how often should I schedule a social media post?

how often should I schedule a social media post?

Today we’re wrapping up the one idea-three posts series. I started by sharing a 3 simple steps for identifying multiple posts from one idea. Using social media scheduling as our one idea, I’ve approached different aspects to craft three different posts. The first was identifying tools for social media scheduling.  Next we explored the benefits of scheduling our social media updates.  Today will be the final post in this series and in it I’ll be answering a common question:

How often should I schedule a social media update?

There are several factors to consider as you answer this question.

First, it is important to understand your updates should be a mix of your content and sharing the content of others. A good general rule is for every post about your content you should share five posts with related content by others. For example, if I were scheduling social media about this post, I could also share posts from other sources about the best time to schedule updates on Facebook, creating tweets that get retweeted, information about improving your use of Buffer, strategic ways to use Pinterest, and ways to drive traffic using Google+.  Each of these posts will give our readers more great information on this topic.

Second, share useful content of all types. It’s easy to just share links … but don’t! Share great quotes and images that will appeal to your audience.  For example, on my Facebook page, I like to share quotes that inspire me and also ones that make me laugh. My audience enjoys the quotes and will often share them, which, in turn, introduces their Facebook connections to my page.

Third, keep track of what content creates the most interaction. If your tweet is retweeted ten times, try to figure out why. Did you craft a great question? Share a fun image? Link to a popular post? Knowing what type of updates resonate with your audience is vital to developing a successful social media strategy.

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to this question. Each platform is different and each audience has different expectations. Studying the different platforms you use is important as is understanding how to craft your updates to achieve maximum impact from each. Using the information above will help you determine what types of posts you need to schedule and how much interaction is best for your audience.

Another related question is how often should I promote each of my blog posts?  I gave a brief answer to this question in a previous post but sometimes it helps to see specific examples.

Earlier in March I wrote a post on my personal blog titled 5 Simple Changes I’m Making for my Health. Below are the updates I scheduled for that post on Facebook.

  • Day of Publication: 5 posts including questions related to post topics such as “How much sleep do you get most nights?”
  • Following Week: 2 posts including link and quote from comments and/or answers to questions from FB page.
  • One Month Later: Image and link with summary of post.
  • Three Months Later: Recent statistic related to topic with link to post.
  • Six Months Later: Connect topic with back to school plans and link to post.
  • Holiday Season:  Encourage readers to check out this post as they deal with holiday stress and eating.

The post above is definitely evergreen content and can also be promoted at any time throughout the year.  I will add it to different Pinterest boards each time I share about it over the next several months and tweet it as well.

For seasonal content, it is important to develop a plan when you write the post so you don’t forget about it the next year. For example, I have a post titled 10 Tips for a Happy Thanksgiving. I wrote the post in 2011 but is a popular post on my blog and gets lots of page views every year starting in late October. Last year, I went ahead and scheduled my social media updates for this post for this year. The FB updates and tweets remind me to pin it again and to share it on Instagram.  Also, by scheduling those updates, I have a trigger to be sure to add the link to new posts I write as it relates.

I hope this post has helped you see how to develop a scheduling plan for your posts. Your plan may not be the same as mine and that’s okay. The key is finding a rhythm that works for you and engages your audience.

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How often do you update your social media?