Utilizing Content Scheduling Platforms for Social Media Management
While many ATE Community members recognize the advantages of consistent social media posting, the time investment in frequent updates can be substantial. To maintain an active social media presence for your project or center, especially during busy semesters, consider the practice of crafting and scheduling posts in advance. Some platforms, like Facebook, enable users to pre-schedule posts directly on the site, while others offer centralized content scheduling through specialized tools. Here are some quick tips for your outreach team to select the most suitable scheduling tools:
- Evaluate Your Social Media Needs: Assess factors such as the number of platforms your team plans to post on, cost considerations, convenience, and analytics requirements. While platforms like Facebook and Twitter provide in-built scheduling tools, free plans on tools like Hootsuite may be limited in terms of scheduled content across platforms.
- Establish a Consistent Posting Schedule: Leverage content scheduling tools effectively by maintaining a regular posting schedule. This not only enhances the usefulness of analytics data but also keeps your audience engaged. Develop a posting schedule to keep your outreach team organized, set goals for posting and engagement, and regularly monitor metrics like post engagement and click-through rates.
- Ensure Accessibility Compliance: As outreach aims to showcase your project or center to a broad audience, integrate accessibility best practices into your social media routine. Confirm that your chosen platforms allow the addition of alternative text to images and support captions for shared videos. For guidance on optimizing social media accessibility, refer to the National Center on Accessible Education Materials (AEM) resource page.
Explore further insights on outreach in the ATE Central Outreach Kit.
