Like all small business owners, you’re busy.
Which means finding the time to get on Facebook to update your Page can often fall by the wayside.
And sporadic posting isn’t exactly the best way to go, especially when you’re trying to execute a promotional plan during an even busier time of year, like the holiday shopping season.
But here’s some good news!
Now you can schedule Facebook posts ahead of time. Once you have your promotional plan mapped out on your calendar just find a time when it’s convenient for you and you can schedule all your Facebook Page posts at once. No more forgetting!
Here’s how you do it:
Step 1: Make sure your Facebook Page is ready to schedule posts
Before you can schedule posts, you’ll need to have entered the start date for your business. If you’re unsure if you’ve done this already, just click the status box as if you were going to write a post. (Don’t worry about writing anything right now.) Next, click the little clock icon located on the bottom left of the box. If your Page is ready to schedule, you’ll see the option to add the year for the schedule date just above the clock icon. Otherwise, the “When Did Your Page Begin?” box will pop up so you can enter and save the correct information.
Step 2: Enter status and set schedule time
When everything looks right, click “Schedule.”
You’ll then see a confirmation of the date and time your post is scheduled to publish.
You can review or cancel any of your scheduled posts by visiting your activity log.
Save time by planning ahead and scheduling posts
Facebook for busy small business owners just got a little easier, don’t you think?
Have you been using the Facebook Schedule feature for your Page posts? Will you be using it for your holiday promotions? Tell us about it!
this is a great Facebook tool, really useful if you are asleep when a large part of your customer base wakes up
I would love to be able to use the feature of scheduling posts. But it didn’t work for me. After entering a start date, I went back to post. I selected the clock but nothing comes up. Suggestions:
Weird. A text link to add the year should appear just above the clock. Not sure why it’s not happening for you. Is it still not working?
Same here … and contacting facebook is of course, not a possibility.
I use bufferapp.com for scheduling my posts – it’s been completely hassle-free. There’s an iPhone app, and apps you can add to your browser to make it easy to post directly from content you find online. You can set it to post as frequently as you want, and whenever you want. It even sends me an email when the buffer is empty and I need to top it up with more posts! That’s probably the most useful thing about it.
Thanks for the comment Stephanie. Buffer is great. The only thing that would be difficult is that Buffer adds posts to your buffer schedule so it may be difficult to set specific days and times for a particular campaign. At least without setting a Buffer schedule first and then adding to it.
Agreed! And it’s exciting to know that scheduling is now available right on Facebook, without the need for an external service/website.
Good, concise, how-to. I’ve been enjoying this for my business page – but do you know if it will work for my personal page too? The clock isn’t presenting future options.
Thanks Stacy. In terms, of your personal profile you’re currently not able to schedule in advance directly in Facebook.
I just tried it but my facebook doesn’t allow me to choose a day ahead of today. I can only select past dates. have I missed something?
Hi David,
The schedule feature works only on Pages. You’re unable to schedule posts natively with your personal profile.
I try to schedule posts, it allows me to enter all the necessary info such as date, time, etc.
However, the “schedule” button does not appear. Only the post button. When I click the “post” button it gives me an error code saying I can post directly without scheduling. So I try to post as a non-schedule post, but I again get an error code telling me I have to enter a date etc. to schedule.
Hi Nanette,
Thanks for you question. I’m not too sure why that’s happening. You may want to report the issue to Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/help/181495968648557/
I didn’t understand. I ‘ve tried to schedule a message in a group, but dont see option to do that. facebook/pages
Hi Andre,
I believe it only works for Faecbook Pages.
I don’t wan’t to schedule my post but this keeps happing no matter what ? what should i do ? This is what it is say’s ( Before we can schedule your post, you need to add a year to the date you’ve selected.)
I need help, Everytime I try to post a status on my page, I get the msg to “add a year, Before we can schedule your post, you need to add a year to the date you’ve selected.” But i don’t want to schedule posts, I don’t know what to do,
Mitch,
This may be becauseFacebook asks you to enter the date your business was founded before you can post regular updates. This way Facebook can create your Timeline. This might be what’s happening.
There seems to be a problem with FaceBook…! My page has the date it was founded but STILL wont post even after I’ve done ALL of what you show in this blog!
Hi Angela,
You may want to see if this is a bug you can report to Facebook directly: https://www.facebook.com/help/326603310765065/
I have this as a bug today also.
re we can schedule your post, you need to add a year to the date you’ve selected.
I can only post to the timeline by schueduling the post. The wall will no longer accept a post unless it is scheduled. Thanks for the thread. It’s the only site where I have seen similar content.
I am having this exact same problem! Did you report the problem to FB, Nanette?
Im having the same problem as Angela and Mitch. I have reported the problem two days ago and I haven’t heard anything . My page let me post acouple of times yesterday morning then went back to not letting me do anything.
