I’ve been a huge fan of scheduling content for my business for years now. It’s easy, saves you loads of time and it means that you can put everything on auto pilot.
But at what expense?
Was the auto-scheduling of Social Media doing my business good or was it doing it harm?
After some analysis I decided that it was doing my business harm…and here is why.
Why I Stopped Scheduling My Content on Social Media.
#1. Posts Were Getting Less Reach
When I first starting scheduling post I was really active on social media. I had gone from manually posting to having all the post done for me via the software. Initially I used that time to answer comments and create engagement.
Over time though I found that my time got taken up elsewhere and as social posts were going out I didn’t worry too much about being on Facebook.
My posts gradually started to get less and less reach, until some of my blogs might only get a reach of a few hundred.
I had to do something about this…so I started testing manual posts versus scheduled posts.
After a month of testing I noticed stats were back up, enquiries were at their normal rate via our social channels and it was clear my social media needed me – not an automated software.
#2. My Social Media Was Boring
I have a huge library of content, with over 800 blog posts and thousands of social media images. But felt I was seeing the same things all the time. It was just a cycle of content.
I see other people who are clearly recycling their content using scheduling tools and they are repeatedly posting the same things (with the same missing links, typos etc.) and it puts me off.
So I can only imagine what our customers think of our Social Media when we are doing this. Are they bored too?
#3. I Felt We Had Lost Touch
One of the most successful things I did building my Facebook Page to over 35,000 fans was to engage and post relevant and timely content.
This was a bit lacking with an automated scheduling system. There wasn’t enough real life content on my page. I wasn’t spending enough time answering questions and sparking conversation – instead I was talking at people.
Being there to react to events, news stories and people’s comments is key. It’s what makes a page fun and interesting.
I didn’t want to just be sharing my content I wanted to get to know people.
What Next?
I’m not sure if I will totally step away from using scheduling tools in some areas of my business, but I will be more strategic about it.
I cringe when I see people using them badly. Sharing the same content day after day, promoting Christmas posts when it’s Easter, sharing posts that are missing links…and so on.
