You can schedule LinkedIn posts. Yes! It is actually quite simple.
We have good news for you if you’ve tried unsuccessfully to find the scheduling option on LinkedIn. This is not the first time a social media manager has been stuck. There is no built-in LinkedIn scheduling tool. To schedule LinkedIn posts, you will need to use a third-party tool like Hootsuite
Once you have connected LinkedIn to your Hootsuite, scheduling posts on LinkedIn company pages or profiles is easy with just a few clicks. Even better, you can schedule LinkedIn posts with any Hootsuite account.
This allows you to plan your LinkedIn marketing strategy ahead of time, create company page updates and LinkedIn posts when you feel it is convenient, and schedule them for posting when your audience is most likely engage.
Bonus: Download a free guide that explains the 11 strategies Hootsuite’s social-media team used to increase their LinkedIn audience to between 0 and 278,000 followers.
How to schedule LinkedIn posts with Hootsuite
Step 1. Step 1.
You will first need to connect Hootsuite with LinkedIn. You can add LinkedIn pages and LinkedIn profiles to your Hootsuite accounts.
This is all you need to do once. You can skip to step 2 the next time you need to schedule Linked In posts.
Log out of LinkedIn using a new browser window. Click on My profile to view your profile picture. Next, click Manage accounts and team members.
Click + Private account. Click Manage to add a social network to an Enterprise, Team or Business account. Then, select LinkedIn
Sign in to LinkedIn and click Allow to Connect to Hootsuite. Click Next to select the pages or profiles you wish to add to Hootsuite.
You are now connected to LinkedIn and Hootsuite.
Step 2. Step 2.
Click Create from the Hootsuite dashboard and then choose Post
Select your LinkedIn profile or page from the drop-down menu under Publish to. Next, enter your content: text, images, links, etc.
Once you are satisfied with the preview, click Schedule to later. Next, enter the date and hour at which your post will be published. Next, click Done to schedule the post.
Tip: This is how the LinkedIn scheduling tool looks in a Hootsuite free account. This stage is slightly different if you have a Business, Professional, Team, Business or Enterprise account. Instead of having to manually choose the time you want to post, you will see suggested times. You can also choose your own time if you’d prefer.
That’s it! Now your LinkedIn post has been scheduled. It will go live at the time that you choose.
How to view and edit scheduled LinkedIn posts
After you’ve created your LinkedIn content schedule, there are a few options available if you wish to view it or make any changes.
Option 1: List view on the Hootsuite dashboard
Hootsuite automatically created a new LinkedIn Board when you add your LinkedIn account. This board has two streams by default.
My Updates shows you content that you have posted. Scheduled shows you a list all of the content that you have planned to post to LinkedIn. It also shows the time and date for each posting.
Click the pencil icon at bottom of any scheduled post to edit it, including the posting time. Click the three dots in the bottom right to delete the entire post.
Option 2: Calendar view with Hootsuite Planner
The Hootsuite Planner provides a comprehensive overview of all your LinkedIn posts and how they fit in with your overall social media posting plan.
Click the Publisher icon from the Hootsuite dashboard and choose the Planner tab.
To move through your content calendar, select the Week or Month view. You can use the arrows and the date selection box.
All of your scheduled content will be displayed for all your social media accounts. Click on Social Accounts to see all of your LinkedIn posts. Next, select the LinkedIn profile or pages you wish to view and click Apply.
To edit any post, click on it. You can also change the time or delete the entire post. If you aren’t ready to commit yet, but want to save it for later, you can move the post to drafts.
Bonus: Download a free guide to learn the 11 strategies Hootsuite’s social-media team used to increase their LinkedIn audience to between 0 and 278,000.
Get the guide for free right now!
Here’s a short video that explains how to use Hootsuite Publisher.
How to schedule multiple LinkedIn posts at the same time
The Hootsuite Bulk Creator (available in paid plans) allows you to schedule up 350 posts simultaneously. These posts can be divided between your LinkedIn profile, LinkedIn pages and other social media accounts.
Step 1. Step 1. Prepare your bulk file for posting
Go to Publisher from the Hootsuite dashboard and click the Content tab. Click Bulk Composer under Content Sources
Click on the Download button to download an example. Click Download to see an example.
Step 2. Step 2.
Go to Publisher in the Hootsuite dashboard and click the Content tab. Click Bulk Composer in the Content Sources section. Click Select file to upload. Click Open. Click on the LinkedIn page or profile you wish to post to, and then click Review posts.
You can find more information in our blog post about the Hootsuite bulk-composer.
Three tips to schedule LinkedIn posts
1. To increase engagement, schedule at the right time
According to Hootsuite, the best time for LinkedIn posting is Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 9:00 am. This is an average. It will depend on where you live, your demographics, and many other factors.
Hootsuite’s Best Time to Post function can help you determine the best time to post to LinkedIn for your audience. Not only will you see recommendations in the scheduling box but you can also look into Hootsuite Analytics to find more detailed scheduling data.
Click Analytics from the Hootsuite dashboard. Then click Best time to post. Choose the LinkedIn profile or page you wish to examine. There are recommendations for when is the best time to publish your posts, based on different goals.
A heat map will show you when LinkedIn posts performed well for your chosen goal. To see the average response rate to your posts over a given time and day, you can click on any square.
LinkedIn Analytics can be used to learn more about your LinkedIn users. This can help you to determine when they will be online.
2. When to pause LinkedIn posts
It is easy to schedule LinkedIn posts ahead of your scheduled time and save time. This will also help you maintain a consistent LinkedIn presence. This isn’t a case where you can simply set it and forget.
It’s a fast-moving world. We live and work here. Tip: Staying on top of the current zeitgeist is possible with social listening.
We have already discussed how to edit, reschedule or delete individual LinkedIn posts. However, in certain situations it may be better to pause all scheduled content.
Click your profile picture in the Hootsuite dashboard to go to My Profile, then click Manage Accounts and TeamsChoose which organization you wish to pause content. Enter a reason that makes sense to the teams and click SuspendIn Publisher. All posts will be marked with a Suspended Yellow Alert and will not publish at their scheduled times.
3. Target scheduled LinkedIn posts and promote them
All of the information we have discussed so far focuses only on scheduling organic LinkedIn post. You can also use the same steps for creating scheduled LinkedIn sponsored posts to your business page. So you can get the best times to post, LinkedIn will still recommend them.
Follow the steps to set up your post. Check the box next Promote this post in Composer
To promote your post, select the LinkedIn Page Ad account. If you don’t see the LinkedIn Page ad account, make sure you have advertiser permissions in LinkedIn Campaign Manager.
Our complete tutorial will provide more information on the budget and targeting options for sponsored LinkedIn posts.
Hootsuite allows you to schedule LinkedIn posts at the most convenient time, respond to comments and track competitors. You can also track performance and monitor your competitors all from the same dashboard that you use to manage other social media platforms. Get your free trial now.
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It’s free to try >> How to schedule LinkedIn posts: A quick and simple guide