When it comes to social media, we want to know all the latest tricks and tips, right? Whatever will make it easiest to cure that pesky case of caption-itis, get the perfect hair photo, or finally help us get out in front of the right clients.
All of those problems can totally be cured with one simple step: scheduling out your social media.
Think about it: that means no hopelessly waiting for inspiration to strike, skipping a day because you have nothing to say and no photo to post, or having to deal with thinking up something to write if an emergency happens.
Sounds so much easier, right?
Let’s dig into the top social media app recommendations for scheduling out your content so you can live life, actually engage with your followers, and make magic happen!
Instagram App Recommendations
Instagram is one of the easiest platforms to schedule. There are tons of tools available to you, so it’s really a matter of deciding which works best for your personal preference.
Top recommendation: Later
Later has become team FSBD’s ride or die for Instagram scheduling. It’s super easy to schedule all sorts of posts and see future posts in both a weekly schedule and a grid form. Their analytics are fantastic and their linkin.bio feature seamlessly connects back to websites. They also have a huge range of plans, no matter what your budget.
Other recommendations: Plann or Planoly
Facebook App Recommendations
Facebook is a completely different beast than Instagram for one big reason: Facebook loves native content. Meaning, if a Facebook Live or a photo posted directly on Facebook will do much better in the algorithm than a YouTube video or using a third-party scheduling app.
Top recommendation: Facebook Creator Studio
If you have a business profile, you have access to Facebook Creator Studio. It’s an amazing suite of tools to help you schedule, analyze your metrics, and figure out what’s resonating with your audience.
It’s also much more intuitive than the Publishing Tools on the back end of Facebook’s business profiles, making it an easy win when it comes to Facebook app recommendations.
Pinterest App Recommendations
Let’s talk about Pinterest for a second.
If you want to go the blogger route, Pinterest can be huge. Make no mistake, it’s like taking on a second job, but once you get going with it, there is huge potential.
However (and it’s a big however), for whatever reason, local pinning hasn’t been optimized, making Pinterest a bit of a bust when it comes to bringing clients into service-based businesses.
Instead, if you want to use Pinterest, think of it as an awareness tool. You can use it to force traffic wherever you want, like to an awesome blog post. If you do a good job seeking in the post and have paid affiliate links, you can make money.
Top recommendation: Tailwind
Tailwind is one of the most powerful Pin schedulers out there, and for good reason. You can schedule Pins out to a particular board, create SmartLoops to repin materials without having to manually do it, and essentially set up your Pinterest account to run with minimal input from you.
All-In-One System App Recommendations
Maybe you’re looking for more of an all-in-one system where you can schedule everything in one place. We don’t use an all-in-one scheduler currently, but you might want to check out Buffer or CoSchedule.
If you need a little help keeping everything organized or want to share photos with your salon team or even a virtual assistant, try Dropbox. We use it to store and share images, PDFs, everything. It’s a great way to have a one-stop-shop everyone can access.
Next steps are all up to you.
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Find time in your weekly or monthly routine to sit down and bust out some captions.
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Create time in your appointments to take hair photos of your guests.
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When you work on your business, set aside time to schedule posts in for the week.
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Create a bank so you’re never worrying about what to post if you have an emergency.
Social media is an amazing way to grow your business, but it doesn’t need complicated. Scheduling out your social media with the scheduling apps that work best for you will save you time, money, and sanity over and over again.
Need a little more guidance? Check out the 5-step Instagram Checkup for Hair Stylists!
