Do Scheduling Tools Impact Community Building?
Social media scheduling tools can come in handy, particularly if you want to post at the same time every day or are going on holiday and want to shut off. Social Media Today has recently reported that Instagram is moving onto the next stage of development with its native scheduling tools.
These tools have been available in the Creator Studio for some time, but soon enough, creators will also be able to schedule posts within the app. While this drums up excitement for obvious reasons, we wonder, as a social media agency, whether there is some drawback with tools like these.
When it comes to building a community (an objective many of our clients have), how do scheduling tools impact this?
The Value in Building a Community on Social Media
Before we answer your burning question, let’s talk about how building a community on social media could benefit you.
Today, it is not enough to have a substantial amount of followers on social media; you also need to have an engaged community. But why? There are a lot of ways building a community will benefit your business. Here are some ways it will help:
Communities equal engagement.
These people are huge fans of you and your business. They want to see you succeed and will support you no matter what. Social media accounts with a strong community usually receive excellent engagement on their posts compared to accounts with just a high follower count.
They increase your brand visibility on social media platforms.
As mentioned above, they will support you online, including resharing your posts or making posts about your business. This will ultimately help as their followers will be introduced to your brand.
Brand Loyalty
Communities foster brand loyalty as they will reference your brand regularly and paint you in a positive light which will aid your growth.
User > Customer Engagement
Ultimately, they create a welcoming environment encouraging others to follow and get involved. As a result, more potential customers will find their way to your profile.
Now that you recognise the power behind building a community on social media let’s discuss how scheduling tools impact your ability to do this.
How Do Scheduling Tools Impact Community?
Scheduling tools can be brilliant for people on the go or when you need to maintain consistency while leading a busy lifestyle. It is fantastic to see Instagram developing its native scheduling tools for posts and reels so people can easily do it within the app.
This will help many people maintain the organisation and consistency of their brand and feed. In saying that, if you have the chance to post from where you are, it can be far more beneficial. You can post stories and do some immediate engagement once your content goes live, and this will often add to the communal aspect you want on any page.
In addition, your followers can feel far more connected to you. It has its benefits and downfalls; like anything, it’s down to how you use it. Ultimately, the SDA team feels that scheduling is not the best way to build a strong, authentic community on social media. In summary, if this is your objective on social media, we recommend you try to post in real-time rather than relying on these tools.
How Do You Build a Community on Social Media
Now that we have dived deep into whether scheduling tools are valuable for those looking to build a strong community on social media, let’s talk about how to build a community. There are many ways to build a community on social; here are some of our tips!
Ask your friends and family to engage with your account.
They can support you by interacting with your content and sharing it, so you reach more potential customers. This initial audience will help you to build your reputation and establish credibility. In addition, they will help you increase brand awareness.
Ask your current customers to interact with your account.
The people who have already purchased from you or utilised your services will likely be delighted to follow your pages. In addition, this will also help you get closer to your ideal potential customers as you will be exposed to their network.
Use hashtags on all your posts.
They are a great way to find new people interested in your posts. What’s more, this is an organic way for you to build a community. On social media, people search these hashtags and may see your posts and feel inspired to follow you for more.
Interact back with those who do follow you.
This one is significant because to build a community, it has to go both ways. When followers comment on your posts, send messages, or tag you in content, interact with them! This humanises your brand and shows you are committed to your customers.
In Summary
It is great to see platforms like Instagram are always thinking about how to make creators’ lives easier. In addition, scheduling tools are beneficial for the average person when life gets a bit busy. However, it is vital to understand whether they are helping you to reach your goals.
Scheduling may not be great if you hope to build a solid and engaged community on social media. In saying that, don’t fret if you need to do it occasionally to maintain consistency and the organisation of your feed. Contact our team if you have more questions about this or want to up your social media game!