Twitter is arguably the fastest moving social media platform around, and it demands a steady presence from brands who want to stay relevant. When you’re spinning many plates and managing multiple online channels at once, Twitter scheduling is a smart tactic for ensuring you remain consistent. Before you dive in, though, read our top five tips on how to handle Twitter scheduling effectively in 2018.

Twitter Scheduling Tool Guide

1. Duplicate posts should be avoided

In February 2018, Twitter published new guidelines that targeted automated spam and the use of multiple accounts. The somewhat vague announcement from Twitter caused much speculation, particularly around what this meant for scheduling one tweet to repeat multiple times. Was it still okay? 

While repurposing content can form part of a strong social media strategy, duplicating the exact same message is now considered bad form, and scheduling apps like Buffer choose not to offer this feature.

Instead, there’s an emphasis on refreshing content to include different text and/or media, as well as scheduling similar tweets further apart. In a nutshell: it’s time to stop using tools or techniques which recycle the same tweets over and over, to avoid getting blocked-out by Twitter. 

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2. Timing is less of a factor than it used to be

If you can spot regular spikes in your engagement at certain times, you’d be wise to take advantage of this when scheduling tweets. If, however, you’d planned to search for advice on the best times to post, beware that such studies are flawed.

Thanks to recent algorithm updates, which mean tweets are no longer shown in chronological order, timing is less crucial than it used to be.

When a user visits Twitter, their home timeline will display the tweets they are likely to care about most first. Twitter chooses these tweets based on several factors, including the accounts a user interacts with most and the tweets they engage with. A user’s home timeline may also show an ‘In case you missed it’ section that highlights any tweets that may be of interest.

What this means for brands is that it’s less about predicting when a target audience will be on Twitter. Instead, the focus should be on getting that crucial early engagement that the algorithm takes to mean a tweet is noteworthy.

3. Events and key dates matter

While scheduling tweets to the minute is less important than it used to be, you’ll want to pay close attention to your calendar. Key dates and events, both local and national, have a big impact on Twitter, and so it’s important you consider them when you’re creating and scheduling tweets.

Twitter’s 2018 event calendar might provide you with some inspiration, though it’s likely you’ll have more success if you think small and specific. To get started with your own annual calendar, ask the following questions:

• • What’s going on in my industry throughout the year? (Think conferences, events, and launches)

• • Which dates are key for my brand? (Perhaps these dates will be seasonal, such as Christmas or Valentine’s Day, or they may be specific to your business, such as launch days or anniversaries)

• Which national events relate to my brand? (There’ll be obvious ones, such as National Baking Week for baking related businesses, for example, as well as the less obvious that might require some creative thinking)

An example of how @Whatley_Manor used #NationalDogDay2018 to promote their hotel and spa.

4. Be prepared to react quickly to what’s happening in the world

Scheduling tweets in advance carries many benefits, but it doesn’t come without risk. What seems like a perfectly innocent tweet when it’s scheduled ahead of time can easily be taken out of context according to what’s happening on the day.

Consider a tweet about going into London that’s posted on the day of a terror attack, for example, or scheduled tweets from an airline that go out after a plane crash. A brand that schedules tweets and then forgets about them is in danger of garnering some seriously ill feeling.

Social media managers should always have access to their scheduling apps even when they’re on the move, and it’s important they stay on top of the latest news and events by setting up Twitter alerts and checking in regularly.

5. Remember – quality over quantity

Finally, while Twitter scheduling can save you time and keep you consistent, it’s worth bearing in mind that nothing beats real-time interactions with others.

Social media is increasingly about building relationships and engaging to develop know, like and trust with an audience.

Scheduling tweets can form an integral part of your strategy, but if you rely on this tactic completely, you may not see the results you were hoping for.

Now that you know our top 5 tips for Twitter scheduling in 2018, will you be making some changes to your strategy? Let us know on Twitter.