Scheduling your tweets is a semi-contentious subject for some who are very active on Twitter. Some say you should be present when you tweet; no scheduling. Others know you can’t be on Twitter constantly or you won’t get anything else done. This post is to help those who know that automation tools make it possible to leverage Twitter and still grow a small business. Consider one of these eight tools — they just might change your life!
1. Hootsuite is probably one of the best known scheduling tools. Its closest competitor, Tweetdeck, was acquired by Twitter recently. With Hootsuite, you can shorten links, save drafts and schedule your tweets from a simple Web dashboard. Free version and paid plans starting at $5.99/mo.
2. BufferApp schedules your tweets for you. You simply add your tweet and it selects a time to send it for you. It gives suggested times when it will send your tweets, but you can modify them. Free version and paid plans starting at $5/mo.
3. SocialOomph is one of my favorite tools because it lets me track keywords and mentions that I want to follow on Twitter, plus it sends them to my email inbox. They offer a free version and a paid professional version for $29.97 per month to let you automate even more aspects of your Twitter life. The professional plan includes Facebook automation, too.
4. Timely studies your last 199 tweets and then figures out the best time to send your tweet. The system then uses this info to auto-schedule your tweets and learn the best times to tweet as you engage with followers. Pretty powerful concept. Signing up is free.
5. Optify offers Twitter for Business and it is a robust tool set. You can schedule your tweets and track them. There is a free plan for small business, but the professional level plans (start at $99/mo) are extremely powerful and let you track your entire website including advanced traffic and lead management.
6. SproutSocial is a holistic social media management platform that includes scheduling not only for Twitter, but also for Facebook, LinkedIn and email. You can also monitor the Web and maintain contact notes. Free 30-day trial, then plans start at $9/mo.
7. Twaitter is a free Twitter scheduling tool. One of the things I found interesting was their Tweet Calendar, which looked useful for planning purposes. Plus you can automate your blog RSS feed to go to Twitter as well.
8. Tweetings for Twitter is focused mostly on iPhone and iPad users, but has Mac and Chrome extensions, too. This link takes you to their iTunes listing page, but also shows other tools that are too numerous to list! One-time app download is $2.99.
Most heavy Twitter users that I know schedule tweets. It’s not because they don’t want to engage with their followers and contacts; they are engaging. They just do it at specific times. And they use one of these tools to schedule great content-filled tweets throughout the day.
What tools are you using? Tell me in the comments or on Twitter.
I use Tweetdeck most of the time but I also am a big fan of Hootsuite. I most often use it to spread out a bunch of good RTs I find as I scan my lists (don’t want to overwhelm people with a huge burst). I also use scheduled tweets to get something out at the start of the day on the East coast (since I am not usually at my computer at 6:30 am). I’m on later to reply/respond, but it is useful.
TJ McCue
thanks Robert. i do it for the same reason — to reduce the burst or flood of tweets. I find lots of interesting stuff and i don’t want to slam folks. We may be similar in that the goal isn’t to avoid spending time with the community, but to allow better use of it. I spend a certain amount of time each day interacting with people via @ and DMs and if I didn’t schedule the other updates I would have less time for that. I’ve found Twitter to be one of my most important sources of traffic to my websites and I’d be curious to hear what you and others have experienced.
Eddie Gear
its surprising to see tweet adder not making the list. I use the tool and its really awesome.
check out CoTweet.com
I’m surprised to hear that there is some backlash against scheduled Tweets, but I guess it depends on your goals. While we use Twitter to chat with prospects and customers in near-real-time, we also use it to provide relevant, curated content on a regular basis. There’s no reason I have to be hitting the “Tweet” button live when I’m sharing an article. And if I run across a bunch of great articles, I’ll space them out to avoid slamming followers.
We use RavenSEO for scheduling Tweets (it’s built in to the product). If run across something I want to Tweet right away I’ll usually use the Bit.ly sidebar.
