How to schedule Facebook & Twitter posts

Scheduling posts can seem somewhat impersonal at first; however, it allows you to have great flexibility in your content and develop more of an online strategy, which is a huge asset.

Being able to see what you have set for the month, and break it down to weekly posts and how each day will merge together for an overall message, or have a different focus, allows you to ensure that all the topics of significance to your business are covered.

Providing a variety of content types (images, videos, text, questions, etc.) helps to keep your followers engaged and interested. Scheduling your content is a huge time saver and will ensure social media doesn’t bog you down or make you feel you’re wasting time with these platforms.

Before you get started

Take the time before you start scheduling to review your analytics for a few key items and considerations. On Facebook you can review these areas by looking at the “Insights” tab. For Twitter, you can visit analytics.twitter.com

1. What types of content is getting the most attention from your followers?

2. When are the best times to post for the best engagement results from your fans?

3. What is your overall goal for your social media engagement?

Scheduling Posts on Facebook

Facebook has a convenient way to schedule posts directly on your page.

1. Complete the post you would like to schedule.

2. Instead of clicking “Publish” click the down arrow to the right and select “Schedule.”

3. A calendar preview will pop up for you to select the date and time you wish to post (be sure to double check AM or PM times).

4. Once you have selected your time, click “Schedule” on the bottom right.

5. If you wish to review scheduled posts, scroll down on the main page of your business page. Below the options for posts, see text that reads “__ scheduled posts. Next post scheduled for ___. See posts.” Click the blue text. This reveals the full list of all scheduled posts where you can make changes as needed.

Scheduling Posts for Twitter

There is no option to schedule posts directly in Twitter; however, there are a few third party services that have scheduling abilities. Our favourite is Hootsuite and the following steps are based on this platform.

1. Set up an account or log in (there are free options based on how many platforms you want to engage with). If you are setting up, you will also need to add your accounts to the platforms.

2. Click the “Publisher” tab (it looks like a little paper airplane) and click “Scheduled.”

3. At the top of the screen you can select the platforms you wish to publish to, then write your message/add your image in the box on the right.

4. Select the calendar icon at the bottom right below your message, and a calendar will pop up for you to select the date and time you wish to share your message.

5. This is the same place that you can review all of your messages that have been scheduled. You can edit posts and timing from here directly.

If this all still feels overwhelming, or you want to learn more about how social media marketing could work best for your business, don’t hesitate to ask us!