Let’s face it, social media management takes a lot of time and effort, but for good reason! Social media is such an important marketing tool in this day and age and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Social media is a great way to connect to your customers and your audience with little or no cost to you (besides your precious time). As a small business owner or employee, we understand you wear a lot of hats. That's why we put together this social media marketing guide so you can rock social media and still have the time and energy to rock all other areas of your business!
1. Find a scheduling platform that’s right for you
When it comes to social media scheduling, there are a lot of platforms out there; Facebook Creator Studio, Hootsuite, Tailwind, Sprout Social, Social Report, and the list goes on! Spend time researching, request demos, and opt into free trials to compare these scheduling platforms to ensure you have the tools you need for your business.
The ability to schedule out posts weeks in advance is the first step in saving you time. With that being said, you don’t want to schedule out your posts too far in advance. Always make sure your scheduled posts are still relevant and accurate when their time to post comes. Dependent on your business we recommend scheduling posts out 2 or 4 weeks in advance. If things are changing more frequently, then 1 week in advance.
***Screenshot of scheduled posts on Facebook Creator Studio
2. Content Creation
Creating exciting and engaging content to share with your audience can sometimes feel exhausting. However, a good well thought out content strategy is absolutely necessary for your business. In addition to creating brand-related content, it's important to ALWAYS have your customer front of mind while working on your content strategy, when it comes time to collect your content (photo/video shoots), and finally when it comes time to share.
Once the content is out there, test, test, test! Most scheduling platforms have analytic tools so use these tools to see what content is performing best and understand what your audience is responding to.
If you're looking for content ideas to get the juices flowing, check out our blog “Easy and Engaging Social Media Content Ideas”.
3. Share & Reshare
While most of the content on your social platforms should be original content, it's also a good idea to share other articles or other pieces of content related to your brand that you know your audience would find useful (with proper credit of course). It's also okay to reshare past content you've created, such as blog posts, as long as they're still relevant. Chances are you've acquired new followers or a few people from your current audience might have missed it. With your social media scheduling tool, it should be easy to schedule out multiple shares!
4. Decide where you will post your content
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube... There are many social media platforms out there making it difficult for a business to manage ALL of them effectively. To understand which platforms will be more beneficial for your business consider your audience and which platform(s) they are most likely to use and be active on. Understanding what platforms are a must for your business will also determine the kind of content you should be creating. For example, if you plan on creating a lot of how-to videos, YouTube is a must! Or, if you're sharing a lot of informative blog posts you better be sharing to Pinterest.
Don’t feel like your business has to be on every platform, focus your time and energy on creating quality posts where your audience will actually see them and ultimately engage!
5. 📷 How often you should post
Once you decide which social media platforms you will focus your time on, you should come up with a plan on how many posts per week you will create. Psst, there is such a thing as too much posting! Don’t waste your time throwing up a lot of content just to get something posted for the day. Take your time on producing quality content followed up with a strategic posting schedule.
Here is an easy guide breaking down how often you should post to each social media platform as a starting point for you and your business:
6. Engagement
Engagement is one of the most time-consuming components of social media, but it’s also such an important one. If your audience is engaging in your posts, you want to make sure you're engaging back. Spark interest, encourage further conversation, and build relationships with your audience, that's what social media is all about!
We know you don’t want to be glued to your phone or computer all day, (that’s why we created this guide) we know your time is precious! But it’s important to check your social media platforms at least once a day to engage with your consumers. It’s a good idea to turn on notifications so you can address any ‘emergency’ situations as they arise. Other than that, just add engagement to your task list and make sure you’re acknowledging your audience!
If you found this information useful or have further questions, we'd love to hear from you in the comments!
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