To schedule or not to schedule? Ahh, the question of our time. With social media seemingly getting a bit out of hand and overrun by robots and trolls, you – like many other online businesses – might just be struggling to find the balance between efficiency and engagement. Like, real… human… did I say real? engagement. 

The truth of the matter is that there are pros and cons to both options. Our recommendation? Finding a healthy balance between the two. Bet you didn’t see that one coming. 

Don’t worry, I’m not just going to leave you with that. I’ve got some tips to tackle those pain points and to make an effective process for sharing your content in a human, authentic, real way. Without adding more to your plate. 

PRO: It saves a crazy amount of time and brainpower

Set time aside once a month to CREATE your content. How much time depends on your content strategy, but here at Rebel Office we spend anywhere from 2-5 hours on ONE day per month. Then, schedule time once a week to schedule your posts using an app like Buffer, Later or Tailwind. This makes sure what you’re putting out is still timely and relevant (which can be a casualty of scheduling too far in the future), but also lets you be worry-free throughout the week. 

CON: Mistakes happen

There are some apps out there that will automatically recycle your posts. This is totally cool and a nifty feature if the content it’s recycling isn’t time sensitive. Let’s just say I was in a Facebook community that, come February, posts asking how our Novembers were going were still going out. 

PRO: It frees up time to actually engage with your audience

Instead of being so stressed out and run out of time to actually have conversations with your audience, you’ll have the time now – that you would have been spending planning and posting your content – to actually chat and interact. Tip: Set aside 15-30 minutes every day simply to engage on your social platforms. Engagement is often missed but one of the most effective sales + conversion tactics. 

If you haven’t guessed it yet, we’re pro automating your content distribution through social media. The fact is: there’s more important sh*t you need to be doing. But that doesn’t mean you neglect your platforms or your audience. You just need to learn to nurture them efficiently, and ultimately, make the time to show up for them even more.