If you are managing a business, then I’m willing to bet you are actively using one or more social media channels to promote your business. If you are using social media then you should be automating your posts. You should be following a schedule, have a strategy for content and promotions you create, along with at strategy for sharing other relevant content to your audience. Scheduling posts in advance saves time, reduces stress, and keeps you on strategy.
Trello (FREE)
I use Trello to manage my overall strategy. I have a board set up for social media, where I keep track of my social media engagement and groups. This is where it all comes together. I also utilize Trello for my blog editorial calendar and for each blog post a card is created, and on that card are checklists for all the places that I promote my blog posts. That way I know where I’ve shared blogs posts and where I still need to share those posts. Trello is my planner and key to managing all the moving pieces of the social media puzzle. If you want to learn more about how I use Trello to organize my social media schedule check out this post and grab the Trello 101 course.
Tailwind to Manage Pinterest (Paid Yearly $9.99/month)
I utilize Tailwind to manage my Pinterest activity. It has made life about 1000 times easier when it comes to scheduling. You can read more about why I chose Tailwind in this post. Let me share a few key features that I just LOVE and you might not be using yet.
Multiple Ways To Schedule
I use the Tailwind queue to schedule in other bloggers’ posts from Feedly, Facebook, Tailwind Tribes, and Group Pinterest boards (read more about that process here). Tailwind gives you recommended time slots to make the most of your pins. Another great feature is the interval feature, if you find a pin that will fit multiple boards you can set that pin to fill the next available time slot and to fill a time slot available at a later date of your choosing.
For Pinterest Group Boards I hard schedule in pins, meaning I chose the day and time they are scheduled. Since some group boards have a 80/20 rule I schedule in pins to go on the same day at around the same time. I schedule to at least 2 group boards a day on a rotating basis.
Tribes
Tribes are a new feature of Tailwind, that allows you to invite your favorite fellow bloggers to post their pins for the tribe. Then members simple schedule those pins to share to their own boards. I like to think of it as a RSS feed for pins. If you produce business centered content, you can join the BossLady Experts.
Pins From Instagram
I do not personally use this feature, but I think for certain Instagram accounts it makes a lot of sense. Below are a few examples of when I think that utilizing the pin from Instagram feature would work well:
If you regularly share new products to your Instagram account, you can set up a product board and share those posts there. It’s a great way for showcase new products on your Pinterest account form your Instagram account.
If you do a series of tips. I know a few Instagrammers that have weekly tips on certain topics, those posts would also be ideal. You could even create a board and label it the same series name you use on Instagram.
Buffer to Manage Twitter & Facebook ($10/month)
Yes, Buffer offers both Pinterest and Instagram scheduling, but I don’t like their functionality compared to Tailwind and Later. However, it does a great job at scheduling for Twitter and makes it easy to schedule posts for Facebook as well. Features that make it work:
Ease of Scheduling
Buffer Chrome Extension makes it easy to schedule from the website you are visiting. Schedule right from the blog you are reading by using the web extension.
Easily schedule right from Twitter with two different options.
The Buffer feature “Content Inbox” gives you access to your favorite blogs to share right there in the app. You can add a “Content Inbox” for each of your channels.
Drawback: there is not an easy way to identify your own tweets versus other’s tweets scheduled. This is where I use Trello to keep track. When I schedule out posts I mark on my daily social media tracker what date I have scheduled out to and mark a due date. I also mark on each blog post card in my editorial calendar in Trello if I have scheduled that post to share on Twitter.
If you don’t want to use Buffer, this blog post gives you 7 other alternatives to consider. Another scheduling option for Facebook is that you can schedule posts directly in the app, some say this gives your post more expose but I have seen little proof of that in my posts. The drawback of using Facebook scheduling is that you don’t get a view of scheduled posts which can make planning annoying.
Later to Manage Instagram (FREE)
While not an automate scheduling tool, it does allow you to have your Instagram posts planned and ready to go when you need it. I recommend Later because it is free, super simple to learn, has a visual layout, and you can set-up posts from your desktop.
Visual Layout
I love that there is a visual layout of your scheduled posts. You can easily see what you have coming up, and drag and drop posts to new dates as needed. It also allows you to upload pictures and draft in captions, before scheduling.
Desktop & Phone App
Ability to upload pictures from your phone to the app and then plan the posts from the desktop. I love being able to easily upload pictures from my phone, straight to the app, and when I open it on the desktop there are all my pictures to easily drop in captions and hashtags.
Notifications right to your phone from the app to remind you to post. Get a reminder when it’s time to push your post to Instagram!
If Later doesn’t work for you, here are two alternative Instagram schedulers:
Want more tools to manage your Instagram strategy? Find a whole list of tools in this blog posts, to edit your pictures and more. I also keep a simple google doc swipe file of hashtags to quickly reference and cut and paste into my planned Later posts.
The tool that is best is the tool that you will use and works best for you. Regardless of what you choose, you should be automating as much of your social media strategy as possible. Scheduling in advance allows you to follow a plan and allows you to be more consistent, plus it saves you a ton of time because you are not taking time to figure out your posts day to day. See how I use batching to further save time on social media!
You can’t schedule and forget it, you must schedule time to engage on your channels, but using a scheduling tool with make your life much easier. You are not being efficient with your time if you aren’t taking advantage of scheduling tools.
Get the full list of tools I use to run my business 👇
The Tailwind link is an affiliated link, if you sign up using this link then I will get a small payment. No additional fee to you. Later and Trello are referral links where I get a free service if used.