You're in charge of social media for your company. How can you streamline the scheduling process?

1 Choose a tool

When streamlining your social media scheduling, the first step is to choose a tool that meets your needs and budget. There are many options, from free to premium, with varied features and benefits. It's important to look for a tool that allows you to schedule posts in advance for multiple platforms, create or import content, monitor and analyze performance, collaborate with a team, and integrate with other tools. Popular social media scheduling tools include Buffer, Hootsuite, Sprout Social, and CoSchedule. Compare their features, prices, and reviews online to determine which one fits your goals and resources.

2 Plan your strategy

The next step to streamline your social media scheduling is to plan your strategy. This means defining your objectives, audience, tone, and topics. You should also decide how often and when you want to post on each platform, based on your research and best practices. A good strategy will help you create relevant, valuable, and engaging content that aligns with your brand and your audience's needs and interests.

To plan your strategy, you can use a simple spreadsheet or a calendar to map out your content ideas and schedule. You can also use templates or frameworks, such as the 5-3-2 rule, the content mix, or the social media pyramid, to balance your content types and formats. For example, the 5-3-2 rule suggests that for every 10 posts you publish, 5 should be curated from other sources, 3 should be original content from your brand, and 2 should be personal or fun posts that humanize your brand.

3 Create your content

The third step to streamline your social media scheduling is to create your content. This means writing catchy captions, choosing relevant hashtags, designing eye-catching visuals, and producing engaging videos or podcasts. You should also optimize your content for each platform, considering the length, format, and style of your posts.

To create your content, you can use tools and apps that help you with writing, editing, designing, and producing. Some examples are Grammarly, Canva, Unsplash, and Anchor. You can also repurpose your content from other sources, such as your blog, newsletter, or webinar, and adapt it for different platforms. For example, you can turn a blog post into a video, a newsletter into an infographic, or a webinar into a podcast.

4 Schedule your posts

The fourth step to streamline your social media scheduling is to schedule your posts. This involves uploading, previewing, and publishing content at the optimal times and frequencies for each platform. Additionally, you should check your posts for errors, consistency, and compliance before scheduling them. You can use features and functions that help with automation, batching, and optimization such as the ability to create and save post templates, drafts, and libraries; schedule posts in bulk or use recurring schedules; use auto-scheduling or suggestions based on your analytics; and edit or reschedule posts easily or use drag-and-drop calendars.

5 Review your results

The fifth step to streamline your social media scheduling is to review your results. This means using your chosen tool to track, measure, and report your performance, engagement, and reach. You should also use your results to evaluate your strategy, content, and schedule, and make adjustments as needed. To do this effectively, you can use features and functions that provide analytics, insights, and feedback. These include the ability to access and export data and reports for each platform; compare and benchmark your results against goals, competitors, or industry standards; identify and optimize your best performing posts; listen and respond to audience comments; as well as utilize dashboards and graphs. Streamlining your social media scheduling can help you save time, money, and effort while boosting your online presence, reputation, and results. Consequently, by following these steps you can create content that resonates with your audience and supports your brand.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?