Getting Started with the Social Planner

Introduction

The Social Planner is your central hub for managing and scheduling content across your social media channels. This guide will walk you through the initial setup and core features so you can start building a consistent online presence for your brand.

Exploring the Social Planner

You can begin exploring the Social Planner's features immediately, even before connecting any social media accounts. This is useful for drafting content and understanding the workflow. From the main navigation, go to Marketing > Social Planner. From here, you can access several features:

• Schedule a Post: Click Schedule Now to open the post composer. You can draft content, add media, and explore the scheduling options.
• Bulk Schedule with CSV: Click Upload A CSV to import and schedule multiple posts at once using a spreadsheet file.
• Create an Evergreen Post: Click Create Evergreen Post to set up reusable content that can be published on a rotating schedule.
• Create a Recurring Post: Click Create Recurring Post to automate posts that repeat at defined intervals.
• Generate Feed from RSS: Click Create RSS Post to connect an RSS feed and automatically create social posts from new content.

Connecting Social Accounts

To publish posts, you must first connect your social media accounts. Here’s the general process:

1. In the Social Planner, locate and click the button for the social network you want to connect (e.g., Facebook).
2. You will be prompted to log into that social media account.
3. Select the specific page or profile you wish to manage.
4. Authorize and verify the connection within the platform.

Once connected, you can start scheduling posts to that account.

Creating Posts with Templates

The Social Planner offers a library of pre-designed templates to help you create visually engaging posts quickly.

1. Navigate to Marketing > Social Planner > New Post > Social Planner Templates.
2. Browse, search, or filter the available templates. Click on one to preview it.
3. If you like a template, click Continue.
4. To schedule it, click the plus icon (Select Socials) on the right side.
5. A scheduling modal will appear. Fill in the details, select the connected social account, and choose a time to publish.
6. Click Schedule Posts to confirm.

Creating Custom Posts

For unique content, you can create a post from scratch.

1. In the Social Planner, click New Post > Create New Post.
2. In the composer, enter your text, select the social account(s), and add any media.
3. Choose your publishing action: save as a draft, post immediately, schedule for later, send for approval, or set it as a recurring post.

Working with Media

You can add images or videos to your posts from your Media Library using the image and video icons in the composer panel.

• When you add a video, a preview will appear on the left side of the composer.
• You can replace or edit media items without changing their order in the post's sequence.
• To edit a video's thumbnail, hover over the video in the composer and click the pencil icon that appears. Then, click the Custom Thumbnail tab to upload your preferred image. Note: Custom video thumbnails are currently supported for Facebook Pages, Instagram Business Accounts, LinkedIn Profiles and Pages, and YouTube Videos and Shorts.

Adding More Social Accounts

To connect additional social media profiles or pages:

1. Click the gear icon (Settings) within the Social Planner.
2. Select the new social accounts you want to add.
3. Click Connect Social and follow the authorization prompts for each platform.