How To Schedule TikToks – Scheduling Tools To Simplify Posting

TABLE OF CONTENTS

How To Schedule TikTok Posts
How Scheduling Tools Streamline Posting On TikTok
TikTok Scheduling Tools
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

TikTok is the rising star of the social media landscape, and fortunately using a TikTok scheduler is easier than ever. The app itself allows you to schedule posts using TikTok Studio. Creators likely already use the app, which runs in a browser window or as an app, but it’s a great TikTok post scheduler. As an alternative, you can also use apps like Buffer or Sprout Social, among several others described below, as a TikTok scheduling tool.

The advantage for TikTok users is that you can post more consistently, which experts say is one of the keys to success. Your followers will stick around if you post on a schedule and engage with your audience.

How To Schedule TikTok Posts

It’s easier than you think to schedule posts on TikTok. The easiest way to get started with a TikTok scheduling tool is to use TikTok Studio. (You can also use a TikTok scheduler like Buffer or Sprout Social.) The TikTok app (which also runs in a browser window) allows you to schedule posts and reels quickly.

Using TikTok Studio, first click Create and select your content. Click Next and add sound, then type in a description and select the Schedule post option. Here is where you can schedule your content to post anytime you want. Any account type can use the TikTok scheduler. The app works the same in the browser and the app, although the app is arguably easier to use since your content is likely readily available. Scheduling posts this way means you can line up your content in one fell swoop and then move on to other tasks.

How Scheduling Tools Streamline Posting On TikTok

Of course, you can always post a one-off — doing that gives you an immediacy to the posts, You can record a video with your phone and post it right then and there using the TikTok app. However, this gets old after a while and means you are constantly having to think about what to post.

A much better approach — if you decide not to use TikTok Studio — is to use a third-party tool like Buffer, HootSuite or Sprout Social. The benefits are clear: You can not only schedule TikTok posts to make sure your content is consistent but you can also post on Instagram and Facebook. The only obvious drawback to using a third party tool is that you typically have to pay a monthly fee for all of the advanced features. This brings us back to TikTok Studio, which might be the preferred option simply because there are no costs involved.

TikTok Scheduling Tools

There’s a fine balance here between selecting a tool with exceptional features but also making sure you stick within your budget. The tool should also be easy to use, since it should be easy and fast to schedule social media content.

To find the right tools, you might start with the bread and butter option — TikTok Studio. However, several apps like Sprout Social, HootSuite, Later and Buffer were included in this list because they also let you schedule posts on other platforms like Instagram, Facebook and even LinkedIn. I selected these apps because they are popular with users, offer excellent tech support and have been around a while. They are also intuitive enough that you can likely get started scheduling TikTok posts with barely any training.

Sprout Social

Sprout Social is one of the best TikTok schedulers around, mostly because it is so powerful. In one intuitive interface you can schedule posts for most major social media platforms including TikTok, but also Facebook and Instagram. Exceptional features like a post review system and robust analytics make it a top pick.

To schedule posts, you first create the content and can then quickly select the date and time you want for the post. There are powerful features that let you duplicate a scheduled post and quickly schedule a series of posts. The subscription is spendy, though — starting at $199 per month per user. The standout feature is the ability to analyze posts for success, quickly scanning through analytics to see engagement. Influencers, creators, businesses users or just those interested in social media will find Sprout Social highly capable.

HootSuite

There’s no question HootSuite is one of the best TikTok scheduling tools around. The software presents a clear and useful dashboard for scheduling all of your content and keeping track of posts from others. A key feature has to do with optimizing when you post. The tool knows the best times to post for high engagement.

Like Sprout Social, the HootSuite app is subscription based although the pricing is a little less. Plans start at $99 per month per user, which supports up to five connected social media accounts, including TikTok. Many users have found the columns shown in the interface make it easier and clearer to understand what you have posted and to track engagement. The service also includes stock images you can use on your posts. The most likely users include influencers, business users or anyone who needs to schedule posts.

