This post contains affiliate links for tools I use and recommend which means at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission if you decide to make a purchase. 

I'm a big believer in scheduling (at least some of your) social media, not only because it saves time and helps to streamline your workflow but honestly – because I KNOW that when I don't schedule things in advance, sometimes they just don't get done at all! If you want to be active on social media on a regular basis (and at optimal times), sometimes it just doesn't make sense to be posting / pinning / tweeting / etc. while you could be working / sleeping / drinking too much wine / etc. – right?!

A while back I compared two popular social media scheduling platforms Hootsuite vs. Buffer, but as I noted at the end of that post, last year I switched to Edgar for social media scheduling – mainly for the ability to automatically recycle evergreen content. I love this feature! Recycling evergreen content saves a TON of time.

I had loaded up my Edgar queue with over 300 posts and things were humming along, but my one main issue with Edgar was pricing. Compared with the $10 plans I had previous paid for Hootsuite / Buffer, Edgar's pricing was $49/month which I was never really thrilled about spending. In theory, because Edgar automatically recycles content (something that we were doing manually with Buffer back in the day), it saves a lot of time (and time is $$$) so I justified that it was probably worth the premium – but since I also use Tailwind* for Pinterest scheduling, adding Edgar's fees on top of those was not really ideal.

At the end of 2016, I decided to look into some alternative options and came across Viraltag. I'm pretty sure I looked into Viraltag a couple years ago when I was comparing Pinterest schedulers, but since then Viraltag has added a number of new features including the ability to recycle posts (which is the feature I really loved about Edgar). So I decided to give Viraltag a try and around the same time came across SmarterQueue.

The Best Social Media Schedulers for Sharing Evergreen Content: Edgar vs. Viraltag vs. SmarterQueue

I thought I'd compare the platforms for anyone who is researching social media schedulers and is looking for a platform with a “post-recycling” feature.

PRICING

Viraltag and SmarterQueue* were the two best social media schedulers I found that had the evergreen content recycling tool I wanted AND were priced lower than Edgar.

Edgar is currently priced at $49/month or $539/year, Edgar can schedule posts for Twitter, Facebook (profiles, pages, and groups) and LinkedIn (profiles and pages).

Viraltag plans start at $29/month or $288/year for up to 10 social profiles. There are additional plans for teams / agencies who need multiple users and/or more than 10 social profiles. Viraltag can schedule unlimited posts for Instagram, Twitter, Facebook (profile and pages), Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn (profiles and pages).

SmarterQueue* plans start at $19.99/month or $203/year for up to 4 social profiles. There are additional plans for people who need up to 25 profiles. You can schedule posts for Instagram, Twitter, Facebook (profiles, pages and groups), and LinkedIn.

SIMILARITIES

All of these social media schedulers allow you to schedule evergreen content to multiple platforms. Why is this so amazing? Not everyone sees what you're posting. Recycling content is a no-brainer way to save time, and by sharing and re-sharing content, you'll get in front of new people.

With these schedulers you can also create categories of posts to share at different times. These can be posts from your own blog, other blogs, specific promotions or sales, inspirational quotes, etc. You can create various categories that are applicable to your business and share posts at different intervals.

All of these schedulers also feature a calendar view of your posts which is always nice. It makes it easy to visualize your content as well as edit and move things around.

[click_to_tweet tweet=”Recycling content is a no-brainer way to save time, and by sharing and re-sharing content, you'll get in front of new people.” quote=”Recycling content is a no-brainer way to save time, and by sharing and re-sharing content, you'll get in front of new people.”]

DIFFERENCES

Curating content is one of the important parts of scheduling social media but Edgar doesn't really have a built-in tool to help you discover and share content. With Viraltag, you can connect your Pinterest, Instagram, or Flickr feed and share directly from there – so it makes is really easy to share visual content in particular. SmarterQueue is the best of best at curating content from anywhere in any feed whether it’s your Facebook feed, Pinterest feed, Twitter feed, or content from specific users or RSS feeds. Anything searchable can be created and saved in a feed and if you use Feedly to bookmark sites, you could even import your bookmarks.

When it comes to importing content, Edgar and Viraltag don't have the ability to bulk upload content. So if you have a spreadsheet where you keep track of social content, you won't be able to bulk upload. But luckily you can in SmarterQueue – and this will definitely save you time if you're moving from one social media scheduler to another.

