Some time ago, Andrea Vahl wrote a great post over at Social Media Examiner on “8 Tips for Using Facebook Scheduled Posts”.
Here are her 8 tips
#1: How to Schedule Your Posts
#2: How to Find and Edit Your Scheduled Posts
#3: You Can’t Schedule Everything
#4: You Can Backdate Your Posts
#5: Scheduled Posts Won’t be Automatically Tweeted
#6: Scheduling Posts Can Bring about More Engagement
#7: Scheduled Posts are not Identified or “Punished” in Facebook
#8: Scheduled Posts May be Coming to Personal Profiles
The one that I think small businesses can benefit from the most is the first one.
If you are a micro-business (under 10 people), you likely don’t have a huge amount of time to spend on social media. You have 100 other hats you are wearing each day.
The great thing about scheduling your posts is that you can go up to 6 months out. Most businesses are planning (or should be) what they are doing next month and the month after that.
Case in point, if you are a restaurant and it’s coming up on Labor Day, you can place out what you might want to do for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. Look at what you did last year and learn from what you did.
This year, you can schedule some teasers about what you are going to do. As you plan for each event, you can update your scheduled posts into FaceBook and that make sure that the logistics of that event won’t keep you from posting.
If you are a bridal shop and are going to be at 6 bridal event shows during a 2 month period, you are most likely going to be very busy getting ready for them. Why not schedule posts that are 1-2 weeks out from the event announcing you are going to be there. Then a day before to remind them you are going to be there (with a special offer). Then the day of the event, you remind them again to come out to see you. You can schedule all of these posts the day you sign up for the event.
So take 15-20 minutes, once a week or so, to think about what you are planning on doing, and then schedule posts regarding them.
It will certainly help get your message out, all while you are busy running your business.
What are other ways you are saving time in your business?
