Automating Social Media Posting Schedule

[RV_Shepherd]

I’m trying to automate social media post scheduling. To be clear, I'm not wanting something to post automatically on a date/time I set, I'm looking for automation to set that schedule.  I'm wanting to drop 10 image files at once into my automation process and have those images be scheduled to post once a day at about 6:00 p.m. EST daily. It's OK if we skip a day where there are no images in the queue. But if multiple images are in the automation queue, I want the automatic scheduling to look at the last scheduled post and schedule the next one for the following day.  I hope all this makes sense. 

I've got most of this worked out between Airtable and Zapier.  Here is the process:
1. I drop an image into a selected folder in dropbox.
2. Zapier triggers on "new file in folder", creates a record in Airtable, creates a new folder, moves the file to that new folder, updates the Airtable record Status to "Waiting Text", and the Post Text Status to "Needed", and sends an email notifying me that the image needs text for the post. 

When I add the Post Text to the Airtable record the following things happen:
1. Airtable automation updates the Post Text Status to "Complete" and the record Status to "Waiting Sked".

I have the following fields in my table (also see attached screenshot):
Status (with options: Waiting Text, Waiting Sked, Scheduled, and Posted)
Post Text Status (with options: Needed, and Complete)
Post Text (where the text for the post is actually placed)
Last Modified based on the date/time Post Text was added
Post Scheduled For (intended to auto fill with a date and time for the image & text to be posted)
Post Scheduled (Yes/No)
Date & Time Posted (autofills to the Date & Time the Ppost actually posted).

I’d like a new post schedule to be based on two factors:

1. Always at 6:00 p.m. EST on any day of the week.
2. On a day after the last scheduled posts.

My main problem has been automating the Post Scheduled For date and time. I just can't get it to work consistently.  I also attached a screenshot of the automation that I was working on. It does not have the fixed day/time functionality I want. It also would break if there was more than one record that were found in the 3rd step "Find Unscheduled Posts".

So, if there is a post scheduled for Thursday at 6:00 p.m. EST, I want the next post to be scheduled on Friday at 6:00 p.m. EST. And I only want one post on that day and time, even if there are multiple records waiting to be scheduled & posted.  I'll be happy with this for now.

While trying to work this out, I ran into a problem with multiple records updating together and causing Airtable automations for record updates to not work. But that may have something to do with the way I have it set up now. 

I appreciate any help. 

 

[TheTimeSavingCo]

Hmm if I were you I'd create a system to identify the latest scheduled record with a rollup (Example here)

From there, you could create a formula field in the "Rollup" table that would add a single day to the latest scheduled record's scheduled date and we can use that date for our automations

I'd also create a system that would output the record ID of a single unscheduled post via a conditional lookup field that would show up in the "Rollup" table, and I'd make my automation trigger off of that field updating

The automation would then have an "Update Record" action that would update the record via the record ID mentioned in the previous paragraph, with the scheduled date from the second paragraph

Should work! 

[RV_Shepherd]

I'll give that a try.  I'm visiting family but have my laptop with me. Let's see if I can figure it out. 

[SueFaber]

Regarding automating your social media post scheduling, it sounds like you've made some great progress with Airtable and Zapier. It's impressive how you've set up the process with triggers and record updates. Kudos to you! If you're experiencing issues with automating the Post Scheduled For date and time, it can be a bit tricky. Sometimes, getting all the variables aligned perfectly takes a bit of trial and error. Have you considered exploring other automation tools like Buffer or Hootsuite? They have built-in scheduling features that might simplify the process for you. By the way, speaking of automation and social media growth, I recently came across this amazing website called TikFreeFollowers. It's been a game-changer for me in terms of gaining followers and boosting engagement on TikTok. You should definitely check it out!

[Cristiano_Volpi]

Hi!
I am tryng to do the same, but my programming skills are really low! 
Can I ask if you managed to solve the issue, and in case if you can share with me the solutions.
Thank you very much in advance