Reels are a new and popular way to create fun and engaging video content on Facebook. They allow you to record multiple clips, add effects, text, and more to produce creative short videos. As more users flock to Reels for entertainment and information, scheduling Reels has become an important strategy for brands and creators to expand their reach and get more views.
Facebook’s planner tool provides a simple and efficient way to plan, create and schedule Reels in advance. This allows you to space out your content release, free up time to work on other projects, and take advantage of optimal posting times. Scheduling Reels with the planner takes just a few steps and provides valuable analytics on each post.
In this comprehensive guide, we will walk through everything you need to know to successfully schedule Reels on Facebook using planner.
Overview of Facebook Reels
Before jumping into using the planner for Reels, let’s do a quick overview of what Reels are and how they work on Facebook:
– Reels are short, entertaining videos that can be up to 60 seconds long (extended from 15 seconds). They play in full-screen with immersive, captivating effects.
– Reels are designed for mobile, vertical viewing and can be produced easily using just a smartphone.
– They utilize numerous creative tools like audio, AR effects, timers and counters, interactive stickers, voiceovers and more.
– Reels live across Facebook and Instagram, automatically appearing in Reels feeds, Stories, Watch and your profile.
– When shared to a Facebook Page, Reels can help businesses and creators expand reach, engagement and followers.
– Reels play on loop and have no public like count in order to reduce pressure for high views.
– However, play counts, comments, shares and saves let you track Reels performance.
– Reels can be created from scratch within the Reels composer in the Facebook app. They can also be reposted from others or created from existing photo/video posts.
– Facebook launched Reels in 2020 and has been adding more features and actively promoting the format, leading to rising adoption among users and brands.
So in summary, Reels present a big opportunity for entertaining short-form, mobile video content. But to maximize their impact, you need an effective scheduling strategy. That’s where Facebook planner comes in.
Overview of Facebook Planner
Facebook planner is a free social media management tool available to all Facebook Pages. It provides a centralized dashboard to easily plan, visualize, schedule and analyze your Facebook and Instagram content.
Here are some key things to know about planner:
– Accessible via desktop at facebook.com/planner or the Pages Manager app on mobile
– Connects seamlessly to your Facebook Page for publishing abilities
– Lets you draft, collaborate and schedule posts in advance on a content calendar
– Supports scheduling Reels, photos, videos, stories and text posts
– Provides analytics for your posts and account performance
– Automates posting at optimal times you specify
– Allows bulk uploads and scheduling for multiple posts
– Integrates with Creator Studio for more robust analytics
The planner calendar view makes it simple to plot out your Reels and other content on a weekly or monthly schedule. You can drag and drop posts to re-arrange them easily. This takes the hassle out of consistently publishing engaging Reels.
Now let’s dive into step-by-step instructions on just how to schedule Reels using planner.
Step 1: Create a Reel in Facebook
The first step is to actually create your Reel. If you already have Reels made that you want to schedule, you can skip ahead.
To create a new Reel on Facebook:
– Open the Facebook app on your mobile device and tap Reels at the top.
– Or in the status composer, swipe up to select Reels.
– Tap the camera icon to open the Reels composer.
– Record a series of short clips up to 60 seconds long in total by holding down the record button. You can pause and resume recording as needed.
– Add music by browsing Facebook’s audio library or using your own original audio.
– Apply filters, timers, interactive stickers, voiceovers and more by tapping the effects icons.
– To add text, doodles or captions, select the text tool. Customize the look and feel accordingly.
– When your Reel is complete, tap Next to move to the sharing screen.
– Here you can trim the length, add a cover photo/thumbnail, tag friends and select where to initially Post or Save as Draft.
Optional: You can also download third-party apps like Instagram or TikTok to produce Reels, then upload them to Facebook.
Spend time creating high-quality Reels with engaging effects, visuals and captions tailored to your audience. Entertaining or helpful Reels will perform best.
Step 2: Go to Facebook Planner
Once you have Reels ready to schedule, it’s time to head to the planner tool.
To access planner:
– On desktop: Go to facebook.com/planner
– In mobile app: Tap Menu > Publishing Tools > Planner
– Or in Pages Manager app: Tap Planner tab
Log in to connect planner to your Facebook Page. The planner dashboard will load your current scheduled posts and performance stats.
To start scheduling, click or tap on a date in the planner calendar view. This will open the composer to create a new post.
Step 3: Select Reel in Planner Composer
In planner’s composer, click or tap the Media icon:
This will open your media library where you can browse and select an existing Reel.
Or tap Camera to record a new Reel directly in planner. You can also upload a pre-made Reel from your camera roll.
