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Social Media Scheduling Hacks
The Sprocket Report
Both you and your followers will be busy over the holidays. But while YOU may not have time to post, THEY will still be looking at their social media. Here are some tips on how to schedule posts now for folks to read later.
A ridiculous number of people use their smart phones as alarm clocks and scan messages before they even get out of bed. Your business posts should be included in those messages to keep you top-of-mind. If you already use a third-party scheduling program, congratulations! The rest of this article is for folks who don’t but who need to schedule Facebook and Twitter posts right now, before researching scheduling programs. FYI: All screen shots below show the steps on a desktop computer.
Link Facebook to Twitter or Vice Versa
While not considered a “best practice,” it is possible to link your Facebook and Twitter accounts so that if you post on one platform, it will also show up on the other platform. Experts say it’s best to write separate posts to make the most of each platform, but this double sharing might make sense for you.
Facebook to Twitter
If you prefer to post on your business Facebook page and have the post shared on your Twitter account, go to www.facebook.com/twitter and follow the directions to “Link to Twitter.”
Twitter to Facebook
If you prefer to post in your Twitter account and then have the post shared on your Facebook business page, start on your Twitter page, go to “Settings” and click on “Apps” to find the “Facebook Connect” app. 
It will connect to your personal Facebook page, but don’t panic. Say “Okay” and on the next screen, click on “Allow posting to one of your pages.” Unclick the buttons that allows Twitter to “post retweets to Facebook” and “post to my Facebook profile” and instead select the page to which you want to post.
Now on to the scheduling part:
Twitter
In the old days, Twitter didn’t have a scheduling tool. Then they did. Then they took it away. Now there’s another tool and it’s pretty slick.
Start by going to the website at https://dashboard.twitter.com. You will be asked to log in to your Twitter account. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be at the Twitter Dashboard. There are three menu tabs on the right: Home, Create and Analytics. You’ll want to explore “Analytics” when you have the chance, but today we’re just looking at the “Create” tab.
Once you click on “Create,” you’ll see a text box that asks “What’s happening?” Type your post in the box or add an image. Click on the dropdown arrow to “Schedule Post” and choose the day and time you want it to appear. There are pre-programmed times to choose from, but you can also edit the time to any minute you wish so your post looks more spontaneous.
You can schedule a number of posts and they’ll arrange themselves in order in the Queue on the page so you can see at a glance what you have lined up.
Facebook
If you haven’t already used the scheduling feature on your Facebook business page, it’s simple to begin. Just type in your message or upload your image and instead of clicking on “Publish,” click on the dropdown arrow next to that button and choose “Schedule” instead. Pick the day and time you want your post to go live and click the blue “Schedule” button.
A new section on your page will appear called “Scheduled Posts.” If you go to that page, you’ll see the post you just scheduled and a blue “Create” button ready for you to type in a new post. While you’re working, Facebook shows you scheduled posts in the order you wrote them rather than in the order they will be published. Just refresh the page to line them up chronologically.
By scheduling posts, your business will be where your customers can see you even when you don’t have time to post live. But remember this is SOCIAL media. Try to scan your platforms regularly to respond when someone comments on your scheduled posts.
Yes, there are many third-party tools out there for scheduling social media but these on-platform tools will see you through the holiday season. When you have the opportunity later, go ahead and look into the other options. One of those options might be letting us do your social media so you don’t have to! If that’s a good choice for you, give us a call today. We’re happy to help.
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Kate Gingold
I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
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I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
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