Why Schedule Social Media Posts Ahead of Time?

No matter what type of blog or site you run, you can share content across social media pages to increase your site traffic and attract more readers, subscribers, clients, or customers.

However, manually sharing content on multiple social media platforms can become a time-consuming task. It’s also possible to forget about promoting a post here or there, leading to reduced readership.

One way to keep this from happening while making content promotion and sharing more effective is to schedule social media posts ahead of time. Read on to learn about the benefits of scheduling your posts ahead of time, and how you can use Jetpack to make the process more efficient!

The benefits of scheduling social media posts

Whether you run a personal or business blog, there are many reasons why you might want to schedule social media posts ahead of time.

1. Reach the correct time zone

If you look at your site stats, you can determine where your readers are located around the world. Scheduling social media posts ahead of time allows you to share content at the time when most of your audience is awake and online, increasing the chances of them seeing it.

If you find that 80 percent of your readers are located on the west coast, you can configure your posts to go live during the day (PST), when readers are more likely to be awake and active online.

2. Post real-time updates

If you typically write seasonal posts, or you’re preparing for an exciting product launch, scheduling social posts allows you to share your content at specific times, without needing to remember to post it. You can tweet about the grand opening of your ice cream parlor without turning your attention away from opening day.

3. Plan out your content

Speaking of being timely, scheduling content in advance reduces the chance that you’ll overshare or under share a specific post. You can be more strategic about when and how you share specific content to attract more views for your posts. This may include both new and previously posted content.

4. Establish consistency across platforms

Take a moment to count the number of social media accounts that you follow. It’s safe to assume that most people follow many accounts across Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. Because of this, your posts can get lost in peoples’ busy feeds, especially if you post sporadically.

By scheduling your posts, you’ll maintain a consistent presence across all of your social media networks, helping you stay top-of-mind for your followers.

5. Engage with your audience

Another benefit of scheduling content for your social media accounts is that it frees up time to engage with your audience. Replying to comments, asking questions, and providing answers in return allows you to grow relationships.

6. Repurpose your content

While stats can reveal which of your posts are the most popular, social media is another indicator of what resonates with your target audience. Looking at the number of shares, retweets, and comments on your scheduled posts can help you determine what types of content you should create more of.

Each social network offers statistics or analytics tools that you can review to support these decisions. Most often, these stats are available within your user account dashboard for each social site. This information can serve as a springboard for new post ideas or offer insight into how your content can be repurposed as PDFs, videos, or audio posts to better serve your audience’s needs.

7. Share older content with a new audience

Lastly, you can share older content with new audiences over social media. As time progresses, you will likely acquire new followers who haven’t read the content you published in the past. From your dashboard, you can reshare posts so your newest followers won’t miss any of your content — new or old.

Scheduling your posts ahead of time adds value to your social media strategy not only because it saves you time, but also because it allows you to spend more time engaging with your audience and understanding what types of posts they like to read.

3 tips for creating a successful social media strategy

Scheduling your social media posts is beneficial, but it’s only the beginning. Here are three tips that can help you create a successful social media strategy.

1. Choose the right channels

Jetpack helps you schedule posts to Facebook, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and more. You might want to share content to the platforms that your audiences spend the most time using. There will be some trial and error at first, but using analytics can help you uncover the platform on which your audience is the most engaged, so that you can focus your energy there. This increases the chances of people seeing and sharing your posts.

2. Establish a frequency

Once you know where your audience is, establish consistency in the number of times you post. HubSpot recommends posting a few times every week on Facebook or other networks, and a few times per day on Twitter.

3. Share a variety of content

While sharing your own posts is great, you may also want to share content published by experts in your field. Share posts from others in your industry, pose a question, or share a quote.

By doing so, you will avoid looking overly promotional and establish yourself as an expert in your industry who knows where and how to find interesting content. You might end up building a relationship with an inspiration leader, another business owner, or the manager of an online publication who might invite you to author a guest post on their own site.

Scheduling social media posts with Jetpack

Jetpack users with a Premium or Professional plans can schedule posts using the Share button below individual blog posts. You can share content immediately, or click the calendar icon to set a time in the future for the post to be published on your connected accounts.

You can select all of your social media accounts from a list on the right side of the screen, or choose specific accounts by toggling them on or off. You can also preview how each post will look once shared, modify them until you are happy with the preview, and view posts that have already been shared.

Grow your blog by scheduling in advance

Sharing your content on social media doesn’t have to be a cumbersome task. If you’re a Jetpack Premium or Professional user, use the scheduling feature to schedule your social media posts in advance, save time, and increase your site traffic.

Have any tips for scheduling your social posts in advance or how doing so can improve your relationships with visitors? We’d love to hear more in the comments section!

Brenda Barron

Brenda Barron is a freelance writer, editor, and SEO specialist from southern California. She is a contributor to The Motley Fool and blogs regularly at The Digital Inkwell.