The Blog

Have you ever had your Facebook newsfeed  packed full of content from one particular brand or business page?  This happens when businesses don’t plan their posts for optimal performance.  They simply go about making 2-3 status updates all within the hour, taking over your newsfeed.  In some instances this will ultimately result in people unsubscribing from your posts or they will hide you thus potentially downgrading your Facebook edgerank.

Believe me, no one is perfect and from time to time we all make the mistake of  updating our status several times within the hour BUT now you have the option to schedule your status updates from within Facebook. That’s right, you don’t have to use a third party app, you can use Facebook to plan your posts.  Let me show you:

Can’t see this clip, watch it here.

Many community managers and social media gurus don’t believe in scheduling status updates but in some instances this may prove unavoidable and unrealistic.

Why schedule posts?

Scheduling posts is great for businesses who want to be organised and make the most of their peak engagement times.  It means you don’t need to set reminders to post on Facebook or forget about them completely and miss out on valuable engagement times with your fans.  If you know what content is coming up for the day/week (and you should with your social media calendar) you can easily type up the posts, add photos or links to your website and make sure that they are being scheduled for optimum engagement.  You can even schedule posts while you are sleeping  and have your Facebook page working 24/7.

Why it’s perfect for Retailers and Small Business

As a retailer or small business owner your time is taken up with customers as soon as the doors open and there are always a million distractions.  By spending 10-15 minutes before the doors open scheduling in posts for the day you can get back to business.  You just need to make  sure that you continue to check your page periodically or assign a staff member to check the posts and alert you as soon as something requires your attention.

Why it’s great for Shopping Centres

Working in a shopping centre means nothing ever goes to plan because you are running a property with several stakeholders each fighting for your attention.  Being able to schedule posts means you can block out half an hour here and there to organise your retailers to provide content, use promotional and self generated content to start scheduling status updates at key times to ensure your target market is listening.  Scheduling posts gives you the flexibility to post after hours too, which is of course when most people are using Facebook.

A Word of Caution

I’m sure you can see the benefits of scheduling posts via Facebook.  Yes it is a little clunky compared to some third party apps but the beauty of it is that you can do it without leaving Facebook.  There are of course some minor details you need to be aware if you do decide to schedule posts via Facebook:

• For me personally, I have had situations where I can not see the scheduled post while I am waiting for it to hit the newsfeed so my advice is to read your status update a couple of times and check for spelling errors and double check images just in case you can’t go back to edit them.
• I wouldn’t schedule too far in advance, I usually only schedule daily if I need to or as required depending on my appointments
• I always follow up each scheduled post to make sure that the post has occurred and respond to comments accordingly – I would recommend doing this in a timely manner otherwise your fans and potential customers will think you are neglecting them
• Don’t let scheduled posts rule your Facebook page, remember it is fun to do an update on the fly to spark a conversation with your fans because more often than not they continue to surprise and delight you.
• Always be sure to cancel any Facebook posts immediately if an event or promotion has been cancelled or circumstances change.  Your fans are always the first people to point out your mistakes so be careful.

Now it’s over to you.  Do you see the value in scheduling posts for your shopping centre, retail outlet or small business? Have you ever intended to post something and then gotten side tracked only to find the opportunity has been lost?  Please share your experiences in the comments below.