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Successfully balancing your small business' needs with a consistent social media presence can initially seem IMPOSSIBLE, but it is time to kick impossible to the curb and level up your social media! LISTEN...social media platforms, especially Facebook and Instagram, offer a powerful medium to connect with your potential customers and stay relevant in the digital space. However, it's essential to remember that a effective social media content is not about constant posting or being active 24/7 - it's about strategic and meaningful connections with your audience.
Time Blocking is such a helpful way to stay organized as a small business owner, so I highly recommend using it to stay consistent with social media tasks. Include content creation, scheduling posts, responding to comments and analyzing your metrics in your time blocks. Also, try using scheduling tools like Metricool. These tools allow you to plan out and schedule your posts in advance, saving you from the daily stress of trying to find and post content. Remember, the key is consistency, not frequency. It's better to have a few well-crafted posts each week that speak to your audience and reflect your brand than multiple posts that don't add value.
An Actionable Plan for Consistent Social Media Management
The hard part isn't knowing the importance of consistent and strategic content creation on social media platforms for small businesses, it's having a reasonable actionable plan that can be applied to your busy day! So, let's break down what you can do during each time block. This plan ensures you hit all the necessary pieces to create a meaningful and engaging social media profile for your small business.
Content Creation (1.5 hours per week or less)
The heart of your business' social media profile is content creation. These are the posts that your audience sees, shares, and engages with. Quality content should align with your business' voice and resonate with your target audience. To ensure this, use this time block to brainstorm ideas for upcoming posts, write captions, create graphics or source relevant images. Tools like Canva can be useful for sourcing quality stock images.
Still struggling for ideas? Consider what your audience wants to see - is it behind-the-scenes content? Product teasers? Customer testimonials? Also, don't forget to create a variety of content types, including images, videos, and text-based posts. Check out this post for more content ideas.
Scheduling (1 hour per week)
Once the week's content is ready, dedicate a time block to scheduling these posts. Tools like Metricool, Later and Planoly are useful to schedule your posts and ensure they go live at the right time. This prevents the stress of having to manually post throughout the week, particularly if you aim to reach your audience at peak engagement times! Plus, it's ONE LESS thing to worry about in your busy day! 😉
Engagement (15 minutes a day)
Interaction is key in social media. This means responding to comments, likes, shares, and direct messages. Set aside time each week to authentically engage with your audience. Answer their queries, acknowledge their comments, and foster a community around your brand.
How to Meaningfully Engage for only 15 minutes per day!
A 15-minute daily engagement strategy can help maintain an active and responsive social media presence without consuming too much of your time.
Here's the engagement method we use at Blu Emerald Media Services:
Minute 1-5: Review and respond to any new comments, direct messages, or mentions. This shows your audience that you value their interaction and are responsive to their comments and/or feedback.
Minute 6-10: Spend time actively engaging with your followers/target audience. This means liking, commenting on, and sharing posts from clients/customers. Other businesses that can help promote your business also falls in this section. This not only fosters relationships with other businesses, but also increases your visibility to potential new followers.
Minute 11-15: Pick one of your industry hashtags from the Explore tab in Instagram and use it to go find people in your community. Imagine if you do this with just 20 accounts per day (one meaningful comment per post) - you'll be in contact with over 500 new potential clients/customers per month!
By following this simple 15-minute daily strategy, your small business can maintain an active presence on social media while still taking care of other tasks throughout the day.
Learn More: https://getcoachsocial.com/blog/3-things-to-do-for-15-minutes-a-day-to-boost-instagram-engagement/
Analysis (1 hour per month)
Finally, spend time analyzing your social media performance. Look at the posts that performed well, and those that didn't. Which ones garnered the most engagement? What were the commonalities of these posts? Use this information to refine your future content. Tools like Facebook Insights and Instagram Insights provide valuable information about your post performance and audience demographics.
Time blocks provide a structured approach to managing social media and makes an overwhelming task feel possible! Remember, quality always trumps quantity when it comes to social media posts. With this plan, you can ensure you're not just posting for the sake of posting, but delivering valuable content that supports your business goals and engages your audience.
Lastly, don’t forget to adjust these blocks as needed. As your business grows and you gain more insights about your audience, your needs may change. Regularly review and adjust these time blocks to best serve your brand. Be flexible and adapt - the trademark of a small business owner! Doing so will ensure your social media strategy aligns with your overall business goals!
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