Hello friends!
I'm back with another post for the Etsy Gift Guide blogger group with a Tuesday Tips post on automating social media and shop flow.
This is a topic I am really interested in learning more about. Running a shop and trying to juggle social media platforms on top of what we have to do for our jobs and families is really hard. It is so hard to remember to post stuff on social media regularly to keep customers engaged, and anything that can make that easier is a huge relief, so we decided to talk about ways we can automatize our shops and social media.
The first one I'm going to talk about is automating your blog, since that's what I am using today. For instance, right now it is actually Sunday, but this post won't go live until Tuesday. It makes it so much easier if you know you are going to be busy on a certain day to type up your blog post ahead of time and just schedule it to post on the day you want it to be posted. I think most, if not all, blogs have the option for you to schedule your posts. This is a huge time saver.
I just discovered that you can schedule your posts on your Facebook page as well. I'm not sure if it is different on mobile, but I will walk you through the steps for doing so on the computer for my shop, White Family Crafts.
First, go to your page on Facebook. Once you are there, click "Publishing Tools" at the top.
Next, click the "create" button.
From here, you can type up your post like you normally would, including inserting links and tagging other people. Once you have it typed, click on the drop down menu where it says "share now" and select "schedule" from the options.
Next, this screen will pop up. Click on the calendar icon to choose the date and then set the time that you want it to post. When you are done, click on the "schedule" button at the bottom right.
Finally, you'll be at this screen and you can hit "schedule post" to save your post to be scheduled at your selected date and time. :)
It's super easy and such a time saver! To keep track of what is being posted when, I just keep a Google doc with the date and a link/brief description of what is being posted.
Next, let's talk Pinterest. Pinterest is a great way to advertise your shop, but in order to do it well, you have to post every day, and that can be hard to do when you are busy. Luckily, you can also schedule posts on Pinterest. I'll walk you through that too.
First, go to your Pinterest and choose the board you want to post on. Once you are there, click on the "plus" sign at the top left. You will get a drop down menu. Select "create pin" from here.
You will then have this window pop up.
From here, you can add the picture you want to use. You can just use one of the photos of your item, or you can use something like Canva to create a collage or other social media photo to use. I like to use Canva because I can use premade templates and just add my photos and text to it. Add a title that is full of keywords that people will use to search for your items, just like you would on Etsy. I also fill up the description with even more keywords. Finally, add a link to your shop in the "destination link" spot.
After you have all of this done, make sure to scroll down and select "publish at a later date" at the bottom. You can then select the date and time like you did for your Facebook post above. When you are done, scroll back up and hit "publish." That's it! :) It's super easy, and you can schedule a bunch of posts when you have free time so that you don't feel stressed out on your busier days.
Check out what the other bloggers have to say for automating their shops and social media.
Follow me on social media: https://linktr.ee/whitefamilycrafts
Have a great Tuesday!
Kelsey