How to Autopilot Your Social Media Posts This Summer

As the weather grows warmer, many of us are itching to enjoy the summer by taking some time off. Today we’re sharing some hot marketing tips on how to autopilot your social media posts (and save time!), all while achieving results and enjoying some much-deserved R&R.

Tip 1: Plan Ahead

If you want to put your social media accounts on autopilot as you prepare for your vacation, the best thing you can do is plan ahead. 

Think about what holidays, events, or other special content you need to prepare posts for in the coming weeks, including organic social media content, advertising, and email marketing. 

Map out your marketing content before you schedule your posts. This will help you save time in the long run and keep everything consistent across channels while you’re away. 

Tip 2: Repurpose Content

Before you head out of the office, you often have to work twice as hard to ensure that your bases are covered for your social media marketing strategy. Repurposing content is one way to work efficiently as you’re preparing your marketing content and automating your social media. 

Content that can be easily repurposed as you schedule your social media includes:

• Throwback social media posts
• Making a blog post into multiple social posts
• Using a previously used image as a background for a text-heavy graphic

Not only is repurposing content a time-saver, but it also gives the older content you worked hard on some new life!

Tip 3: Leverage Evergreen Content

Here’s something every business should have in its social media marketing tool belt: evergreen content. Content that is continually relevant and stays fresh for your followers over a long time is considered “evergreen,” and it can help make vacation planning a cinch!

This includes:

• FAQs about your business
• “How-to” guides
• Team member profiles
• Client testimonials

Making a habit of creating evergreen posts and filing them accordingly will help immensely whenever you need to put your social strategy on autopilot—whether it’s an unexpected leave of absence or something planned, like a vacation.

Tip 4: Use a Social Media Scheduler

This tip is one we’ve talked about before. Once you’ve created the content that will be posted during your vacation, use a social media scheduler to set it and forget it!

There are several scheduling tools available. Be sure to get one that’s mobile friendly so you don’t need to be near a computer while you’re on vacation. 

Some of the schedulers we recommend include: 

• Buffer
• Sprout Social
• Later

You can also schedule Stories on these platforms, but you’ll need the mobile app and a paid plan to do that. 

If the past two years have taught us anything, it’s that life is unpredictable. If a major personal, national, or world event happens while you’re out of the office, you may want to consider changing your scheduled content to something more appropriate, and a mobile app makes this easy and stress-free. 

Tip 5: Integrate Your Vacation into Your Content

You may have already put your social media on autopilot, but don’t be afraid to also integrate your vacation into your social media content! 

Most people take a vacation at some point each year. Consumers LOVE authenticity and seeing the faces behind the business. If you’re inspired on your vacation, go live to share any thoughts or tips. 

If you’re trying to stay off the grid and don’t want to take the time to post, simply save your vacation content for later.

Tip 6: Announce a Temporary Break from Social Platforms

Sometimes, a break doesn’t feel like a break unless we truly disconnect. If you really want to check out during your time off—and, trust us, we do NOT blame you—let your subscribers, followers, and customers know your plan and when you’ll be back in action. 

This way they know what to expect, and you don’t have to have a hectic week of trying to plan and create the social media posts that will go out while you’re gone! 

Tip 7: Delegate Your Social Media Strategy

For many businesses, an online presence is something that’s simply too important to take your eyes off completely.

If the idea of taking a vacation this summer gives you anxiety, it might be time to hire a marketing agency to help. The benefits of hiring a support team include:

• Delegating marketing tasks
• Having an expert provide another perspective on strategy
• Getting BIG results

Outsourcing work you have the ability to do yourself may seem like a “waste of money.” But as they say—TIME is money. 

With only so many hours in a day, it’s important to be clear on what your time is worth to you. Have you allotted a reasonable time to get your marketing done, or are you spending too many hours figuring it out? If you resonate with the latter, then it’s time to explore other options! 

For larger businesses, hiring an employee dedicated to marketing may be a good option. But for small and medium-sized businesses, using an agency is more cost-effective. Plus, you’ll get a team of experts, including a social media manager, who can address all your marketing needs—from advertising to SEO.

Is it time for you to partner with a digital marketing agency to help you develop a marketing strategy and achieve your goals?

If so, book a complimentary consultation with us here.