Dear Farillio member,

On 26th March 2021, you asked our brilliant expert Katy Howell on the Go Far Fast Show:

“What are the best tools for scheduling posts? Is there one that I can use for all my posts? I use Insta, Facebook and twitter?”

And Katy said:

Be mighty always, Farillio

Transcript:

“Yes, yes there are! There are various ways. You can use the back-end scheduling tools, so on Instagram and Facebook, you can schedule through them. You can then schedule to Twitter using a tool called Tweetdeck which is just about to get improved apparently, we'll see! Actually, there are tools like Buffer and Hootsuite which offer free versions or very low-cost versions and they work perfectly well. They are a bit more challenging to use if you don't pay for them, because you have to keep topping them up. The aim is to make you pay I think. I can't remember what the fees are, but it's probably a couple of dollars a month – they're not hugely expensive. As you get more sophisticated, you probably want to look at some of the tools that the big brands use. They're not massively expensive. There are things like ContentCal and Sprout Social for instance. These offer you an opportunity to able to create your posts and feed, and they also give you a little analysis and gather everything up together. They're a little bit more sophisticated, and the paid-for Hootsuite does the same, so it's definitely worth considering these if you're running multiple channels. A little word of caution though... Don't ever set your scheduling, leave it and assume it's done. There are two reasons for that. First of all, scheduling sometimes misfires – usually because the platforms themselves have suddenly turned an API off. Secondly, the world changes. If you're going out there and saying 'what you should really do is give each other a hug' and then the pandemic breaks, your scheduled post still goes out – so you have to remember to keep an eye on it. Jump in there when something breaks on the news, or something is inappropriate so that you don't end up with egg on your face.”

Ask your question:

If you have any questions that you'd like us to ask in a future Go Far Fast Show, send us a DM on Twitter or on LinkedIn. We'd love to hear from you!

Want more from Katy?

You can also find Katy’s answers to other questions being asked by you and your community in our Dear Farillio Expert section on our blog site, and Katy’s great guidance on social media here.

Please note: The contents of this blog are not tailored business advice or legal advice. This is guidance and information, which we do our best to keep current, relevant and helpful. If you need business or legal advice, please use our Speak To An Adviser service or you can get in touch via our LiveChat.