Medium now lets publishers schedule posts, link Twitter accounts to publications

Medium has announced that it has begun rolling out several new features aimed at publishers. Over the course of this week, the company will introduce a way to schedule posts for publication, an integration with Twitter designed to increase readership, and statistics around its Letter offering.

The new features being introduced are geared specifically to publishers and writers, and Medium hopes that they will enhance the overall experience they have when using the platform to share their thoughts and ideas.

With the schedule to publish feature, writers can specify a date and time for when a story should be published. It’s very similar to functionality in other content management tools like WordPress, and writers will appreciate it, especially when they have embargoes or articles they think will resonate better when published at a different day or time.

While Medium has already supported an integration with Twitter, the company has now implemented a new way for publishers to use it. Popular publications have a strong following on the social network, as Twitter users treat it as akin to being an RSS feed. So what Medium has done is convert followers of a publisher’s Twitter account into followers of the publication on Medium, if they have a Medium account.

Publishers still can’t use their publication’s Twitter account to log into Medium.

In June 2015, Medium introduced a new offering called Letters. It was designed to be a delivery method for blog posts to help writers better connect with their readers via an email newsletter. While publications may find this feature valuable, they need to know more about its impact. And this is why Medium has begun rolling out stats for Letters to a wider audience. Starting in January 2016, you will receive statistics for each mailing just like you would in an email marketing campaign. It displays the number of mailings sent, how many readers opened it, and how many clicked on a link.

As the company begins to bring on board more content partners such as The Synapse, Those People, The Awl, Discovery Communications, MSNBC, and more than 1,500 other active publishers, it needs to make sure that the platform has the necessary tools to suit the writer’s needs. If you’re looking to spread your ideas on Medium, it would be great to have the flexibility to choose when you want to publish, include your social media followers in the conversation, and track the impact of your work. And that’s what the company has enabled today.