The average person spends two hours a day on social media. If you think that sounds like a lot, consider that teens are spending a whopping nine hours a day on their favourite social platforms. That’s a lot of snaps and ‘grams!
As the amount of hours spent on social media increases, so does the amount of online conversation. Brands need to enhance their social game if they want to keep up. But that doesn’t necessarily mean working harder, it means working smarter.
As a social media community manager, I’ve learned a few tricks of the trade that have helped me be more efficient with my time and efforts. Learn some of them below!
Have a strategy
Creating a community management strategy will save you time later because it outlines everything you need to know to create effective, on-brand content. A typical strategy will include social media goals and objectives, which channels to use, what types of content should be shared, who the content is for, and how to measure for success.
Create a content calendar
A content calendar is important because it highlights important dates and events when your brand should post on social media. The calendar can also be used to plan what kinds of content and messages you want to send out. I usually plan my content for each month at the beginning of the month. This way, I am prepared and can look at the calendar to see what content needs to go out on any given day.
Write a bank of content
Another way to save yourself time later is to write content in advance for posts you know you will need to send out. You can use a social media management tool (see next section) to schedule your content so it automatically posts on specific days.
Use a social media management tool
If you want to get serious about social, you need a social media management tool. There are several options, such as Hootsuite and HubSpot, that offer features to help you take your social media efforts to the next level:
- Manage all your social media networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) in one place
- Set up filters so you see what you want to see (incoming/outgoing messages, hashtag mentions, etc.)
- Schedule content to send out on specific days and times
- Create analytics reports to measure success
Have your social media presence managed professionally
Even if you plan ahead and use all the right tools, social media for business is still a commitment that requires time and attention. By hiring a community manager and/or content writers from our team at Acart Communications, you can rest easy knowing dedicated professionals are taking care of the planning and content creation for you.
Need a social media strategy and/or community manager for your brand?
Contact Acart today to learn more about our services.