5 Ways to Save Time on Social Media

Posted in Marketing, Social Media, Time Management | 9 comments

Are you one of those entrepreneurs and business owners who say “Social media takes so much time!”? As a result, you stop your social media campaigns and miss the valuable opportunity to connect with your customers and potential prospects.

Indeed, browsing through all the social networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+, Pinterest, etc.) on a daily basis does take a little time. Time is the biggest drawbacks to using social media, especially if you have no idea how to use it for your business, or even why you’re using it in the first place.

Forget spending hours trying to make social media work for your business. You don’t need to be monitoring or working it 24/7. Here are five smart tips for keeping your social media time in check:

1. Choose the right social media platform
Don’t just go at this social media thing willy nilly. Develop a well thought out marketing strategy. To effectively decide where you want to market your business you have to identify the sites that your target audience / ideal client frequents, and then remove the rest from your schedule. Your business doesn’t need to be present on every social media network. The real key is being present where your customers are hanging out most of the time. Limit yourself to just three social media sites. And if you’re just starting out, focus on one social media site and expand from there.

2. Set a timer
Give yourself a goal, a schedule, and a time limit. This is one of the best things that you can do to effectively manage your social media marketing time. Set your timer for 30 minutes a day, and then get to work on your social media marketing – and nothing else. Spend have of that time posting updates and the other replying to customers’ posts. Giving yourself a time limit will prevent you from looking at your friend’s photos or Pinterest boards or watching that new viral video.

3. Know your audience
Find out what your customers want to read and talk about so that your social media conversations aren’t a waste of time and your Facebook page a ghost town. Pay attention to what is working, know what kind of posts get lots of comments, what tweets are being re-tweeted, and what images are being re-pinned by your audience. Use these as the starting point when you are creating your content.

4. No social media notifications
Turn off email notifications coming from your social media accounts, or designate a staff member to monitor those emails. Once you have moved on from your 30 social media minutes per day, you don’t want to be interrupted with constant social media updates. You can reply to comments, posts, and queries during your designated social media time.

5. Have a plan
This is the biggest secret to making social media work for your business. You won’t get lost in the time warp if you already have plans for where, when, and what to post on your social media sites. Stick to your plan. By planning, you’ll utilize those sites in the best way possible for your business. Also, determine the results you want to achieve and then track them to see what needs changing.

Use your online time efficiently and effectively. With a minimal time investment, you can use social media sites to grow your business. Still not sure how? Let Pamela Finnesand, The Business Maximizer, assist you. Schedule your free Business Breakthrough Strategy Session with Pamela today!