to dedicate a specific block of time (i.e., batching) to create and schedule posts in advance. This saves you from the constant pressure of creating content on the fly and frees up your time for other important tasks (like going to a walk, spending time with family).

Consistency:

By scheduling content, you can ensure a consistent presence on social media. Regularly posting content helps build know, like and trust. It also By being consistent with your engagement, your audience, comes to expect and anticipate your updates.

Strategic Planning:

Pre-scheduling allows you to plan and align your social media content with your overall marketing strategy. You can strategically schedule posts to coincide with product launches, promotions, or events, maximising their impact and reach.

Flexibility and Control:

Scheduling content in advance provides flexibility in managing your social media presence. You have the ability to review and modify posts before they go live, checking that they align with your brand’s messaging and objectives. It also allows you to maintain an active social media presence when you’re busy or unavailable.

Time Zone Optimization:

If your target audience is spread across different time zones, pre-scheduling content helps you reach them at the most optimal times. You can schedule posts to be published when your audience is most active, even if it’s not when you’re available. This will increase the likelihood of engagement and interactions.

Cons of Scheduling Content for Social Media:

Lack of Real-time Engagement:

One downside of scheduling content is the potential lack of real-time engagement with your audience. If there are comments, questions, or discussions on your posts, it may take some time for you to respond.

Unable to React to Current Events:

Pre-scheduled content may lack the ability to address or respond to timely events or news. If something significant happens that is relevant to your brand or industry, your pre-scheduled content may seem out of touch or insensitive.

It’s not the end of the world, as you’ll be able to move or reschedule posts.

Limited Spontaneity:

Batching and scheduling can restrict your ability to be spontaneous and adapt to unforeseen circumstances. Social media is always changing. Being able to react quickly to trends or engage in real-time conversations can be useful. It can mean extra work if you’ve got to move the scheduled items to be able to take advantage of these opportunities.

Less Authenticity:

With pre-scheduled content, there is a risk of appearing less authentic or genuine. Social media is often valued for its immediacy and authenticity, and scheduled content may not convey the same level of authenticity as content created in real-time.

Potential Errors or Mistakes:

distressed upset woman covering eyes with hand - scheduler software isn't always perfect. — Photo by Everton Nobrega on Pexels.com

While scheduling content can save time, there is a possibility of errors or mistakes slipping through the cracks. It’s important to carefully review and proofread your scheduled posts to ensure accuracy and avoid any embarrassing or damaging errors.

And that should be when you’ve created it, and as you’ll scheduling it. It’s easy to copy and paste the wrong thing into the post.

Next Steps

Overall, batch creating and scheduling content can save you time. It’s a great way to make time in your business, for more business work, or a life.

As you’ve seen in this post, you don’t want to schedule every single post. Make some time and space for you to add in in the moment posts as well.

Let’s take some time to look at scheduling options.

For scheduling how-to, take a look at the Social Media Playlist on my YouTube Channel.