I’ve started to schedule social media posts this year, and it’s awesome.
I’m on a very limited budget, and have only ever used free services, which currently works out fine for me.
As a slightly related side note, I have to say that disconnecting Twitter from my Facebook profile page was the best thing I ever did.
Shortly after, Tumblr randomly “decided” to disconnect from Twitter, also – and, again, this has turned out to be a blessing. Each platform is different, with its own audience and atmosphere, and I really never tuned in to Twitter or Tumblr before. I used them both principally as ways to indirectly post to Facebook. My approach to social media has completely changed, and I now regard Twitter as my main social media site. That said, I am more active on my Facebook poetry page, Vibrant Darkness, than I have been in previous years, and I have also launched my author page, focusing more upon the fiction side of my writing, and a page dedicated to retro music, from the 1980s and 1990s. I also have a blog and Twitter page, covering the retro music side of my interests.
The main scheduler that I use, on a daily basis, is Twittimer.
I use it for updating my primary Twitter account, and I can’t speak highly enough of it. It’s straightforward to use, and meets all of my requirements. You can schedule up to ten Tweets at a time: text, images and links. I’ve only ever had a handful of “failed Tweets” with this app, and have always, in these cases, been able to do “send now”, after which my Tweet has been posted.
I also use Buffer, and this is set up to post on Twitter (main account), my Facebook author page, and Google Plus.
Again, they allow up to ten posts to be scheduled for free, and text, images and links are all fine. I’ve had slightly more failed posts than on Twittimer, but still an extremely low number, as a percentage of the number of posts sent. In general, the failed posts do eventually send, although there have been a handful that were lost entirely, and a few posts that didn’t make it to one or more of the connected networks. On the whole, however, Buffer works beautifully – and their customer service is excellent.
I’ve recently joined Social Oomph, and so far, that is working fine, but I can’t see it taking over from Twittimer or Buffer.
If you do want to use this as a free scheduler, I’ve got a quick tip. It gives the impression that you won’t be able to upload images, unless you upgrade to the paid version. This isn’t the case. You have to initially save your post as text only, but later, there is an option to add an image. I’ve only linked Social Oomph to Twitter.
I use the native Facebook scheduler for Vibrant Darkness, my author page and 80s/90s Music.
It’s easy to use, and there is the option of scheduling posts further in advance.
After not touching Tumblr for approximately ten months, I recently went back on there, and discovered their queueing system, which I absolutely love.
Currently, my Tumblr posts ten times daily, during the time frame I specified, and it’s working out well.
A couple of days ago, I tried out Tweet Deck, for posting to my 80s/90s Music Twitter page.
I found it slightly awkward to use, but it did work, and I will hopefully use it again soon.
So, there you have it: a few highlights from Paula’s Adventures in Social Media Scheduler Land.
The adventure will continue and, if my systems change over time, I might write another post on this topic, at some point.
Quick update: There is now a Part 2 for this post. You can also find me on social media.
Believe in yourself and your dreams.
Paula Writes 