Today’s post really started as an answer to a reader’s question – “Is there a way to schedule status updates to my Facebook Pages?”

As we branch out and accept that fact that the many outposts we create in social networks require content, participation and engagement in order to grow, the task of managing just gets harder and harder.

While creating systems and processes for listening and participating in ways that are inline with the objectives of your business are helpful, employing a social media management tool effectively is the grease that turns the wheel.

So, to answer the question from my reader – yes it’s possible to schedule status updates to Facebook Pages using a tool like TweetDeck or HootSuite. In TweetDeck, you simply add your Facebook account and then add the Pages you wish to contribute to. (You can also add Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Google Buzz and MySpace) Once you add the accounts, you choose the account you wish to manage and post a status update. If you wish to schedule several to post in the future, you choose the schedule updates feature and assign times.

Of course these tools also allow you to monitor and post to multiple accounts for each network and manage mentions, searches and groups of individuals and brands that are important to your engagement process. As with many 3rd party tools there can be some limitations. For instance, when you post this way to Facebook you don’t get the option to add an image – something that makes updates far more engaging.

This sort of multi-platform management from inside one tool is essential if you’re going to keep up with and nurture your outposts without going any further insane.