What do you do when you see something in your Facebook news feed that you’d like to share, but not right now?
By default, if you want to share a post, you have to share it immediately. Whereas, if you create an original post you have the same option to Publish, but also under the pull-down arrow you can Schedule, Back Date or Save as Draft.
Why schedule a post?
‘Now’ may not be the best time to share. You may be better delaying the release, either to spread your content throughout the week (as defined in your content marketing strategy) or because you want it to go out at a time when your followers are more likely to see it (check your insights to find out when your followers are online).
It’s always good practice to add some value to something before you share it, too. For example, explaining why you think your readers would be interested or perhaps sharing a personal opinion. Saving it as a draft means you can come back to it when you have time to add a useful comment.
How to schedule a share
(The following instructions are for a desktop. The phone app is a pain for admin’ing your business page. If you must use your phone, then you open a browser and view the desktop site.)
To schedule a share of a post, click on the three dots in the top right-hand corner of the post.
Under there, click on ‘Embed’.
In the next dialogue box, select ‘Advanced Settings’.
Select all the text in the ‘URL of Post’ box and copy it.
Now, go back to Facebook.
Create a new post and paste the link.
Add any extra text you want and schedule publication as usual.
This process is really very quick and simple once you get the hang of it, and when used with a content calendar it really streamlines your digital marketing efforts.
Do you know what I mean by a content calendar? Or a content marketing strategy? Don’t worry, it’s very simple to get you on track. Drop me a line and I’ll help you get started.