Exact same problem. When you just want to post. it is sure annoying having to schedule it. Hope they fix it soon. It is testing my patience like anything when I just want to post quickly.
Mine is doing the same on my pc. It is ok on my ipad though. Any suggestions gratefully received.
Hi all,
We’ve just been able to replicate an issue where when you try to publish a status to your Page it seems at though the update doesn’t go through. But when you refresh the page you’ll see the update has published.
This seems like an issue on Facebook’s side of things. Hopefully they’ll have a fix soon.
D.
Nope- that doesn’t fix it. I’m having this same issue. It won’t let me schedule the post, either, so I am stuck not being able to post anything to my brand new page. If I post as myself instead of as the admin, my post is relegated to the “recent posts by others” box and nothing stands out on my page. I sent a notice to FB, but I’m not holding out hope – they state on their form that they “don’t respond to every notice”. So we’re kind of in limbo here unless we get lucky enough for FB to respond.
Hi,
I have had the same problem today. Yesterday was fine but today trying to update my page has produced the same message. It’s realy annoying as like many we use our page for business, I can’t even post a simple status to notify people that there are some technical issues. I sure hope this is fixed soon.
Thanks for this message, I had to search the net to find out what I was doing wrong as I’ve spent hours trying to post messages then came across your post to advise Facebook are having problems. Thanks for that.
I’m having the same problem! Any word about it being a bug? I keep getting the message to add a year. Any word on a fix?
Seeing it now too on my 6 pages.
I don’t want to schedule my posts, but when I try to post I get a message that I must enter a year. How do I get out of the posting cue?
Great information. I thought I was going crazy. I have two business fan pages and can’t post anything, which is costing me money and undue anguish. I don’t want to use the scheduling feature, I didn’t sign up for it, so having it thrust upon me is very frustrating. Thanks for your help.
I am also having the same problem as Angela and Mitch. I have reported it to FB as well. A friend suggested a round about way to post to my page…sort of. Put up the post on my main page timeline, then “share” it to my page. Still, I want to be able to post on my page as I could before.
i have tried everything you have sugested and still it insists i schedule it, when i refresh the page nothing changes, any ideas?
Same problem here
Okay – have a strange work around. I can post to my page on my iPhone, iPad or my husband’s computer – just not on mine. Wondering if it’s a cookie-type thing? At any rate, if you have another computer available to you, give it a shot. I sent 2 msgs to FB and I wonder if they tried to do something, b/c instead of getting the “add a year” msg, it just doesn’t do anything when I hit “post” – no msg, but it doesn’t post, either. Good luck, everyone!
Thank goodness I’m not nuts. I have been having the same problem for the past few days about adding a year. Even if I do it won’t post. I have to post through the news feed. I sent a message to FB but didn’t hear back except for a canned reply. I have cleared my cookies and ran a virus scan and I still have problem. Help!!
We are having the same issue, but it only occurs with IE. Most likely, there was a browser “fix” that wound up breaking something (again.) Try updating in Chrome or Firefox.
I have all of the scheduling options on my page, but the post button does not change to schedule. Any ideas?
it isn’t working for me either, the post doesn’t enters and keeps saying that i should enter a date, fed up.
I dont want my post to be scheduled but its gets scheduled. how do i get rid
thank goodness, it isn’t only me, I thought I was going mad.
I’ve been having the same issue for a few weeks now. I’m so glad it isn’t just me, though I wish no one had the problem. I kept thinking FB would fix it, but I messaged them today about it. Surely with so many people having and reporting the issue, they’ll fix it…???
I’ve posted here w/my frustration over this entire mess, and Facebook’s nonchalant attitude. But I did what Eric suggested and entered my two fan pages via Firefox…and it works! Try it!
I don’t want scheduled posts either and I didn’t sign up for it. It also won’t let me do a regular post. It asks for a date then it comes up with an error and I still can’t post anything not even a regular post. Hope Facebook gets this fixed Real Soon!! I emailed them but of course I get the same comment-they don’t anser all emails. Help someone!!
Lena: I had the same problem, accessing FB though IE. I opened my FB fan pages through Firefox and was able to post. Give it a try. Good luck.
Very useful post–and despite the date, still incredibly relevant. Nice work!
We recommend clients use this native scheduler, instead of an app like Buffer, as it appears Facebook is more partial to content posted directly to the service. Third-party apps are great, but I think the more direct approach will offer greater exposure for your updates.
Also: Make sure you keep your updates in a spreadsheet or in a text document–because if conditions change or news breaks, you may need to go back and tweak or cancel these scheduled posts. Don’t be the brand that posts an insensitive update–because it was scheduled two weeks in advance. Automation is great, when appropriate and if performance is tracked.
Is there a way to schedule a post that has a picture with it? I can’t find a way to do that.