Scheduling social media posts: Pros and cons

A question I get asked a lot by business owners is whether you should or shouldn’t schedule social media posts. And I absolutely understand why business owners ask the questions. If you’ve decided to use social media to market your business you’ll quickly discover that you have the option to schedule posts whether it be directly on the social media platform or using a third-party app. It feels like a great way to escape the constant creating and posting cycle. But then you come across a marketing or social media expert who will tell you not to use a scheduler. So what should you do? Well, keep on reading to find out the pros and cons of scheduling social media posts so you can make a decision about what to do going forward.

 

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SCHEDULING SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS: PROS AND CONS

Pros of scheduling social media posts

 

Pro 1: You can schedule your posts at the ‘optimum’ time

One advantage of scheduling your social media posts is that you can schedule them to go out at the optimum time. This time will vary from platform to platform, and your ideal client will also influence what is the best time for you to be posting. Now in some cases, the optimum time might be at an inconvenient time for you to post manually. By scheduling your social media post you are able to set the post up at a time that works for you, but then let it is posted at what is the best time.

 

Pro 2: You can minimise time wasted from context switching

Every single time you switch between tasks you waste time due to context switching. Essentially, it takes some time for your brain to move from one task to another. Now if you are posting multiple times per week (maybe even multiple times per day) then that context-switching time builds up. By using a scheduler you can upload multiple posts at the same time and then move on to something else.

 

Pro 3: Helps with consistency (frequency)

Posting consistently (at a regular frequency) is an important part of social media marketing. If you want to stay on people’s radar then you need to be regularly posting. You should set a posting schedule for your business for every social media platform that you use. Whilst it is absolutely possible to stick to a schedule by posting in real-time scheduling social media posts in advance will make things easier.

 

Pro 4: You can take save time by batch-creating your social media posts

Saving time from a lack of context switching is one way you say time by using a social media scheduler. But another way you can save time is by batch-creating your social media posts. Depending on the social media platforms you are creating content for you might be creating a wide variety of posts using different software. For example, you might be editing photographs in Lightroom, creating carousels in Canva and editing videos in CapCut.

When you schedule your content in advance you have the opportunity to be able to make multiple posts that are the same type of format back-to-back. For example, one day you could make 6 videos and then schedule those in. And then the next day you could make 3 carousels and then schedule those in.

By creating the same type of content, possibly in a specific software, back-to-back you’ll save time.

Learn more about how to save time by batching your content here.

 

To make the most of batching your social media posts in advance you’ll need to have planned your social media content in advance. If at the moment you haven’t been planning your social media posts in advance grab this workbook.  In this free content marketing plan workbook you’ll learn how to start planning across long-form content, email and social media me. All you have to do is put your details in the form below. 

 

Pro 5: It can help you to repurpose your content across multiple social media platforms

All of the pros were applicable whether you decided to schedule your social media posts directly into the social media platform or using a third-party app. However, this advantage is specifically for those who decide to use a third-party app. In my business, I use Later and this enables me to quickly schedule social media posts across multiple platforms simultaneously.

You have the ability to drag in an asset (video, graphic, photograph etc) and write a master caption. Then you can customise the caption for all of the social media platforms you’ve selected. That means you can quickly make sure your caption is short enough for X (formerly Twitter) or add your hashtags in for Instagram.

Obviously you can manually post across the multiple platforms, but this ability to quickly post across multiple platforms saves so much time.

 

WANT TO GET A CONTENT STRATEGY CREATED SPECIFICALLY FOR YOUR BUSINESS? Before you start repurposing your social media posts on multiple platforms you better make sure you have a solid content strategy in place. As an award-winning content marketer, who does all of my own marketing, and a Chartered Marketer with over a decade of professional marketing experience, I’m able to make content with a solid strategy behind it so it results in sales. And the best bit is it doesn’t have to take forever.  In fact, I run content strategy days (evergreen content and launch content) so you can get an overarching content strategy, and then a launch or 3-month content plan created in just one day. To find out more about my Strategy Days click here. Not sure what open is best for you? Book a free, non-obligation, introduction call here.

 

Cons of scheduling social media posts

 

Con 1: Reduced reach 

The most discussed disadvantage of scheduling social media posts is the reduced in reach. Whilst there are few facts available (you know what social media platforms are like) the general consensus is that if you use a scheduler the reach of your post will be reduced.

 

Con 2: Your post could be irrelevant or out of date when posted

Another disadvantage of scheduling social media posts is that if you are scheduling too far in advance it might be that by the time the piece of content is posted, it is out of date or irrelevant. This isn’t usually an issue if you are posting evergreen content. However, it could also be that due to timing a post that was harmless when originally created could be posted at a time when it has another meaning or is viewed in a different light.

 

Con 3: You’ll miss out on creating timely content

In an effort to ensure that posts aren’t out of date when posted it can be easy to focus on creating evergreen content (find out more about evergreen content here). Whilst that can mitigate creating out-of-date content it can mean that your content becomes a bit generic and timeless. This is fine for some platforms. However, if for example, you are creating TikTok videos or Instagram Reels you might miss out by not creating videos to trending audios.

 

 So should you schedule media posts ahead of time? 

As you can see there are pros and cons of scheduling social media posts. Personally, I believe the pros outweigh the cons. The main con is that the reach of a post will be reduced. Obviously, this is not ideal. However, given the lack of hard facts and given that lots of successful business schedule their social media the impact isn’t detrimental.

And for most business owners the time saved from being able to batch their content and not losing time by getting distracted when posting in real-time majorly outweighs.

 

Should you schedule directly in the social media app or use a third-party social media scheduler?

If you’ve decided to go ahead with scheduling your social media posts there is still more decision to make. Schedule directly using the social media platform or use a third-party app.

 

If you are just posting on one social media platform then I’d recommend scheduling directly into that social media platform. Usually, the functionality within a social media platform is better than a third-party scheduler.

 

If you are posting across multiple social media platforms it will depend on the platforms. If you are using Instagram and Facebook then you can schedule directly into Meta. If you are using a combination such as Facebook and LinkedIn or Instagram and TikTok then you’d be better off using a third-party scheduler that will enable you to schedule across multiple social media platforms.

My third-party social media scheduler of choice is Later. You can use Later to schedule across Facebook, X (Formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and TikTok. Click here to try Later for yourself.

That’s it. You now know the pros and cons of scheduling social media posts.

I hope reading this blog post has helped you to understand the advantages and disadvantages of scheduling social media posts so you can make an informed decision about how to move forward with posting your social media content.

 

Let me know in the comments whether you decide to schedule or not to schedule your social media posts. 

 

WANT TO GROW A THRIVING FINANCIAL SERVICES BUSINESS?  As the owner of a financial services business, there is a lot you need to consider and juggle in order to build a thriving business. I have no doubt that from a financial perspective you are confident about running a profitable business, but business is more than just the financials. You need to be offering the right services, at the right price and have the right marketing and sales process. I’m a Chartered Marketer that specialises in supporting financial services businesses to market and build businesses they love, that supports their long-term financial wealth, and that change the lives of their clients and the world as a whole. If you are looking for one-to-one personalised strategy, training and accountability then my 1:1 business and marketing mentoring programme click here And to discuss your precise needs book a free, no-obligation, introduction call to discuss your business here.