We've all heard that timeless cliché statement “time is money”. If you’ve ever tried to manage the social media for your own small business, you begin to understand that this statement actually holds pretty true.
Friends, I'm here to tell you that there is a simple solution to your social media marketing troubles, and the solution is far more simple than you think: organization.
Our friends at HubSpot provided us with this awesome article on organizing your social media marketing strategy.
The Social Media Manager's Guide to Staying Organized
1) Keep an updated content calendar.
Planning out social media posts is time-consuming, so keeping track of it all with a content calendar can help cut down on time. "I keep an updated content calendar that includes all our social networks and the types of content we'll be posting on each one," says Georgie Morley, Creative Communicator at Bai. She then creates both a daily and weekly to-do list based on the calendar. "I make sure there's flexibility because something always comes up -- you have to be prepared to fight some fires."
(To help you plan your updates and coordinate social campaigns more easily, here's a free social media publishing template.)
2) Schedule social posts ahead of time and in bulk.
Scheduling posts saves a lot of time, and it allows you to focus on other parts of your job instead of being constantly distracted by the need to publish at certain times of day.
HubSpot Social Media Manager Robyn Showers tweets from the @HubSpot account 24 or more times per day, not including replies to other Twitter users. To save time, she uses Social Inbox to schedule tweets in bulk by uploading them from a spreadsheet. (HubSpot customers: Learn how to use the bulk scheduling tool here.) "I also tend to schedule Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+ posts several days ahead of time," says Showers.
3) Know where to look for timely and relevant content.
What's trending right now? What content are people posting on each other's Facebook walls? Which news stories are people talking about? These are all questions social media managers need to be thinking about -- not just when they arrive at work in the morning, but all day long. By staying on top of rising trends, social media managers can properly newsjack, which can bring terrific spikes in traffic to your website.
How do you stay on top of it all when things are changing so fast? First, sign up for an RSS reader like Feedly and subscribe to industry news sites and blogs that post on industry trends and topics. In addition to your RSS feed, Tina Yip, Social Strategist at Big Spaceship, suggests using free aggregation tools like this live trends dashboard to keep you updated at-a-glance at what's buzzing on Twitter, Instagram, Google, YouTube, Vine, BuzzFeed, and Tumblr.
4) Set a time limit for each task.
Social media managers tend to have jam-packed schedules that don't allow them to do one task for too long. "It's easy to get lost in the endless streams of to-dos, research, and meetings," says Yip, "so it's important to schedule time limits for each task so you can stay focused and not spend too much time on one."
Click here to check out the rest of the blog.
In addition to HubSpot's awesome tips, I wanted to share with you a few of my favorites as well.
5) Hootsuite
If you're running the social media for your own small business, Hootsuite is an amazing tool. You can publish as well as monitor in the free version of the application.
One of the largest headaches as a social media manager is having to log into every account separately to publish and edit your posts. With Hootsuite, every one of your social platforms is on one single page.
In addition to its convenience, it’s incredibly affordable. If your small business doesn’t have more than three social platforms, it’s absolutely free. However, if you have more than 3, it’s less than $8 a month.
Check out pricing’s and details here!
6) The Short List Method
You know those awesome publishers and bloggers that you can’t wait to read about every week? Using a short list on Twitter is like putting all of those awesome content creators into one single stream without the rest of your Twitter feed distracting you. Here’s how it works:
Step 1:
If you've never created a list before, go ahead and create one and name it whatever you'd like.
Privacy: Once again, this is all up to you. I like to make all of my lists private.
Step 2:
Once you have created your list, find the content creators you want to include and add them to the list.
Continue this process with whoever you'd like to have on your short list until you are satisfied.
Once you're finished, you can either use your new list right off Twitter, or you can take things an extra step further to make life a little easier...
7) Combining the Short List with Hootsuite
To use Hootsuite to its full potiental, we went ahead and added our new short list to Hootsuite. Here's how!
Step 1:
Once you're in your Hootsuite dashboard, create a new stream and import your short list.
You should now see your short list along with all of your other social media streams in Hootsuite!
Using the short list method in Hootsuit (or HubSpot) is a game changer when it comes to utilizing your time. You don't have to go anywhere else to find content. Simply scroll through your various streams, and publish content! It's that simple.
Getting organized seems like a huge task, and truthfully it is. However it will save you a huge amount of time at the end of the day.
We understand that you may be an incredibly busy business owner and may not have the time to handle your social media marketing. If you'd like to know more about what a marketing firm can do for you, check out this blog or give us a call! We'd love to know how we can help.
Since 2002, Half a Bubble Out has been dedicated to providing marketing, advertising and small business consulting that meet the needs of our clients. We specialize in powerfully telling stories through Inbound Marketing to grow your business filled with more passion and provision. Based in Chico California, we serve clients throughout Northern California and across the country to New York.
