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During the last year, digital marketing has risen to take center stage as one of the most effective tools for small, medium and large businesses to reach, grow and engage their audiences no matter where they are in the world. Storefronts now operate online and social media, in particular, have played a major role in the way we promote our businesses and with this shift, we have seen bold, daring campaigns, innovative advertisements and timely content that have stormed the internet and boosted brand awareness. Social media, while one of the easiest things to navigate as a consumer, can be a pain for small business owners who just don’t have the time, energy or knowledge to make it work for them.

The truth is, navigating social media just takes a little practice and leveraging the right tools; and with so many people using the web to earn a living, there is no doubt that your business can ease into this space with a little effort and a quick lesson on how social media works.

That being said, whether you run a your business all by yourself or you have a team dedicated to your social media content, color coding and campaigns, here are 5 reasons you need to start auto scheduling your posts:

1. Expanding your reach – Social media has allowed many entrepreneurs to take their business ideas global. As such, ensuring that your posts are being seen by your target audience when they are online and scrolling for inspiration to invest in your product, service or brand is important. Auto scheduling your posts allows you to schedule your posts when you are off the clock so you can simply forget about rushing to do it during peak engagement hours to get the most out of it.  A little research into your audience’s social media consumption habits go a long way. Find out what time your audience scrolls and the best times to post on each platform and before you know it you’ll be rolling in organic engagement.

2. All about strategy – Being a business owner is all about strategy. You know how you want to present yourself to your clientele and why your product or service sells. Scheduling your posts allows you to strategize by creating and pre-checking your content to ensure it’s in line with your brand’s overall image and theme. This not only benefits your brand by giving you a competitive edge compared to other brands but also portrays a message of well planned consistency to your audience. In other words, people love a brand that knows and maintains their aesthetic.

3. One click, multiple platforms – Today, there are more social media platforms than we can count on one hand and depending on who you’re trying to reach and why, you need to ensure that you cover your bases. This means ensuring that you create and post appropriate content on each. Whether it’s Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok or Instagram, scheduling helps you to manage all your platforms at once in one central location. Scheduling and scheduling software ensure that you can keep track of your content for each platform essentially, increasing productivity and effectiveness with just one click. This also ties back into the first benefit because depending on that platform’s traffic, you can schedule the same content for peak times on each platform to get the most out of social media.

4. Maintain your digital presence – Consistency is key when it comes to making social media work for you. Scheduling your posts ahead of time also means you never miss a beat and your target audience won’t miss anything about your brand either. Social media users and consumers love an active and engaged brand and once your posts are pre-prepared, you should also be prepared to watch the likes, clicks, shares and follows increase.

5. Time management – Once you’ve figured out what and when you need to post on where, the rest is simple. Scheduling your posts ahead of time, not only increases the overall effectiveness of your social media strategy but most importantly saves you time and ensures you have more hours during the day to manage and oversee the other working aspects of your business. The best way to ensure that you get it done is to reserve a few hours to schedule in content for the week or month ahead. This way, you know that you have quality, creative content prepared and ready to be published and since most scheduling software allows you to access all your social media pages in one place, you’ll be done and ready to conquer your business, both on and offline, knowing you got it done.

In 2021, social media has proven to be one of the fastest, most efficient and definitely most profitable ways to reach out to and engage your customer base. The ins and outs may seem a bit confusing at first but getting it right and getting your business on track to digital success is far easier than you think. We have all the tools in the palms of our hands (literally!) to ensure that our brands are moving with the times and are maximizing their potential. Start scheduling your posts and watch your business GROW!