5 Ways to Manage Social Media in Less Time
Managing social media takes time - lots of time. Aside from posting updates, it can take a lot of time and effort to sift through mentions, comments, tweets, and everything else.
While social media is extremely effective for any brand and is an important role in the marketing plan, it can be consuming for the person(s) managing the platforms.
Below are 5 easy ways you can start managing your social media in less time every day…
1. Automate
Sometimes logging into all of the social accounts can take time in itself. Using a social media automation platform helps save time and allows you to schedule posts in advance. That way, you can post regularly without having to go on regularly to do so!
Our favorite is HubSpot where you can post across multiple social networks from one dashboard and get fantastic analytics and connect the dots between social posts and sales.
There are other great tools such as Hootsuite or Sprout Social that may be free or have a trial version. If you’re not ready to take on an automation tool (even though I really recommend you do), you can schedule Facebook posts directly on your company page or schedule tweets on Tweetdeck - just know that it will take some time.
2. Create a Content Calendar
Creating a social media content calendar for your brand helps you plan ahead and make sure you’re covering all of your bases. Planning your content at least a month ahead of time helps make you sure you don’t miss any upcoming events and specials. If you have a specific event coming up that you want a live shot or video from, make a note in the content calendar to do that so you don’t miss your opportunity.
3. Listen More, Respond Less
I’m not saying don’t respond, just be more selective when you do so. If you’re spending too much time managing your social media accounts, look to see if you’re responding to every customers’ comment or tweet. Chances are, you might be.
Consider what the person is saying before you respond. If they have a question about your brand or service/product you offer, always. If they are saying they enjoyed your product or service, it’s not worth responding - maybe just give it a Like or Favorite it.
4. Choose Your Social Platform Wisely
So many brands are spreading themselves thin. Just because a new social media platform comes around doesn’t mean you have to jump into it with everything you have. If you’re not sure which social media network is right for your brand, do the research and find out where your audience is spending their time. They might not be on Snapchat, so there’s no need to spend your time and money there. You don’t have to be everywhere, you just have to pick the right network(s) and do it well.
Note: If you don’t need to be active on a particular network, I do recommend creating an account with your brand's username and add a message on a post or in the bio where customers can find you on social media. Claiming your username allows you to maybe come back at a later date when the demographics for that network may have changed without losing your branded name.
5. Block Your Time
If you only want to do social media for 10 or 15 minutes each day, block your calendar so you can follow through with that. Ignore your email for that time and make sure it’s marked as busy in your calendar so no one interferes.
By designating a certain time you can give to social media, it will keep you on task and productive during that time to get the job done then move on to something else. Social media is a funnel and it’s easy to get trapped in post updates, retweets, and videos. To run a successful social media campaign and accounts for your brand, it’s important to limit your time and be proactive with effective techniques that will bring results.
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