The Running Chef

On the surface, I’ve been quite successful at maintaining my blog schedule. This includes an intense schedule of a new post every other day. This success comes from planning ahead and the ability to schedule posts to automatically go live on a given date. However, while this has helped me achieve a regular posting schedule, it has failed me on social media.

A lot of this has to do with poor planning on my part. For my website, I have a schedule, a plan, content ideas, and many Excel spreadsheets for reference. My biggest struggle has proved to be maintaining my social media schedule. However, numerous ways exist to move forward and improve on this aspect.

Why Do I Need Social Media?

In this new world where everything is digital, social media is crucial. The ability to proactively schedule on different social platforms seems to make a successful social media campaign. Social media scheduling allows us to plan and post future posts conveniently. It should make life easier for somebody trying to build a blogging website, but it proves quite difficult for me. For an introvert who struggles to connect with people, failing to remain active on social media also harms my growth as a good blogger.

Yet, as businesses take their marketing online and into our once-private lives, social media companies have improved the tools available to marketers. These tools help make social media platforms accessible to everyone. But what remains consistent across platforms is the need for content.

What do I post to Instagram? How do I get the best from my pins? I use X, formerly Twitter, but I haven’t ever used it as a serious blogging platform. Maybe that’s where I should look to invest my interests. The problem is, how do I get a profile of the ground? Everything I do now to help me grow as a food blogger involves increasing my workload.

My Current Social Media Strategy

The title suggests that I have a social media scheduling strategy. In reality, I take one picture for my posts, which I sometimes reuse to post to Instagram. Then, I create a single pin to post on Pinterest. Sometimes, I post pictures on Facebook and have started paying close attention to Facebook groups. However, this has proved inconsistent without content specific to what works best on each platform.

Yet, even as I write this post, which is more of a thought expressed in words, I know what I need to do to improve my social media presence. I need to take time to take more pictures when developing posts so I have excess content to use. I need to be more active on sites like Instagram and Pinterest, where I can reach new users, share ideas, and discuss my social media scheduling struggles with others. Oh, and I can learn something new. So, I’m writing this more as an affirmation as to what my focus will be when it comes to running my blog in January. To talk to people, both in real life and online. I make it sound so easy.

So, I plan to design a content calendar for each social media platform with ideas and content schedules, so I know what I’m scheduling for social media and when. However, what makes this difficult is still being relatively young and inexperienced at blogging. This makes it hard to justify the expense of some of the pro tools that may help me with my social media scheduling.

What Social Media Scheduling Tools Do I Currently Use?

For Instagram and Facebook, I use Meta’s business suite, which is incredibly helpful, especially as it helps me post to both platforms at specific times. But it also allows me to post in different groups.

Tailwind was one of those platforms I’d read about repeatedly but never thought about until I tried it. I still use the free version of the site. And while it allows me to schedule Facebook and Instagram posts, I use it almost exclusively for Pinterest. Here, I can create and design my posts. It also gives me a rough idea of the best post-schedule times.

I’ve experimented with Buffer and Later when developing another site. However, I haven’t used them post-COVID, but I have found some of their blog posts on blog scheduling quite insightful.

The One Reason I Need Social Media Scheduling

It saves me time. For example, tailwind allows me to create a pin and schedule to Pinterest all in one go, without needing to transfer files or design a pin using a different software. Metas Business Suite also cuts down time by allowing me to post to all its platforms, including Facebook groups, at the same time.

However, having a schedule helper isn’t the same as having a consistent schedule. And that’s where I’m struggling, particularly on Instagram. Instagram recently changed its algorithm, and my likes, views, and overall engagement fell off a cliff. Now, I need to find the motivation to build it back to where I can use Instagram as a key marketing tool in 20024. Pinterest, too, can help drive traffic to my blog if only I could find a consistent schedule that works using social media scheduling.