In analyzing posts, Edgar and Viraltag both have basic analytics showing the number of times the post was shared and re-shared as well as your best times to post – but these analytics don't really compare to SmarterQueue‘s analytics. With this scheduler, you can see all the same stats on how many people clicked on your link or shared your post, but you can also see specific analytics around how much MORE engagement you received by recycling your evergreen posts. SmarterQueue integrates with bit.ly so you can see all of the stats on the links you've shared over time which can be more helpful that seeing stats on individual posts.

THE WINNER – SMARTERQUEUE

Of these three social media schedulers that I've used, SmarterQueue comes out on top. I don't think that Edgar is worth the price for what you get. Viraltag is great if you're looking for a tool to schedule visual content, but it feels like it's geared more toward Instagram and Pinterest users rather than other social media platforms. In my opinion, SmarterQueue is the best all around tool for scheduling evergreen content across all platforms AND it's more affordable!

Want to give it a try? Normally you get a 14 day free trial, but if you CLICK THIS LINK you'll get 30 days free to try out my favorite social media scheduler for yourself!

Images are becoming an ever important part of a marketing strategy but branding your images for social media can be a challenge. With your website, you design a page and that’s it until you make a change.  With social media, you constantly post new material every day.  So how do you do that and make sure your channels stay consistent with your branding?

It’s something I’ve thought a lot about at Bluchic. Our Feminine WordPress Themes are some of the best in the industry and we pride ourselves on high design, consistency and attention to detail.

So today I want to share with you:

5 EASY TRICKS FOR BRANDING YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA IMAGES LIKE A PRO

Apply Balance To Your Images

Why is balance one of the key principles of design? It’s how we as humans are wired to perceive things.  When something we view matches up nice and neatly with how we expect it to be, it invokes a good feeling.  And that’s what you want your audience to feel when they see your social media feed.

There are 4 different types of Balance to think about when setting up and editing your images.

1) Symmetrical Balance

This is the type you are likely to be most familiar with.  If you draw a line down the centre or across the centre the other side is perfectly reflected.  This creates a very calm and centered feeling for the viewer.

2) Asymmetrical Balance

This is abstract balance.  There is no symmetry but instead the elements are arranged in such a way that they balance each other out.

3) Radial Balance

This is all about the spiral or circular movement of the image.  The image radiates out from a central point providing a perfect balance but also movement and interest.

4) Crystallographic Balance

This is about repetition.  Repeating patterns which become one giant image and act as one.

Use The Same Logo / Avatar

Make sure you have consistency across all of your social media banners.  You can use a design service like Canva to keep everything together.

Or, sign up & receive a free social media template courtesy of us.

Make sure that if you want to change the banner on one channel, you don’t just do it on a whim.  But you make sure you adapt each channel at the same time.  It might sound like a drag but it is super important!

[click_to_tweet tweet=”When something we view matches up nice and neatly with how we expect it to be, it invokes a good feeling. And that’s what you want your audience to feel when they see your social media feed.” quote=”When something we view matches up nice and neatly with how we expect it to be, it invokes a good feeling. And that’s what you want your audience to feel when they see your social media feed.”]

Limit Your Typefaces

You should only work with 3 typefaces and they should be consistent with your website if possible. Users are going to click from your social media channels onto your website and they expect a consistent and fluid journey.  

High bounce rates usually happen when this journey is interrupted and the user arrives on a page they weren’t expecting. So just take a moment now and scroll your feeds. Are your typefaces consistent? Is this an area you can start improving straight away?

What to look out for: fonts, sizing, italics / bold / underlining – make sure these are consistent!

Important Elements = Biggest Fonts

What is the goal of your image? What information do you want to get across, and what action do you want the viewer to take.  Make sure your most important elements are in the biggest fonts.

It’s easy to get swept away in content creation mania.  But, take just 30 seconds of time on each image and ask yourself – what I am trying to achieve here?  You’ll be surprised how quickly your click through and engagement will improve by applying this one simple tactic.

When In Doubt, Simplify

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” – Leonardo Da Vinci.

It is much better to have an image with just a few words and space around it, than a paragraph of information. If you're familiar with Leonardo’s The Vitruvian Man you’ll understand the true depth of this statement. The Vitruvian Man is an extremely complicated concept and political statement portrayed in a simple symmetrical design which has stood the test of time.

Simplicity is memorable. Simplicity works.