Once you have picked or captured a Reel, it will load in the composer.
Step 4: Customize Reel Post
Before scheduling your Reel, you can customize the post with content to accompany it:
– **Add a caption:** Write an engaging caption to describe your Reel and entice viewers.
– **Tag friends:** Tap Tag Friends to tag people in your Reel to notify them or gain more views.
– **Add hashtags:** Include relevant hashtags so your content pops up in searches.
– **Set audience:** By default Reels post to your full audience. But you can narrow it down as needed for each post.
– **Enable sharing:** Let viewers instantly share your Reel to their own Stories for added reach.
– **Add location:** Pin your Reel to a location to help viewers discover content nearby.
Spend time optimizing these post options to extend the impact of your Reel. The more intriguing the caption, hashtags, etc., the more engagement it will drive.
Step 5: Schedule the Reel
When your Reel is ready, schedule it to post automatically at your desired date and time:
– Tap Schedule at the bottom of the composer.
– Select a date and time for your Reel to publish. You can schedule up to 6 months in advance.
– Optional: Repeat your Reel by tapping Repeat Posts to make it recur daily, weekly, etc. This is great for evergreen content.
– Tap Schedule Post when done.
Your Reel will now appear scheduled in planner’s calendar view at the specified date/time. You can still edit or delete it any time before it posts.
Schedule Multiple Reels in Bulk
To save even more time, you can schedule multiple Reels at once using planner’s bulk scheduling:
– Tap Multi-Select in the top bar of planner.
– Check off all the Reels you want to schedule.
– Tap Schedule Posts in the menu bar.
– Choose the date and time to schedule them all to post.
– Hit Schedule to queue them up in your planner calendar.
Bulk scheduling is perfect for planning a full month’s worth of Reels or spacing a set of Reels over a couple weeks.
Optimize Scheduling with Planner Analytics
Planner provides valuable analytics to help you identify the best times to schedule your Reels.
Go to the Analyze section to see:
– **Best Times:** See when your audience is most active on Facebook to inform ideal Reel scheduling.
– **Post Performance:** Review how well your Reels and other posts performed to refine your approach.
– **Account Performance:** Track overall metrics like reach, followers growth and engagement to guide your schedule.
Use these insights to keep perfecting your Reel scheduling strategy over time.
Editing & Deleting Scheduled Reels
As the scheduled date nears, you may want to modify a Reel before it goes live. Or you might need to delete one entirely from your planner calendar.
To edit a scheduled Reel:
– In planner, click the Reel post to open the composer.
– Make any changes needed like adjusting text or audience.
– Tap Update Post to save your edits.
To delete a scheduled Reel:
– Hover over the Reel in your planner calendar.
– Click the X icon that appears to remove it from the schedule.
– Confirm you want to delete the scheduled post.
Stay on top of your queued up Reels! Review them regularly leading up to their posting date in case any adjustments are required.
Additional Tips for Reels Success
Here are some additional top tips to help your scheduled Reels perform their very best after posting:
– **Engage quickly:** Reply to comments and encourage sharing soon after posting. This signals your Reel is fresh and active.
– **Use optimal audio:** Trending songs or funny sound effects grab more attention. Facebook offers free music to try.
– **Remix your best content:** Repurpose existing high-quality photos and videos into Reels for added mileage.
– **Post consistently:** Schedule Reels to publish multiple times per week to build engagement and grow your audience.
– **Re-share:** Download your best Reels and repost them natively to Instagram Reels for extra exposure.
– **Run ads:** Use Facebook advertising to promote your top-performing Reels to new audiences.
– **Analyze performance:** Check Reels Insights to see total watches, shares, comments and more to guide your strategy.
With the Facebook planner tool and these pro tips, you have everything you need to begin scheduling Reels like a pro!
Conclusion
Scheduling Reels using Facebook’s planner provides a streamlined way to plan, create and analyze your short video content. Saving time by pre-programming Reels to post at optimal times allows you to concentrate on crafting captivating content.
To recap, follow these steps:
1. Produce stellar Reels up to 60 seconds long using the Reels creation tools.
2. Access your Facebook Page’s planner via desktop or mobile.
3. Select your saved Reel in planner’s post composer.
4. Customize the caption, tags, audience and more.
5. Pick a date/time to schedule the Reel to post automatically.
6. Use planner analytics to refine your scheduling strategy.
7. Edit or delete scheduled Reels in planner as needed before posting.
8. Track performance and re-share Reels to Instagram for extra visibility.
Implementing a Reels scheduling regimen through planner will take your content curation to the next level. Stay consistent with posting entertaining, informative Reels and your audience engagement will continue to grow. Have fun getting creative!