5 Basic Time Saving Tips for Social Media Posting
Limit the Number of Platforms You Use
When diving into social media marketing, it’s natural to want to claim all the social accounts you can, and you certainly should. But managing them can be exhausting and time-consuming. That is why you should limit the number of social media platforms you use. To start, it’s suggested you focus on 2 to 3 sites, to begin with.
There are a few reasons why this will save you time in the long run. For one, it will help you focus your attention. While many social media platforms share the same mechanics, not all of them are the same. Taking the time to learn the mechanics is very important. True, you want to learn what you are doing, but you also want to make sure you’re utilizing every tool the platform has to offer.
The initial setup of social media profiles can be time-consuming. Before sharing your profile with the public, you want to make sure it has all the relevant information it needs: business name, hours, services, contact info, etc. Creating two or three profiles is much less intimidating than having to create five or six. Narrowing your focus to a few platforms at a time will make social media launching and maintenance less overwhelming.
Map-Out Posts in Advance
It’s hard work to keep your social media active. Too little activity can turn customers and followers away. Imagine you’re applying to work for a company, and you are researching their online presence, how would it look to get to their social media page and find no recent interactions? From a personal perspective, it doesn’t look good.
To avoid slipping into a social media slump, take time at the end of each month to plan your posts for the following month. Trying to think of what to post on the fly is stressful in general. However, if you spend the time mapping out and drafting posts in advance, it will help to remove some of that stress.
When you plan your social media in advance, you can also plan what you want to focus on. It could be a monthly theme, a new special, new project, anything you want it to be. Not only will this keep you from scrambling for content to push, but it will also give your audience a sense of voice and focus.
Build a Post Bank
Something most people don’t realize is that not all the content you post has to be brand new every time. Do you have services that never change? Or a product you’re always highlighting? If so, build posts that can be reused in the future.
Reusable content is extremely helpful. For one, it helps alleviate the stress of constantly having to create new content. The idea of fresh new content all the time is a wonderful one, but it’s also not always realistic, especially when you’re trying to push or highlight the same information time and time again.
Creating a “post bank” can come in handy when you aren’t feeling particularly creative, or you don’t have time to work on something new. It’s also a handy way to share previous information with new members of your audience. While some people do go through old social media posts, most people don’t. Reposting or sharing previous posts ensures that newcomers receive the information you’ve shared in the past.
Use Scheduling Tools
This is a big one! For some reason, not many people take advantage of social media scheduling tools. Whether it’s because they don’t know they exist or prefer to be more hands-on, the reasoning is moot. The fact of the matter is, scheduling tools will save you tons of time.
Websites like HootSuite and Buffer are excellent resources for scheduling posts across different platforms. Facebook has its own post scheduler as well. Another plus side to using a scheduler is that most of them provide posting data, which lets you know what time of the day posting is more effective.
Focus on Quality
However, none of their social posts had any engagement. They were sharing and retweeting stories and articles constantly throughout the day, yet not a single post I saw was original, nor did they have any engagement from their followers.
On the flip side, I have seen social media profiles with very little content, but their engagement with their followers has been phenomenal. Their posts reach and speak to their audience, and they’re appreciated for it.
Here to Stay
Regardless of your personal feelings regarding social media platforms, they are an integral part of the customer experience. Between maintaining your website and social media presence, marketing professionals are busier than ever. There are ways to manage your time efficiently, you just have to take advantage of the tools that are at your disposal.
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