Ok, first off, I take it that my views are biased since I am Co-Founder of a Twitter App, that allows to schedule tweets. Yet, before you make your final judgment, please hear me out.
The arguments I found which make scheduling tweets not just recommendable, but even provide you with a competitive advantage are as logical and rational as I could think them through.
1.) The quality of your tweets is higher
One thing I realized after scheduling tweets for a while is that the quality of your tweets goes up. If you decide to try it out you can make up for a dedicated time whilst you write tweets.
Similarly to writing posts, I naturally get into a “writing zone” or “content production mode” which means I am really focused on the copy of my tweets.
This dedication naturally brings up not only my consistency, but also the quality of my tweets.
2.) There is the same amount of “You” in there
I like to usually distinguish between automated tweets and scheduled ones. The reason being is that scheduled ones are rather optimized than automated.
They contain the same personally written content that real time tweets possess and given, are actually even better content.
The main point is that even though you might not be there, whilst it is sent, the same effort went into creating that tweet.
3.) You save a huge amount of time
This is a no brainer really. Scheduling tweets can save you a huge amount of time every day and allows you to still create interesting content for your followers.
Personally, I like to skim through my news on my Google Reader in the morning and then at the same time craft my tweets with headlines to articles I found worth reading.
Scheduling Tweets right there or throwing them in my Buffer in my case means I can do things in one go and I don’t forget about sharing the great things I found.
4.) Consistency is key
Similar to blogging I found that it makes a huge difference if you can guarantee your followers a consistency of high quality twitter updates.
It means you become the Twitter avatar they are looking for because you have proven to provide quality tweets in the past.
Observing the click rate of my personal Twitter account showed me that the more consistent I tweet, the higher the amount of clicks.
5.) You are freed up for interaction
The final reason I believe scheduling some tweets is that it helps you immensely to focus more on the interaction. The action you have already created.
Jumping in to join the conversation whenever you have a free minute feels much better as you know you already provided value throughout the day.
Tweeting consistently by scheduling tweets also gives your followers a chance to interact more with you.
Over to you now. Are you scheduling some of your tweets? Do you think there is a benefit associated to doing it?
I would love to hear your views on this topic. Please share them with me below.
Hi,You have mentioned nice points.and thanks for the tips.
You can also reach large audience in different time zone using proper tweet schedule
Hi Nikunj, thanks for your comment.
Yep, that is a great contribution if you have followership in lots of different time zones it can help a great deal :).
The danger with scheduled social media updates:
http://mikelamonica.wordpress.com/2011/05/01/the-danger-with-scheduled-social-media-updates/
Hi Mike,
I think your post is a very interesting one and I can definitely see where you are coming from with it.
What I am not quite sure off is whether we should see Twitter as a news only medium. If this is the case for you, I believe you are absolutely right. Personally, I am using Twitter for many different things amongst which the news is just one part. The value adding, rather timeless tweets about the areas of my interest make up for a far bigger chunk, so I am quite happy to see and tweet similar updates during any given day.
Not sure what you think about this, hope you can let me know :).
Hi Leo,
Twitter is whatever you want it to be. It’s your feed. Just like my blog is my blog.
For me, the main reasons are interaction and sharing of news and information I might find valuable to my followers and what I might find valuable from them. Once you get over having one follower, not everything is going to be valuable to everyone.
I understand the how and why of scheduling tweets. Imagine this automated Tweet that was set for September 11, 2001 at 10:45 a.m.
Good morning New York! Beautiful day for a run near the Statue of Liberty! Check out my running blog at (insert link here). Yes, it’s rare and may be extreme, but it could have happened. In the old days, we called it stop the presses! I thought that particular point in time was one to stop the presses.
On the flip side, it’s a great way to make the front page of the New York Post.
My best to you.
~Mike
Hi Mike,
I think your post is a very interesting one and I can definitely see where you are coming from with it.
What I am not quite sure off is whether we should see Twitter as a news only medium. If this is the case for you, I believe you are absolutely right. Personally, I am using Twitter for many different things amongst which the news is just one part. The value adding, rather timeless tweets about the areas of my interest make up for a far bigger chunk, so I am quite happy to see and tweet similar updates during any given day.
Not sure what you think about this, hope you can let me know :).
I think you have brought some great points about scheduling tweets and I too see a great value in it. I feel it gives the freedom to truly connect and engage every time I log on Twitter over the course of the day, having the knowing that my content, self promotion, etc. is covered. I can focus solely on having fun & networking! Thanks for the post.
Hi Manon, thanks for your comment.
