3 Ways to Make Social Media Management Easier
Maintaining social media accounts for your small business takes time. At first, managing a Facebook page may not seem challenging. But as your small business grows, you realize it’s more and more difficult to post a status update, add a photo, or check-in on four different social media networks. Here are three strategies to streamline the process:
[if !supportLists]1. [endif]Take stock photos. Images are a key part of engagement on social media platforms. While you are out and about — anywhere, anytime — take photos to use for social media later. The images might be something related to your business, or something you can connect to your business in a unique way. Maybe it’s just something funny. By having many images already available, you won’t have to dig around online for a royalty-free photo or pay for a stock image. If you have team members, ask them to help with this. Save the photos in a common place with relevant file names that are easy to search.
[if !supportLists]2. [endif]Use a social media scheduler. You will rarely have time during the day to manage social media — or remember to do so. Instead, use Hootsuite, Buffer, Social Oomph, Tweetdeck, Everypost, Social Flow, or one of many other platforms to schedule posts. Most of these tools connect with all social media networks and give you the ability to post a status update and image or video. They include link shorteners and calendars so you can choose the date and time for the post to appear. Some can automatically choose the time/date for you for maximum impact and come with analytics so you can see what’s working and what’s not. Read more about the differences in these tools here and here.
[if !supportLists]3. [endif]Create a calendar. Creating social media status updates on the fly makes it harder to get them done. Some days you have company news to share, such as a new hire, a positive story, or a conference you’re attending. Other days, the desert of dullness stretches before you. Create a social media content calendar in advance for each month. We prefer spreadsheets for this, but use whatever works for you. Include the date, time, social media network, and any notes about links or images. This way you can plan ahead for holidays and company events and get a clear picture of what you’ve got, making it easier to spread updates out.
Outsource Social Media Management
While these ideas can help make your social media posting more efficient, many small business owners find that as they grow, it makes more sense to have someone else focus on this task. Outsource your company’s social media management to Argosy Business Solutions. Our team maintains social media pages with new posts, updates, and images on Facebook and LinkedIn. Get it done by contacting us for help.