Good list TJ. I use Tweetdeck and sometimes schedule tweets. Scheduling makes it easier especially with different time zones around the world.It also means you can share things and still get on with your work.
Vernon Johnson
Great list of options, TJ.
I’m a fan of tweetdeck, but I use dlvr.it for automated tweets. I get basic measurement information which helps me see what’s popular and what times/days are best for interacting with people.
TJ, great list, my friend.. I normally use Tweetdeck, and schedule tweets with Buffer, when I read the papers in the morning. I’m not a fan of scheduling facebook and Linkedin updates, though. For me these are networks with smaller and more intimate relationships. But that’s just me 🙂
Justin
Many of the tweet schedulers currently available are fine for maintaining one account, but increasingly we’re seeing marketers and businesses maintain multiple accounts. A good tool for this is Auto Tweeter XL (autotweeterxl.com) which supports an unlimited number of Twitter accounts.
Wish MarketMeSuite was on the list! – TJ could we chat?
-Tammy, CEO @MarketMeSuite
TJ McCue
Thanks everyone for the additional tools. Much appreciated. These 8 represent a tip of the iceberg and there are many, many fine services, tools, full software suites out there to help you manage your social media marketing. Please continue to share what you use — and if you work for that company, that’s cool, just let people know that. In my opinion, a simple disclosure increases your credibility and will still result in someone clicking your photo/avatar and visiting your site.
Even in my bigger lists of 50 and 60 of a particular type of tool, I can’t include everyone, every co. No harm and no offense is intended. I’m open to PR pitches, but that’s not what gets a co onto the list. I research independently, talk to my network of tech and web savvy folks, and try to pull the best into an easy to digest list. Your comments here are valuable and appreciated by me and the SmallBizTrends team.
Great resource!
I love Twaitter for it’s ability to repurpose tweets several times.
Tweet Deck alos has that functiuon (Randomises Tweets)
My favourite scheduling toll is su.pr
Schedules tweets and links them to Stumble Upon
Two for the price of one (AWESOME)
Cheers
Keith (Melbourne)
Great resource!
I love Twaitter for it’s ability to repurpose tweets several times.
Tweet Deck also has that function (Randomises Tweets)
My favourite scheduling tool “OFF ALL TIME” is su.pr (Hands Down)
Schedules tweets and links them to Stumble Upon
Two for the price of one (AWESOME)
Cheers
Keith (Melbourne)
Aaron Eden
Too bad the tool I’ve developed is not on your list. I’ve been suffering social media stress so I’ve come up with a tool that saves you half the time posting, so you can talk to your social peers more. Isn’t that what social networking is all about- to listen and learn who your friends/followers are? By the way, tried Timely and it’s pretty cool. Thanks for sharing this list!
TJ McCue
hey Aaron, is it Garious? drop the link to me. will take a look in a few weeks.
Thanks Keith for the su.pr link.
Martin Lindeskog
TJ: I haven’t used any Twitter schedule tools yet, so your post is a great resource.
I (generally) only use scheduled tweets for silly things like quotes, facts/trivia, etc. (And I don’t post a lot of those)
I tend to keep business or industry related tweets real time, since I know when my audience is most likely to engage. The only exception to that is generally something like if/when I’m re-posting a link I’ve posted already and want to get it back into circulation, especially to account for time differences.
However, when I do schedule a tweet, it’s pretty much always from TweetDeck.
Patrick
You guys must include sociota.tk as well…
They have very powerful features for scheduling things on FB and Twitter. You don’t just schedule tweets there… you can schedule any action.
Jonathan
Many of the features that these solutions provided have now been incorporated directly into twitters recent releases. I suppose its only a matter of time before they acquire the best features or build them themselves.
The ability to link twitter to your facebook account and post from one spot is great but Google plus is a nuisance that you can’t have your tweets updated automatically. They insist on you using their platform to place the content directly. There are too many social sites now and its feeling overwhelming. 🙁