Using a social media calendar and scheduling tool is a fantastic way to take and maintain control of your content marketing strategy and achieve optimum results.
Since we live in a 24-hour society, most of us don’t have the time, the energy or the inclination to function around the clock. Social media never sleeps, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t.
If you’re keen to maximise the impact of your social media marketing campaigns without sacrificing every moment of spare time or risking sleep deprivation, there are ways to strike a balance.
Read on to find out the benefits of using a social media calendar and scheduling tool:
The benefits of a social media calendar and scheduling tool
The rise of the Internet has contributed to a demand for 24-hour access to information and entertainment. In the past decade, web use has increased tremendously, and social media has become something of a contemporary phenomenon.
Starting life as a social network to bring friends and family together, social platforms soon evolved, and they now offer businesses and individuals looking to build an online following the opportunity to market their brand to billions of consumers.
Facebook alone has more than 2.2 BILLION users!
(Source: OurWorldInData)
With mobile technology becoming increasingly influential and people using tablets, phones and laptops throughout the day, it’s crucial that you manage a social media marketing campaign effectively.
The good news is that you don’t have to be glued to your phone constantly or awake all hours to reap the rewards of having a presence on social media.
A social media calendars and scheduling tool like SocialPlanner.io enables you to organise your posts, plan in advance and share content across multiple platforms at the touch of a button, AUTOMATICALLY!
Here are some of the most significant benefits on offer:
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Saving time and effort
Many people who run businesses don’t have the time available to create, share and manage social media posts around the clock.
Using a calendar and making use of scheduling features enables you to save time and effort, leaving you free to focus on the core tasks that facilitate the smooth day to day running of your company.
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Enjoying freedom and flexibility
In the days before mobile technology, automated processes and innovative online tools, if you wanted something done at a specific time, you had to make sure that you were there to complete that task at the chosen hour.
With a social media calendar and scheduling tool, you don’t have to have your phone in your hand or your laptop turned on to share content, giving you the freedom and flexibility to roam and to mix social media management with other tasks without elevating stress levels or workload.
You can find top-performing content, compose posts and share them whenever you want to, and it’s all automated! Meaning more free time for you :-).
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Catering for your audience
When you’re on a mission to capitalise on the popularity and reach of social networks, you have to bear your target market in mind at all times.
Rather than posting at a time when you have a minute between meetings or trying to get a post sorted before you sign off for the day, you can focus on choosing times that are going to have the most impact.
You don’t want to share a Facebook update or an Instagram story that is aimed at young professionals on a Thursday morning at 10.30 when the vast majority of your target customers or followers are likely to be at work, for example.
With scheduling, you can create your posts in advance and then choose to share and publish them at a later date. This enables you to take full advantage of the potential reach of your feeds and profiles.
When you’re putting a content marketing strategy or a social media marketing campaign together, make sure you undertake research to determine peak times, as these will vary according to the type of user you’re looking to attract. You want to ensure you have a captive audience ready and waiting for your posts.
You can also use your calendar to decide which types of content to share at what time and which platforms to use. Some types of content work better on specific platforms than others. Instagram, for example, is best for visual content, while Facebook is excellent for entertainment and news. LinkedIn is ideal for content aimed at professionals, for example, news articles, industry-specific pieces and infographics. You can decide whether to publish your post across all platforms or pinpoint destinations for different types of posts and select the best times for each specific app or site.
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Simplicity
Planning and delivering a content marketing strategy is no walk in the park, especially if you’re working across several platforms and you like to mix and match different types of content. A content planner enables you to plan ahead, to keep a record of what you’re posting and what you’ve already shared and to eliminate headaches related to sharing data with colleagues, updating spreadsheets or trying to work off loose pieces of paper or a wall chart that is out of date. With online calendars, you can organise everything at the touch of a button, plan your schedule effectively and make changes with minimal hassle.
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Deliver results consistently
Everyone needs to take breaks from time to time, and sometimes, we need time off without prior warning. With calendars and scheduling tools, your campaign can march on without you being present in the office or on your phone.
You can deliver content consistently, ensuring your followers, friends and customers have access to posts on a regular basis. Now you might choose to run a regular feature, for example, a weekly round-up post, or you might want to post outside of your normal schedule. What ever you choose, you can do both using a calendar.
Are you finding that social media is taking over your life, or you’re struggling to get the attention you desire because you can’t always share posts at the right time? If so, have you thought about using social media calendars and scheduling features? Using this modern approach to campaign management, you can organise your diary, plan in advance, compose posts at a time that suits you and then schedule sharing to take advantage of peak audiences with minimal effort. SocialPlanner can help you do just that!
SocialPlanner gives you all the tools you need to run successful social media campaigns. All our plans come with a free 7 day trial, so you’re free to try us out before making any long-term commitments. You can get started for free, here.