Later

Later is another powerful social media scheduling app that supports TikTok. Like HootSuite, the interface is easy to use and allows you to quickly plan out your content. You can select a video you want to post on TikTok, for example, and then select which date and time to use without a lot of training needed.

A key feature with Later is the ability to optimize your content for the best engagement — say, posting during times when other posts performed well. A major plus is that it is far more affordable — pricing starts at about $16.67 per month per user (if you pay annually). The price is attractive to influencers in particular who are building up their following, but it’s also ideal for business users or anyone who needs to schedule content as a way to consistently engage an audience over time.

Buffer

Buffer is a top pick in the social media management and scheduling category. For starters, the tool has helped thousands of businesses over the years, partly due to the clean interface, which doesn’t require extensive training. The dashboard for scheduling posts is bright and colorful — a major perk.

One unusual benefit to choosing Buffer is that it is free to get started. Beyond that, the service is also very affordable, costing just $5 per month per user (if you pay annually). That tier only allows one connected social media service, but if that’s TikTok, you can use all that Buffer has to offer. Other than the colorful interface, Buffer provides exceptional analytics to help you manage all of your posts. It’s ideal for influencers, business users and power users who want to start scheduling their posts.

TikTok

One of the best scheduling aids for TikTok is the app itself. Just know that you will need to use a browser on your computer or the app itself, since there isn’t a desktop client. Once you are up and running, you can use this free scheduling tool to make sure you are posting consistently and not just at the spur of the moment.

TikTok Studio is highly intuitive to use. You can schedule a video within just a few minutes by selecting the content, typing in a description and scheduling when you want to post to go live. Because it’s entirely free, you don’t have to worry about a trial period or future charges. The downside is that TikTok Studio only works for TikTok posts, unlike other scheduling tools that support major social media services like Instagram. Influencers or casual users who are focused on TikTok will mostly appreciate the TikTok Studio app.

Bottom Line

Using TikTok scheduling tools is a wise move. It helps you post consistently and engage with your followers. Whether it’s TikTok Studio, Buffer, HootSuite, or another tool, the fact that you can schedule TikTok posts means you don’t have to rely on the spur of the moment posts.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How often you post on TikTok is a matter of debate, since some of the experts and even the social media management apps don’t agree on frequency. The reason is that it really depends on your audience and your segment. For example, a law firm might not need to post as often if they know their followers are not consuming the content fast enough (perhaps they are in court).

Experts do suggest posting at least once per day but usually more than that — up to four times per day in some cases. One example of this is if you have a hungry audience. Let’s say you are a gamer posting about gaming news — you might need to post far more often than once per day. At an absolute minimum, it’s a good idea to post at least once per day on TikTok so that you are catching people as they scroll. If you don’t post once per day, you run the risk of not engaging with your followers enough to keep them around.

With any technology — especially related to social media — there may be times when you find something has broken. The reason social media can be a little unpredictable is that the authentications, permissions and security protocols for the apps tend to change fairly often. You might schedule a TikTok post and then discover that it did not actually post as expected. The reason might be a little hard to troubleshoot.

Fortunately, the culprit is almost always a permissions issue. The service you are using — whether it is Buffer, Sprout Social or HootSuite — might have lost the connection to the TikTok service and does not have permission to post. The solution is to re-connect the tool you are using to the social media app. In most instances, resetting the permissions does the trick. If not, there could be an issue with the scheduler itself. If that’s the case, you may need to check with the tech support for the scheduler you use.

A final consideration when you start scheduling TikTok posts using an app like Sprout Social or Buffer is whether that will increase engagement. After all, you are putting the work into the scheduling and making sure you provide consistent content to your followers, so it makes sense to assume that will increase your reach. The good news is that consistent posting — which is the main benefit to scheduling TikTok content — will help with reach. You should see higher engagement as your content is more readily available.

The actual act of scheduling a post does not impact reach — you won’t notice an increase or decrease in reach for a specific post if you start scheduling content. What you will see is that the more consistent posting tends to reach more eyeballs because the algorithm will reward you with a higher impact. And, honestly, it just means there is more content out there for your followers to see, engage with, and consume on a regular basis.

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