If you’ve ever found yourself wondering if you can schedule posts on LinkedIn, good news! The answer is not only yes, but it’s also very straightforward (words we love to hear!). Scheduling posts on LinkedIn is great way to maintain a consistent presence and manage your time effectively. With LinkedIn's growing popularity and importance as a professional networking platform, understanding how to schedule your posts is a must so we have put together a how-to guide along with some best practices to keep you right.
Understanding the Importance of Scheduling Posts
Before we dive in, let's talk about why scheduling posts on LinkedIn (or any platform, really) is a game-changer! As busy social media marketers juggling multiple clients or entrepreneurs wearing many hats, scheduling posts lets you plan your content ahead of time, ensuring a steady flow of information and engagement. It helps you reach your audience when they're most active, giving your visibility a major boost. Plus, it frees up your time for other important tasks (business or personal!) because we all need a good work-life balance, right? Who wants to scramble around posting at different times for different accounts across multiple platforms? That’s a full-time job on its own!
There’s been some debate about whether scheduling can hurt your reach, but research has shown that’s not the case. So, we’re giving you the green light to schedule your posts on LinkedIn and start enjoying a better work-life balance. Let's make social media work for you, not the other way around!
How to use LinkedIn’s own Scheduling Feature
LinkedIn has introduced a native scheduling feature within the platform which is straightforward to use. Here’s how you can schedule a post directly on LinkedIn:
- Create a Post: Start by drafting your post. This can be text, an image, a video, or any other format supported by LinkedIn.
- Schedule the Post: After drafting, you will see a scheduling icon (usually a clock or calendar icon) next to the Post button.
- Set the Date and Time: Click on the scheduling icon and set your desired date and time for the post to go live.
- Confirm and Schedule: Once you’ve set the date and time, confirm your choice, and your post will be scheduled.
Easy as one two three and boom your post is scheduled!
Using Third-Party Scheduling Tools for Posting to LinkedIn
If you manage multiple social media accounts across various platforms or need more advanced scheduling features, third-party scheduling tools can be very useful. Online platforms like rapidely allow you to connect to your social accounts, including LinkedIn, and then plan, create, schedule, collaborate and analyze all in once place. The ultimate time-saving and efficiency hack for busy entrepreneurs and social media marketers.
Here’s a guide to using rapidely to schedule your LinkedIn posts in just 3 easy steps:
- Connect Your LinkedIn Account: Log into your account (or create one if you haven’t already) and connect your LinkedIn account. If you’re starting a new account, it will take you through connecting your social accounts step-by-step. If you already have an account, head to your ‘settings’ and click ‘social media accounts’ and follow the steps to connect your LinkedIn. You can read more about this here.
- Draft Your Post: Start a new post and select LinkedIn as your desired platform. Add your caption (use the AI to help you if needed!) and add your media.
- Schedule the Post: Click the purple ‘Plan or Publish’ button where you can select your chosen day & time or publish immediately.
Planning a post with multiple graphics (a carousel)? LinkedIn requires these to be posted in PDF format which can be a bit of a hassle when it comes to converting files. But the good news is rapidely does it all for you! Simply upload your original .png files, schedule as normal and we will convert them for you for posting!
Best Practices for Scheduling LinkedIn Posts
Here are some little tips to keep in mind when it comes to scheduling your LinkedIn content:
• Know Your Audience: Understand your unique LinkedIn audience and what they will find engaging. While repurposing Instagram & Facebook posts for LinkedIn is often a good idea, you might need to tailor your posts or captions slightly to suit the LinkedIn crowd (our handy ‘rewrite’ AI tool does it for you in just a couple of clicks!).
• Consistency is Key: We know you’re probably sick of hearing about consistency when it comes to posting on social media but maintaining a consistent posting schedule (whether it's daily, bi-weekly, or weekly) really does help in building a loyal audience.
• Engage with Your Audience: Scheduled posts should not mean automated interaction. Make sure to make time to engage with other users, comments and messages to maintain a personal touch.
• Monitor Performance: Use LinkedIn’s analytics or third-party tools (like rapidely!) to track the performance of your posts. This will help you understand what content resonates with your audience and optimize future posts. Our “Alanytics” tab allows you to monitor your stats across your social platforms (including LinkedIn) and download reports to further analyze.
Bonus tip: want to become a real pro at LinkedIn and learn more about optimizing your profile and sharing it to network and grow your personal brand or business? Of course you do! Click here to read our article “How to share your Linkedin profile: a step-by-step guide”.
Conclusion
Scheduling LinkedIn posts is a total game-changer for busy entrepreneurs and social media pros juggling a million things at once. Say goodbye to the hassle of remembering to post manually and hello to a consistent online presence. With LinkedIn’s native scheduling or third-party tools, you can streamline your social media game and boost your personal brand and business growth – winning! Ready to dive into the world of scheduling and try out a social media planning tool for yourself? Click here to give it a whirl for free.
