You know you need to be on social media for your wellness business, but it seems like trying to stay active and consistent is sucking the life out of you. With the help of a social media scheduling tool you can schedule your posts ahead of time so you can avoid having to think of something to post every day.
What is a social media scheduler?
A social media scheduler is a tool that allows you to schedule your posts to various social media platforms ahead of time. They can help to make your social media management more efficient, more consistent and more effective.
Why should you use one?
They help you to be more consistent
If you always forget to post on social media, then a scheduler is a great idea. You can spend some time making a plan and scheduling posts to go out.
Planning social media means your posts have a plan
If you spend time planning your posts, then you can be strategic about your posts. Each post should have a reason and it shouldn’t just be a random “here is my dinner” or “these are my shoes” because you didn’t know what to post.
They help you to plan a visually appealing feed
If you want your Instagram feed to have a certain look, then being able to schedule posts to see how it all looks together is important. You can move posts around if you want.
You can have posts go out when the time is best, even if that is when you are sleeping
If your audience is in a different time zone than you, you might find that the best time to post is in the middle of the night. Or if you have a day job, then it might be while you are at work. With a scheduling tool you can post when it is best for your audience and not just for you.
Many scheduling tools will also tell you what the best time to post is, so you don’t even have to think about it.
What are the downsides to using a social media scheduler?
If your goal is engagement, then being off the platform all the time is not a good idea. Ideally, you are still making time to interact with your audience and use the platform.
Facebook may not always play well with external scheduling tools. There were reports that they were favouring posts from within the platform not using a third party tool. This doesn’t stop you from using Facebook’s own scheduling tool.
For each social media platform you are on there is a scheduler that works best. One might be the best for Pinterest, while another might play well with Instagram. This means you may have to make an overall plan somewhere else.
Do you have to pay for a scheduler?
This depends on what platforms you are on, how often you are posting, and what you want to do on the platform.
With instagram most schedulers offer 30 posts per month on the free plan. Tailwind is the exception. They only offer 30 posts period, but the trial is full featured. Some schedulers do not allow story scheduling on the free plan.
How to choose a scheduler that works for you
Think about how you want to use the scheduler and what platforms you use before you decide what scheduler to use. It’s easy enough to try a few different ones with trials or free plans to see if you like how they work.
You can absolutely make some of your decision based on cost. Does a paid scheduler save enough time and provide enough value to be a good return on investment? If not stick with the free plan.
What scheduling tools do I use?
I am most active on Instagram and Pinterest and to some extent on Facebook. On Facebook, I use the native scheduling tool (now called the business suite) on both my Facebook page and in my group. For Pinterest I use Tailwind. I haven’t found anything that compares to Tailwind for Pinterest scheduling.
For Instagram I am currently using Later for one account and Planoly for the other. I have also used the Tailwind Instagram scheduler. I am just starting to play with the native Facebook business suite which now allows scheduling to Instagram as well as Facebook. All have advantages and disadvantages.
Summary
Using a social media scheduler will help to save time and make your social media posting more consistent. They are not a must, but they can be very useful for managing this task in your wellness business. If you are wondering what else you need for tech, then download this free guide.