Absolutely, I think your analysis is spot on and it is exactly for those reasons that I like to do it. It supports my engagement and isn’t working against it.
Awesome contribution Manon 🙂
A well thought out argument. I like your distinction between automated and scheduled. If, as most people do, you read a lot of feeds at one time and tweet in response to them, scheduling the tweets gives your readers time to absorb what you are sharing, perhaps add to the conversation themselves before looking at the next bit of news you pass on. Sounds good to me.A well thought out argument. I like your distinction between automated and scheduled. If, as most people do, you read a lot of feeds at one time and tweet in response to them, scheduling the tweets gives your readers time to absorb what you are sharing, perhaps add to the conversation themselves before looking at the next bit of news you pass on. Sounds good to me.
Leo,
Great post on a subject I am looking at myself.
I do like the idea of automated and scheduled tweets. I schedule tweets myself
but I am wary of automated tweets. My concern about automated tweets is that in
my feed I am sometimes overloaded with these and I don’t want to fall into the
same category that I myself place people, that of being a nuisance. How do you
judge the timing of such tweets so that you get the coverage you want without
being tagged as a nuisance and being unfollowed? – Nick
Hi Nick,
Yes, I think the key to overcoming the “spammy” tag with automated tweets is balance. If you can balance it out between scheduled and real time tweets, it will make a big difference as opposed ot only scheduled ones. Hope that makes sense 🙂
Good job. Until now I still was not sure if scheduling tweets is useful or not. Now I’ve got 5 reasons to say: Just do it 🙂 Thank you for the useful input! There will be scheduled tweets about http://www.kalender-2012.net coming out soon 😉
Hi Karo,
Absolutely, I think there are lots of benefits from scheduling tweets, glad the post was useful! 🙂
My only concern is, in the past, I’ve scheduled Tweets and missed questions/follow ups to those tweets. I guess I just need to be a little more diligent and less stressed. When someone replies to me I like to reply as soon as possible. That said, I completely understand the value of scheduled tweets if you are handling a clients domestic and international Twitter accounts.
http://www.prioritypr.net
Hi Adam,
That is a great point you are making. I believe it can be a real trouble if you won’t be there for many hours, yet if it is just a few minutes or hours that you get online after your scheduled tweet went out, then I believe a slight delay is ok.
Great thoughts here. Scheduling tweets instead of sending out 5 at once definitely gives your followers the chance for more consistent interaction. You may miss an immediate follow up comment but overall it seems to be beneficial.
Hi there, yes, very well put, just like you say, they can then catch up with your tweets one at a time! 🙂
Hi Leo, I found your article by searching on Twitter, @douglasi:disqus tweeted out this article. The power of Twitter!
I love all the great points you make about scheduling Tweets. I have been using Tweetspinner and absolutely love it for scheduling my affiliate marketing products. I just recently started using your Buffer app and am love with that as it is a great way for me to Buffer an article (like yours here!) in an instant.
The more we can automate our business, the more we can work on our business that results in more income and profits! I will be glad to share this article with my fans, followers and clients.
Lynn, it is fantastic to see you here and thanks for the comment.
Wow, absolutely, that is definitely the power of Twitter! Fantastic to hear you like Buffer and I think it is just like you say. The more we can optimise our businesses, the more we can move towards full efficiency and ultimately more profits.
Thanks for sharing Lynn! 🙂
I have heard arguments against automated Tweets and I do see the point, however, I think Buffer is brilliant.
I use it daily and I have written articles saying just how great Buffer is and how great Leo and Joel are.
Are brilliant idea from 2 very genuine, smart young guys!!
All the best for the future, Peter
(Thanks to my friend Lynn Brown for bringing this to my attention!)
Thanks for your comment Peter. It is amazing to have someone like you on board, that is supporting us throughout our journey!
🙂
I use them regularly to tweet about my business, setting them up early every morning (when I’m best at producing copy). I dip in and out of Twitter throughout the day (time permitting) with more personal, “manual” tweets. Best of both worlds 🙂
Scheduling Tweets is like any other business productivity tool you use. The simple act of putting Tweets on line at the most optimum time will produce major differences in how those Tweets are received. And there is no difference between seeing your Tweets are made at the best times than there is in having your business open at the best time. All business seek to be active and available when the ROI is at it highest. And of course it makes it possible to work and write when you have the time even when that’s not the best time to post. So I think it’s fine to schedule Tweets and doing so is nothing like automated Tweeting where content is generated by some kind of bot and contains little or no benefit providing poor content more in the nature of spam than posts.
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