Guest post by Kathie of Bluchic: Kathie designs beautifully crafted Feminine WordPress Themes for creative entrepreneurs and business women.  For more information about branding and how to launch a website see Bluchic’s in depth guide. Follow on Twitter l Instagram l Facebook l Pinterest

With any introduction, you want to make an impact and great first impression! You want them to remember you and to catch their attention. For Pinterest, this is introduction is your bio. In this section of your profile you get the opportunity to introduce yourself and your business. 

When the viewer sees your Pinterest bio and they should instantly see who you are and what you represent. It only takes a few seconds to make a first impression. In these seconds the pinner will decide whether you are someone they should follow or not. You need to maximize this time to stand out!

For one of my clients, I was able to help their tiny following of fewer than 300 followers average over 20,000 impressions every single day. Today I am going to share with you a few of the strategies you need to create and epic Pinterest bio that will attract more followers, get more repins and direct more traffic to your site.

LOGO OR PHOTO

Your profile picture is very important. This is the face of your brand on Pinterest. It’s the first thing that people see when they visit your page and it’s the first to make an impression. I recommend having the same profile image across all social media accounts. This unifies your brand and helps followers to remember you.

If you are a selling a physical product or have the account exclusively for your business you can use your logo as your profile photo. If you are a blogger, get more creative! Color and composition are very important. Your photo should not be a bathroom selfie! Have bright, crisp colors that will make you pop. This will reflect who you are and what your blog is about.

BRAND NAME, PERSONAL NAME OR BUSINESS NAME

If you have converted your account to a Pinterest business account you have the option to list your business name instead of first and last name as it would be on a personal account.

Whether you use your brand name or a business name, make sure it is complete and catches people’s attention.

If you are a business you can simply list your business name. If you are a blogger I recommend listing your name followed by a line and then your blog name or industry related keywords. Using SEO friendly keywords is important here because this helps you be more visible when people search for a specific topic.

[click_to_tweet tweet=”It only takes a few seconds to make a first impression. In these seconds the pinner will decide whether you are someone they should follow or not. You need to maximize this time to stand out!” quote=”It only takes a few seconds to make a first impression. In these seconds the pinner will decide whether you are someone they should follow or not. You need to maximize this time to stand out!”]

WRITING YOUR BIO

Pinterest only allows you to write up to 160 characters for your bio. It is important to write a tagline that is short and sweet. It has to describe you simply and strategically so people will get who you are right off the bat. Don’t beat around the bush or try too hard to be unique, just be yourself. Speak to your audience and convey your message as naturally as possible.

Pinterest is not like Instagram or Twitter where hashtags are a priority for being seen. Pinterest finds the keywords you place in your bio, descriptions and boards to help users find you. Focus more on including a bio with rich keywords. If you can’t help yourself from using hashtags only use them when you have a specific name or brand you want to promote.

LINK YOUR WEBSITE AND VERIFY YOUR PINTEREST ACCOUNT

Your Pinterest account needs to be linked to your website. By verifying this you are able to have your website function as a clickable link in your bio. This will direct pinners to your website which means more page views, sales, and subscribers. Having this builds trust and therefore you can develop a better business and personal relationship.

ADD OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS

The only social media account I suggest linking is Twitter. People can quickly click through, and follow to be updated daily about you and your business. You can connect to any of your Twitter accounts whether they are business or are personal accounts.

You should not connect Pinterest to your Facebook account. If you link your Facebook page it will automatically link it to your PERSONAL Facebook page. Pinterest hasn’t made it available for people to connect directly to their business page or product page on Facebook. I recommend maintaining some separation between your business and personal life.

ADD A CALL TO ACTION (CTA)

A call to action, or a CTA, is a link that you add to your bio that will directly send viewers to a targeted place on your website. I recommend including a call to action followed by a short link to a content upgrade or another incentive you have on your website. For example, I have the link to my free Pinterest Course. That way you can convert your Pinterest followers into email subscribers.

Alright, beautiful ladies! Does your profile meet the six criteria? Remember to have fun with it and be creative then your following will grow in no time!

If you want to learn more about my Pinterest strategies come hang out with me on my website Moms Make Cents or check out my FREE Pinterest course for bloggers and online biz owners!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

McKinzie is a chocolate addict, Pinterest obsessed and loves all things Tina Fey. She is wifey to Devin, Mama to Tyler, and the blogger behind Moms Make Cents. McKinzie empowers women by teaching them how to build businesses, market their products and understand their finances as entrepreneurs. 

Visit her WEBSITE

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