Tips to Improve and Save Time with Social Media Management
Social Media is important but very time-consuming. For many of our clients, it seems like a headache, yet it is still important. Yes, you probably will not generate an influx of new leads like you would from a search engine optimization plan or a pay-per-click campaign. However, people need to see that your business is active and engaging with customers. When people are thinking of trying a new restaurant, they will most likely check out the restaurant’s Instagram to get a better idea of the food and dining experience. Other times, a person might see a friend’s post about a restaurant and decide that they would like to check it out for themselves. In other words, social media is powerful.
Just as having a strong presence can entice potential customers, not having a presence can dissuade them. When someone searches for a business, such as a restaurant, and finds nothing, that can be perceived as a red flag. It makes them question if you are still in business and if so, how well you are currently performing. It can also come across as cold, especially for B2C businesses. Social media is an opportunity to connect with your customers. This includes responding to messages, replying to comments, and posting more informal content (i.e., employees at the office or maybe a company picnic) This makes your business seem more approachable and gives the viewer insight into what it's like to be part of your team. By not posting or having social media accounts you are choosing not to engage with your customers. To avoid this, we have come up with several tips to make social media marketing easier, faster, and less of a hassle.
Social Media Marketing Tips
Shortcuts
This is a minor tip, but it saves lots of time. Social media platforms tend to contain shortcuts. Utilizing them eliminates all that clicking and scrolling. On Twitter, this includes typing the letter “N” to write a tweet. Typing the letter “L” is a common shortcut to like a post on most platforms. There are a lot of different shortcuts for each platform. The best way to find them is by hitting “shift” and “?” This will take you to a pop-up with a list of shortcuts for that site. You can find ones that work for you and use them to navigate through the platforms easily.
Scheduling Tools
This social media marketing tip is very helpful, especially when there are multiple platforms, and several people are involved. Posts can be very time-consuming, especially when you create them a couple of times a week. Sometimes, it’s easier to do 5-10 at once on a day when you have the time and then schedule them accordingly. That way, not only don’t you have to worry about making the post, but you also don’t have to remember to post it. You can choose the dates and times in advance with scheduling tools. Facebook allows you to schedule both Facebook and Instagram posts for free in Publishing Tools, which is part of their Business Suite. Some other scheduling platforms you can use include Hootsuite, Zoho Social, Sendible, and SocialPilot.
Pick and Choose Where to Post
First, figure out which platforms you would like to utilize. See where your audience is and where you think you’ll get the most traction. You should try to have a presence on 4 or 5 platforms. Now, of those platforms, there is probably one that you will receive the most traction on from your target audience and two that you will see a good amount of traction. Any others will not have much traction at all. You should be the most active on the first one (posting 1-3 times a week), slightly less active on the other ones (once a week or once every other week), and rarely – but still active – on the remaining platform(s) (once or twice a month).
Brainstorm
Coming up with new ideas to post can add to stress and waste time. At the start of each month, block out some time to brainstorm. Even just 30 minutes can help get you on track with campaign ideas and general directions. See what people respond to and tend to have the most engagement with. It could be pictures of your products, inspirational quotes, industry tips, or just behind-the-scenes/bios about your employees. Also, take a look at what you’ve done previously. If images of your products got a good response but you have done that for the past 10 posts, it’s time to shift gears and add some different types of content. Creating a game plan – even if it’s just general ideas – helps save lots of time in the long run.
Share someone else’s post
This might seem strange but it’s a great way to produce content without actually having to produce it. A good tip is to repost an article. Maybe you’ve read an article on Facebook that relates to your industry. You can share it and add something along with lines of “I thought this article was really interesting because of X, Y, Z. What do you think?” This now opens the door for conversation in the comments. You have now engaged with your followers without having to create the content.
Reuse Old Content
Work smarter not harder! This is something you can absolutely do, especially if you post often. Your followers are not going to remember that random post you made on a Tuesday afternoon two years ago. Recycle it so you don’t have to create as much original content. However, you don’t want to reuse posts that you have used recently. Try to wait at least a year before reusing a post. Additionally, you want to make sure that the post you are reusing is pretty far down your feed. Even if it’s a year old, if you’d only posted three times that year, it will be one of the first posts to appear when someone clicks on your profile; so be mindful of that.
Utilize A Social Media Team
If this still seems like a lot of time and effort that you just don’t have, it might be best to hire social media marketing experts. With a team, you get quality content on multiple platforms. Your business will be posting often, and the team will internally monitor to see what kinds of posts are receiving positive feedback. At aha! we can be that team of experts, helping you with your social media management. Although all the tips above can help reduce time and effort greatly, a marketing team can do all that and more without you having to lift a finger.