According to Business Insider, Americans spend more time on social media than any other Internet activity, including email. Furthermore, business owners spend 50 percent more time on social media than non-business owners, and senior executives and decision-makers spend 40 percent more time than others not in those positions. We understand how you might feel a bit overwhelmed if these stats don’t apply to you. And while the thought of planning social media posts and managing your online presence can be rather daunting, we promise it’s more manageable than you think! Here are a few tips to help take control of your social media marketing campaigns without spending a ton of time on them.
Get Into a Routine
Set aside 10 to 15 minutes each day to check your accounts. Whether it’s in the morning or in the evening, it doesn’t matter, as long as you get into the habit of setting that time aside. While a few minutes a day might not give you ample time to post your own updates AND track what’s going on with your networks, you have to start somewhere. Making social media a part of your daily routine will make managing your accounts feel like less of a hassle.
Save Interesting Content
Finding content to post on social media is undoubtedly the most time consuming part of managing your profiles. Save yourself some time by creating a running library of interesting articles, events and commentary that you come across throughout the day. Additionally, sign up for relevant newsletters and digests from your favorite news sites, blogs and LinkedIn groups. Make sure that the content most relevant to you and your network is arriving in your own inbox! This way, when the time comes to post something, you’ll already have a few compelling options lined up!
Sign Up for a Management Tool
There are a plethora of tools and software out there to help you manage and track your social media platforms. Systems like Sprinklr and Sprout Social can help give you a clear picture of how effective your social media marketing efforts are, while also streamlining the process for updating your profiles and sharing content. These programs also allow you to add links to articles you may be referencing in your updates. This will do wonders for increasing your search results and improving your SEO! Do a little research to find the platform that best fits your needs.
Talk to the Pros
Have you tried managing your own social media accounts but still find yourself overwhelmed or unable to stay consistent with your efforts? It’s probably time you thought about hiring an internal social media manager or outsourcing to a digital marketing agency. Having a social media marketing expert take over can help relieve the stress of managing your social presence, free up your time to do what you do best (run your business!) and maximize the effectiveness of your social media marketing efforts.
Ultimately, time management is about maximizing your ROI. If you don’t think your time is well spent on social media, take the necessary steps to hire someone else to manage it. While daily management of your social media accounts may not be worthy of your time, you may find it worth your money to have an active social presence in today’s marketplace.
