How To Use the Facebook Scheduler to Schedule Status Updates

Until recently, I’ve utilized third party tools like Hootsuite and Buffer to time TKG’s Facebook status updates.

With the amount of holiday, birthday and anniversary recognitions we like to share on our Facebook page, it was a necessity to have the ability to schedule future posts without having to creatively write posts on a daily basis.

Although using tools like Hootsuite and Buffer worked well, I was excited when Facebook launched the ability to schedule Facebook status updates right from your page. The best part? It’s super intuitive, so if you’ve posted a Facebook status update in the past, this is a seamless transition.

How To Use the New Facebook Scheduler to Time Facebook Status Updates

First, create a Facebook status updates like you typically would but instead of hitting the blue “post” button, select the grayed-out clock icon at the bottom left

From here you select the year, month, day, hour and minute that you’d like your post to go live and select “schedule”. Currently, Facebook Scheduler offers the ability to schedule Facebook status updates up to 6 months in advance.

You will then be able to edit your post and see what you have scheduled on the activity log page, found under “edit page”.

One awesome feature of Facebook scheduler that I like is the ability to choose a date in the past. The post will be added to your timeline as the most recent post; however, it will indicate the day that it was scheduled.

So for instance, this morning I woke up, checked TKG’s Facebook page and noticed that Amy and Geoff had celebrated their anniversary yesterday!

Whoops!

TKG typically posts congratulations on our Facebook page for such milestones, so I had to act quickly if I wanted to get a timely shout-out for them. I posted a photo of Geoff and Amy from 2005 to the page as I normally do and selected yesterday as the date. The Facebook status updates immediately went to the top of the timeline, which I thought might be confusing for users; however, it’s indicated that that post was made yesterday, and I’m hoping people will take notice.

In what’s come to be know as true Facebook fashion, this Facebook scheduler feature will probably change in a week or two. But at least until then, I’m very much a fan of the new tool!

Have you started using Facebook Scheduler?

What are your opinions on the pros and cons on using this tool to schedule Facebook status updates on your Facebook page?

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