It would be great to engage with our communities every hour of every day—but that’s just not possible, nor is it good for the health of social media and community managers. In today’s saturated landscape, planning out and scheduling content is necessary. The engagement aspect occurs organically from there, or in between posts.
A social media management tool can have a tremendous impact on saving time and energy. Here at Sprout Social, we recently updated our content calendar, making it even easier for people to differentiate posts and networks for their scheduled content. Our community is well versed on what a solid schedule looks like, and they shared their thoughts during this week’s #SproutChat. Here’s what our experts had to say.
Take Frequency Recommendations With a Grain of Salt
Every now and then, a guide or data point comes out around recommended post frequency. While some of these do hold clout, it’s much wiser to test different frequencies with your own community. What works for some brands on Twitter might fall flat with your audience. The nature of your product or service also plays a huge role in where your audience might be spending its time and therefore how often and when you should post. We asked the community how often they recommend posting across different platforms.
A2 There's no one size fits all approach. Depends on your audience & content flow #sproutchat https://t.co/Bs0ryHIsW4
— Jade Phillips (@lifeofaworkgirl) December 9, 2015
A2: Obvs there are best practices for #socmed post frequency, but I break those rules when I tweetchat! #sproutchat https://t.co/631GyOZlzW
— Maureen Jann (@MaureenOnPoint) December 9, 2015
A2: My best two best practices work against and for each other… Be consistent and be organic… #SproutChat
— Agent Palmer (@AgentPalmer) December 9, 2015
The answer to "how frequently should I post" is always "look at your past data." #SproutChat
— Lauren Marcillo (@LaurenMarcillo) December 9, 2015
Balance Scheduled Content With Real-Time Engagement
Scheduling is great, but there should also be some aspect of interacting with your community in the moment. People can recognize when a feed is all scheduled content. So create blocks in your calendar for engaging—whether that be participating in a Twitter chat, jumping in on a Facebook Group thread or perusing a hashtag on Instgram. We asked the community how to balance scheduled content with engagement efforts.
A3) I schedule blogs, articles, cross platform sharing=20% Rest is real time engagement. #sproutchat
— Jose Watson (@Josewats) December 9, 2015
Good point, scheduling saves time but doesn't always generate conversation #sproutchat https://t.co/Ed00LzaXUn
— Jade Phillips (@lifeofaworkgirl) December 9, 2015
A3 scheduled content OF VALUE could be anywhere from 30 to 50% of daily posts. There shouldn't be a limit on engagement though #sproutchat
— Tate Dimech (@tatedimech) December 9, 2015
A4: Depends. Evergreen can be posted months in advanced while trends (black vs blue dress) has to be done NOW! #sproutchat
— Jackson Salzman (@JacksonSalzman) December 9, 2015
A4 Even when I pre-schedule posts, it's with the intention of starting a conversation, not just dumping content. #SproutChat
— Martin Lieberman (@martinlieberman) December 9, 2015
Be Mindful of Scheduled Content During Crises
Social media managers should always keep a pulse on currents events. Seemingly innocent social media posts that were scheduled before a crisis can come across ignorant and callous. In times of tragedy, it’s best to pause content or delete it all together. This also applies to company news. It’s crucial that your social team has a direct communication line to your PR manager. We asked the community how social media managers can manage social in times of crisis.
A5) Be quick to respond and slow to react. Take a moment to listen to your community! #sproutchat
— Jose Watson (@Josewats) December 9, 2015
@sprout_sarah These days, so many (too many) crisis situations. So, uh … Maybe it's better not to schedule at all?
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