Love/Hate Relationship with Social Media? Time-Saving Tips

I admit it. I’m terrible at being consistent with social media. Some weeks I’m totally onto it and then there are times when I don’t post for weeks! And we’ve all heard “consistency is key to successful social media marketing”, right? — Urgh (eye-roll).

Like it or not social media is here to stay. Is it the only way to connect? Definitely not. But it can be a great way to find new connections, reach a larger audience and interact with them instantly. Plus, if you successfully build a relationship with these connections, they will soon become your loyal clients and customers.

SOCIAL MEDIA TIME-SAVING TIPS AND TOOLS

Running a business is hectic — there is always so much to do! So, how do we best manage our time and get the most we can out of social media? Below you will find a list of tips, tricks, and tools that I now use to ensure I remain accountable on social media without it feeling like it’s draining the absolute life out of me.

Also, if you’re like me and every time you need to upload something to Facebook or Instagram you need to double-check on Google what file size and format it needs to be, I have also put together an up-to-date no fluff Guide to Social Media Images so we can now put that time to better use! You can thank me later.

Ok, let’s get into it —

FOCUS ON QUALITY

Yes, posting consistently is important (very important), but there is no point in posting something just for the sake of it. When putting together content make sure it is beneficial to your audience. Customers now expect good quality content, and they are not going to engage or give away their email addresses for any random thing. Become an expert in your field so your audience knows you are the go-to resource to answer their questions. This will also ensure you build trust and develop a relationship with your audience which will result in generating leads, improving conversions, and creating a die-hard fan base.  

CREATE A CALENDAR + TAKE NOTES

As you come up with ideas — Write. Them. Down. I’m often coming up with ideas at random times when I’m away from my computer. Keep a Notes Doc handy on your phone so you can easily jot them down. I guarantee you, every time I think “All good I’ll remember that” — when I actually sit down to smash out some content … crickets.

Each month create a list of what you want to promote, what you have going on and any Social Media Holidays that you can tie back to your biz. For example, if you own a restaurant or venue you might like to celebrate “National Taco Day”, or if you own a Record Store perhaps you can create an event or offer tied to “World Music Day”. Social Media Holidays are a super quick and easy way to whip up some extra content if you’re struggling for ideas! Just give it a Google and you’ll find some great lists already done for you.

BATCH YOUR ARTWORK CREATION + CONTENT   

I know easier said than done right. But once you’ve got into the habit of making notes and planning your content each month that’s usually the hard part already done! Putting together the artwork and copy will take far less time than trying to think of the content and create it all in one session.  

Perhaps choose a quieter day in your biz or maybe a day when you are struggling for some brain power (mine is usually a Monday or Friday) and set time aside to work on your social media content. You’ll likely find you are far more productive if you set aside a chunk of time instead of trying to do it in bits and pieces. 

If you are not a designer who has access to design software, luckily there are programs like Canva available that do most of the hard work for you. Take some time initially to update the layouts you like with your own brand fonts and colours, and you’ll be good to go! Canva has a free version which should have everything you need when you are just starting out.

Extra Tip: Creating templates for your regular content will help significantly reduce your design time as it will just be a matter of updating them as opposed to having to design something new each time.

USE SCHEDULING TOOLS

In the past, you needed to do this via a third-party app like Buffer, but now you can do this quickly and easily via the Facebook Business Suite. Oh, and did I mention it’s also free? Simply go to Facebook and under Publishing Tools, you will find options for posts and stories for both Facebook and Instagram. You can also preview your feed and grid to make sure you are posting the right thing in the right order. Use it to post something straight away or batch your content and schedule it for later so you don’t need to worry about remembering to post at peak times. 

Extra Tip: If you go to the Planner (the little calendar icon on the side) you can see all your posts for the week and FaceBook will even tell you when your followers have been most active on the platform. This will help you to schedule your posts when more people will likely see them. 

SET A TIME LIMIT

Finally, set a time limit. We’ve all been there, getting side-tracked scrolling away on Insta instead of creating our own content. So instead, try setting a time limit when you’re “hunting for inspiration”. I was shocked at how much time I was spending mindlessly on my phone, so I’ve endeavoured to cut way down which has made a big difference in my overall productivity and restoring my attention span. Seeing I’m not a morning person, I usually give myself a solid half an hour while still in bed under the covers to do some serious Reel scrolling. Obviously, this might not sound appealing to everyone but find what works for you!

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