The day I stopped scheduling posts and started listening to my feed

For like 3 years I used a content calendar that I planned out 2 weeks ahead, thought that was the professional way to do it. Last month I had a post about a clogged drain that I wrote in 10 minutes on my phone, no planning at all, and it got triple the engagement of anything I'd scheduled. Turns out my followers respond to the stuff I actually care about in the moment, not the generic tips I prepped. I went back and checked my analytics from March and April, the unscheduled posts had a 61% higher reply rate. Now I keep a running list of ideas but only post when something feels worth shouting about. Has anyone else ditched their planner and seen their numbers go up, or am I just getting lucky with timing?

2 comments

2 Comments

felix_hayes6421d ago

...and then I spent a full week convincing myself my engagement spike was a fluke because admitting the calendar was useless felt like admitting I wasted 3 years, which I totally did. Congrats on joining the chaos club, by the way. The funniest part is I still keep a planner, but it's basically a list of stuff I think I should post and then I ignore it completely. The only thing that's consistent now is that my best posts happen when I'm half asleep or stuck in traffic, which is honestly a more reliable schedule than any calendar I ever built. You're not lucky, you just finally figured out the algorithm is just people who can smell corporate planning from a mile away.

king.aaron21d ago

The traffic thing gets me every time. I posted a half-baked rant about parking while waiting for a light to change and it blew up harder than anything I'd scheduled for months, no lie. Makes you wonder if the secret is literally just being forced to not overthink it, because the second I try to make something good happen it comes out stiff and weird. Also, the planner thing, yeah, mine has about four months of crossed out dates and one sticky note that says "stop planning" which I ignore daily.