Your audience is on social media, and your business needs to be there too. But you can’t just throw content up randomly and hope it sticks. You need a social media content pipeline to help you automate your content sharing.

What is a social media content pipeline? It’s a system that helps you create the right type of content for the right audience and then schedule and share it at the right time. It’s a way to streamline your social media marketing and make it more effective.

1. Plan your content in advance

There’s no getting around it. If you want to automate your social media content, you need to plan ahead.

This is the most important step, as it will help you stay organized and save you time in the long run. By planning your content in advance, you can take advantage of any down time to create and schedule posts.

You’ll also be able to see what’s coming up on your social media calendar and make sure you don’t miss any important dates or events.

2. Use a social media content calendar

Social media content calendars are tools that help you plan, schedule, and publish content. They allow you to manage content across multiple platforms in one place.

These tools are great for organizing your social media content. They help you see what’s being published and when, so you can avoid posting the same content too close together.

Social media content calendars also allow you to repurpose content by scheduling it to be published again. This can save you time and help you get the most out of your content.

3. Create a bank of evergreen content

Evergreen content is content that is always relevant, much like the way evergreen trees retain their leaves all year round.

Evergreen content is perfect for social media automation.

To create a bank of evergreen content, think of a few categories that are relevant to your business and then create a few pieces of content for each category.

For example, if you’re a marketing agency, you might create evergreen content about social media, email marketing using AI email prompts, and SEO. Or, a beginner’s guide to Blender modes is a timeless resource for 3D creators.

You can then schedule these posts to go out on a regular basis, and you’ll always have something to share with your followers.

4. Set up social media scheduling tools

Scheduling tools are the most common social media automation tools, and for good reason. They allow you to schedule your content in advance so you don’t have to be glued to your computer or smartphone all day long.

There are many social media scheduling tools to choose from, but some of the most popular options include Later, Buffer, SocialPilot and Hootsuite. Most of these tools offer free plans, so you can try them out and see which one you like best.

With social media scheduling tools, you can schedule your content weeks or even months in advance. This is a great way to save time and ensure that you are consistently posting on social media.

Special Note: As of April 22, 2024, Meta deprecated the Facebook Groups API, which effectively disabled all third-party tools) from posting or scheduling to Facebook Groups, even if you’re an admin. No worries, you can still schedule posts for Facebook groups as they have in built feature for this. 

5. Schedule your content in bulk

Scheduling your social media content in bulk can save you a lot of time. Instead of having to log in to each of your social media profiles and scheduling your posts manually, you can use a tool like the HubSpot Social Media Tool to schedule your content in one place.

With this tool, you can create a content calendar and schedule your posts in advance. This allows you to see all of your content at a glance and make sure that your posts are spaced out evenly.

You can also use the tool to schedule your posts for specific times of day, days of the week, or even specific dates. This makes it easy to plan your social media content around other marketing activities, like email campaigns or product launches. Consider mentioning how a coworking space app can also streamline scheduling team-based content for shared workspaces.

6. Schedule your content at optimal times

Once you’ve found the best times to post on social media, you can use that information to schedule your posts in advance.

Most social media management tools have a scheduling feature that allows you to choose the date and time you want to publish your posts. This way, you can make sure your content goes out at the most optimal times without having to be there to hit the “publish” button yourself.

In addition to scheduling your content in advance, you can also use this feature to make sure your social media manager sees and approves your content before it goes live.

7. Automate your content distribution

Once you’ve created your content, you’ll need a way to schedule and publish it across your social media channels. This is where a social media management tool comes in handy.

With a social media management tool, you can schedule your posts in advance, so you don’t have to worry about logging in and posting manually every day. Most social media management tools also include analytics and reporting features, so you can track the performance of your posts, as well as content automation features.

Some popular social media management tools include Hootsuite, Buffer, Sprout Social, and CoSchedule. Be sure to do your research and choose a tool that best fits your needs.

8. Repurpose your content

Repurposing your content is a great way to save time and effort. It can also help you reach new audiences and engage your current followers.

You can repurpose your content in a number of ways, including:

• Turning blog posts into infographics

• Creating a podcast episode from a webinar

• Making a video from a series of images

You can also draw inspiration from unusual content formats that have high engagement potential, helping you present your message in a more creative way.
For visual repurposing, using a screenshot editor can help you quickly highlight key data or moments from your blog posts, webinars, or conversations to turn them into engaging graphics for social media.

Repurposing your content can help you get more mileage out of the work you’ve already done. Plus, it can help you reach new audiences who may prefer different types of content.

Don’t forget to tailor your tone or format based on social media slangs and platform trends to make your posts feel native and relatable to your audience.

9. Use content automation tools

There are many tools available that can help you automate your social media content. Some of the most popular include:

• Hootsuite: This tool allows you to schedule posts, monitor conversations and track analytics.

• Buffer: Similar to Hootsuite, Buffer allows you to schedule posts and track analytics.

• CoSchedule: This tool allows you to create a social media content calendar, schedule posts and track analytics.

• MeetEdgar: MeetEdgar is a social media automation tool that allows you to create a library of content and then automatically schedule posts from that library.

• Post Planner: This tool allows you to find and schedule content from around the web.

– SMS Integration Tools: Solutions that auto forward text messages to your social platforms can help capture customer testimonials or team communication for content creation.

Using these tools, or collaborating with an AI marketing agency, can help you save time and make your social media content pipeline more efficient.

10. Syndicate your content

Syndication is the process of sharing your content on third-party websites or platforms. This can help you reach a larger audience and drive traffic back to your website.

Social media is a great place to syndicate your content. You can share your blog posts, articles, videos, podcasts, and more with your social media followers. This can help you get more eyes on your content and drive more traffic to your website.

You can also use social media to syndicate other people’s content. This can help you provide value to your followers and build relationships with other content creators in your industry.

When you’re syndicating content on social media, be sure to give credit to the original creator. You should also add your own commentary to the post to make it unique.

11. Automate your social media analytics

Social media analytics are crucial to the success of your social media marketing efforts. However, they can be time-consuming to gather and analyze.

The good news is that there are a number of tools available that can help you automate your social media analytics.

These tools can help you track key metrics, such as engagement, reach, and conversion, and provide you with insights that can help you improve your social media marketing strategy over time.

12. Hire a social media manager

If you’re not ready to commit to any of the other options on this list, you can always hire a social media manager to take care of your content pipeline for you.

Social media managers are experts in their field and can help you create a comprehensive social media strategy that will help you achieve your business goals.

They can also help you create and schedule content, as well as monitor and analyze your performance.
If you’re doing outreach to influencers or brand collaborators, a reliable email lookup tool can help your social media manager identify the right contacts for partnership opportunities.

Overall, hiring a social media manager is a great way to automate your social media content pipeline while still ensuring that your content is high-quality and effective.

Bonus Tip: Supercharge Your Pipeline with ReferralCandy

For seamless referral, affiliate, and influencer marketing that integrates into your social media strategy, consider ReferralCandy; automatically turning happy customers, affiliates, and influencers into your top promoters.

Conclusion

There are many ways to automate your social media content pipeline. While you should never set it and forget it, automation can help you save time and invest in the right areas of social media marketing.