10 Social Media Time Management Tips for Small Business

Social media is one of those things that some small business owners dread to do. To stand out, every business should consistently create authentic quality content, engage with the audience, and run marketing campaigns to get noticed by social media ranking algorithms. And all of these take time, effort, and money. Fortunately, you can delegate the increasing your engagement rate and following base (here, you can get more information) to the professionals. However, content creation and market research are fundamental for any marketing campaign and still take a huge part of your time. I mean you know you have to do it if you want to have a successful social media marketing campaign but you’re unsure of “how” to manage your time.

HERE ARE 10 WAYS FOR EFFECTIVE SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT:

1. Have a plan. It’s time to read their mind! Where are your customers? Your prospects are having conversations all day long on social media. You have the perfect opportunity to serve them where they’re already hanging out. Build relationships and add value. It’s not all about making a “sale” but it is about connection. Stick with the 80/20 rule. 80% of the time you should be providing valuable content. 20% of the time you can talk about your products, services, discounts and promotions. BIG TIP! Pay attention to what they are saying and repeat the same words back to them in your message.

2. Stop trying to be “perfect”. Listen and learn from others in your niche that are rockin’ it in social media. You don’t have to know it all. Humility and integrity go a long way on social media. Don’t be afraid to be a newbie!  Trust me; people can smell “fake” a mile away.

3. Focus on one thing at a time. Find one social media tool instead of focusing on several at one time, which will result in doing all of them poorly. Master one. Choose a tool like “Hootsuite” to manage your social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ Pages, YouTube, etc…You can also schedule posts at any time and pay attention to who’s interacting with you. If you want a better way to manage your social media posts, check out this article on project management software for marketing teams.

4. Be consistent. People pay attention to how you show up and how often you show up. Try to schedule your posts from 7am-7pm because usually only 16% of your Facebook fans may see your posts anyway. It may seem like a lot but trust me, your engagement rates will go through the roof! If you don’t want to post that often, try 8am, 12pm. 5pm PST.

5. Be yourself. Use your own voice. It should reflect you and your company brand. Never copy someone else’s company brand or voice. People will respect you for being yourself and value what you have to offer.

6. Set a time limit. Even though you may schedule your posts, be sure you have a time limit. It’s very easy to get distracted. Check your social media accounts for 5 minutes every hour during your business hours to respond to questions and hop in live. Be sure to engage with prospects. Stick with your plan.

7. Turn off notifications. Turn off your direct message feature, if you can. If you have a following of 10,000 Facebook fans, there’s no way you’ll be able to answer all of the individual questions. Answer everything out in the open in case more than one person has the same question.

8. Schedule new content posts. Wondering what you should post? No problem. Post positive quotes, photos, videos, blog posts, questions, your opt-in offers. Stick with this every day.

9. Review your analytics. Check out free tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, YouTube Insights just to name a few. Pay attention to the engagement rates, likes, comments, shares, and how long people are engaged with you.

10. Pay attention to your ROI (Return your investment). Ask yourself, what does your business hope to gain from social media over what period of time? What tools or strategies do you use to save time with social media?

If you stick with your plan and manage your time, you’ll be very successful at social media. 

About the Author

Palmdale resident Kate Redwine, MPA. BBA. is a Client Attraction coach that teaches small business owners how to get more customers and make more money while making a difference. Kate is a #1 best-selling author of Law of Attraction Marketing: How to Attract All the Clients You Want. Kate was recently dubbed, “One of the Top 100 Mompreneur Bloggers to follow in 2013 by award winning author Matthew Toren of Blogtrepreneur.com. To hear Kate’s FREE 30 minute client attraction MP3, go to www.tinyurl.com/AVSmallBusiness or call our FREE 24 hour recorded message line at (661) 724-6480.