Bulk scheduling posts with SocialPilot

To boost your posting efficiency, SocialPilot provides you with bulk scheduling, an easy way to create a large number of posts, up to 500 to be exact.

You can do this using a CSV or text file. SocialPilot allows you to schedule both - image and text posts - in bulk.

If you are going to use a CSV file, you need to create one in a proper format. If you are unsure about making one, you can download the CSV template available in SocialPilot. Just go to the Post section and open the Bulk Schedule menu. From there, you can find the link to “ Download a sample CSV.”

Check out a quick overview of the Bulk Scheduling feature in SocialPilot:

Create a CSV file

Follow these steps to create a CSV file:

For a Link Post:

1st Column: Type your post content/description with the post URL.Example: 8 Awesome Ways to Create Engaging Tweets in 280 Characters http://bitly.com/2pztHvy.
2nd Column: It must be empty.
3rd Column: Enter a date and time you want to schedule the post for. If you're scheduling on pre-set time slots, leave it blank.

Note: You can choose any date and time format as mentioned in Your Profile > Date and Time

4th Column: Enter the unique Account ID of the social media account you want the content to be published from. To get this ID, got to Accounts >> Manage Account page.

For an Image Post:

If you want to share the post as an Image Post in the bulk post list, the rest of the columns will have the same content as a Link post does, except for the 2nd column.

2nd Column for Image Post: Add the URL of the image. Ensure you add a public image URL, i.e., when you open it in a browser, it should open only an image and not the website. More Information: How to create a public URL of your images while creating a CSV?

However, if you have your image files saved in your device, you can later upload them directly into the post while reviewing the list on SocialPilot's bulk scheduler. The process will be described later in the article.

How to save a CSV file?

Excel to CSV

If the file is created in excel, go to “Save as,” click on the “Save as type” dropdown box and choose “CSV ( comma delimited)”.

Text file to CSV

If you are creating a CSV on your text editor or Notepad, use a comma (,) to separate the fields and also ensure that your post description is written in double inverted commas (“ ”), and save it in UTF8 format.

Note:

There can be instances when you see a replacement character or a set of replacement characters while uploading your CSV. The � character is a replacement character and the reason of this can be:

The MS office/Excel used may be an outdated one or
The CSV may not be in the UTF-8 format

You need to do these steps to ensure that the uploading happens correctly:

Right-click on the Excel/CSV file, go to ‘Open with’, and select ‘Notepad.
Once the file opens as notepad, please rename the file name and add .csv as an extension. Here also ensure that you are selecting UTF-8 as the encoding:

Once this is done, you can upload this file in Bulk Scheduling, and the issue of the replacement character will be resolved.

Export as CSV

There is another way to line up a large number of posts to schedule in bulk. The 'Export as CSV' feature lets you download all the posts - ones in the queue, ones that have been published, ones with errors, and ones in the 'unscheduled posts' tab.

See how:

1. Filter the post by selecting any account or group.

2. Select the post you want to export, and click on the CSV button.

3. And your CSV will be downloaded.

Now that you have your content formatted and ready, you can move to scheduling it all in one go.

How to Bulk Schedule Posts?

Follow these steps to schedule posts in bulk:

Log into the SocialPilot panel.
Click on 'Posts' -> Bulk Schedule from the left sidebar menu.
You'll land on the Bulk Schedule page, and an option to upload a CSV file will be given to you.
Here, you can Drag and Drop your CSV file or select a CSV file from your computer.
You will be directed to the preview window. Here you can review all the details of the uploaded posts.
You can make the following changes in the posts you choose:

Edit the text content of the post - You will see a preview of each post you have included in your CSV file. To change the text content of any post, just click on the respective text box and edit it.

Add accounts to posts - You can individually select accounts for posts to which you have not assigned account IDs in the CSV file yet. You can also change any given account by clicking on the dropdown box on the right side of each post.
Image of the post - If you want to add an image to a certain post or change one, you can do it from here. You can upload an image from your computer and add or change the image URL. You can also edit images in case of errors or by your own choice.

To add an image: Go to the empty thumbnail of the post, and click on the + sign. Then in the pop-up, either click on “Upload Image” to do so from your device or enter a URL in the given field.

To Change an Image: Hover over the image, then click on the pencil icon to change the image by editing the image URL or uploading a different image.

To Edit or Delete an Image: Click on the icon in the middle, i.e., the edit image icon, to open the image editor where you can crop or resize the image. You can fix aspect ratio or size-related errors in your post here. To delete an image, click on the delete icon.

For more details on how to edit an image in SocialPilot's editor, read more here.

7. Now click on the ‘Select account” tab and select accounts for the posts which have no accounts yet.

8. Here, you can also choose any group or client to schedule the bulk posts for, except for multiple Twitter accounts. (You can Bulk Schedule for only one Twitter account at a time.)

9. Click on the Schedule all Post button. Your posts are now scheduled for future use. To check your scheduled posts, click on Posts -> Manage Posts.