How to save time managing business social media accounts

Hacks to avoid social media burnout

Even without a global pandemic, there’s a lot of pressure to 'go digital’, pivot business and keep clients (and cash) coming through the door. We all know that social media is a great way to engage with prospects, strengthen connections and find new audiences, but at what cost?The burden social media can place on you, especially if you’re a small business trying to ‘do it all’ yourself, can be significant and can lead to irritation and, ultimately, burnout, if it’s not managed. Listed below are some of the early warning signs to watch out for. We also outline great tips and tools to make your social media time cheerful instead of chore-full.

Early warning signs of social media burnout

1. Checking your social media feeds in bed (morning and/or night)
2. Wanting to post every interesting thing you come across
3. Not concentrating on conversations because you’re wondering if what the person just said would make a good quote
4. Constantly listening out for (or dreading) the notification alert
5. Not completing tasks because you get side-tracked with your feed/s
6. Spending way longer posting on social media than you had planned to
7. Feeling like you must post – even when you feel like you have nothing to say
8. Giving up on social media because it’s ‘all too hard!’

Remedies for social media burnout

The hacks below will help you gain control of your social presence. Used well, they’ll allow you to gain control, be more organised, save time and increase your reach and engagement.

‍INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE:

Implement at least two ideas then go and have a lie down.

‍Decide where you want to show up‍

You don’t have to be everything for everyone. Know where your target market is and when they’re most likely to engage. And if you haven't decided which platform is best for your business, read our article here for more advice.

‍Decide on themes for the week or month

The internet is a big and interesting place, use a theme to limit distractions. For example, you might want to post different kinds of content on different days:

• Motivation Monday
• Tuesday Tips
• Wednesday Wisdom
• Thankful Thursday
• Friday Flashback

Or, have seasonal content:

• Summer, autumn, winter, spring
• New Year, birthdays, anniversaries, religious or cultural holidays
• World events and days of recognition e.g. World Health Day

You can probably also come up with a few themes that relate directly to your business – use them to help keep you focused and producing content that’s of value to your audience.

‍Batch your content creation – make time each week to create all the posts you want to upload for the coming days, weeks or month. Batching allows you to focus on the one task for an extended period and means there are less opportunities every week to procrastinate or lose time down internet rabbit holes.Use a

scheduling site or app – these sites post your content for you and reduce the amount of time you spend uploading posts to each platform. This is especially useful when you have already batched your content. Here are a few we like: hootsuite, buffer, panoly, later, canva.

‍Create a content library or swipe file of good ideas – this is a great go-to when you’re feeling stuck but still want to post. Trello is a great a great tool for this. It’s a highly visual platform, perfect for social media content organisation and storage.

‍Create an engagement schedule – set aside a certain amount of time each day or week to engage with your followers and avoid the distraction of trying to post randomly.

‍Arrange live Q&As – get more out of your engagement time and create a buzz around being online by scheduling live Q&As. You can choose a particular topic or make it an Ask Me Anything session, so your audience gets to know the person (or people) behind the business, not just ‘what you do’. Facebook, Instagram and YouTube allow for live video streams where your audience can interact and chat with you.

‍Use Hashtags – Done well, hashtags will also boost the engagement and exposure you get without adding to the amount of time you spend on socials. Hashtags help your audience find your content but are especially valuable for bringing in new followers, so make sure they are relevant to your topic. And don’t forget, less is more. 4 or 5 hashtags that are closely related to your topic are better than 20 general ones.

‍Use video – video is great for SEO, it increases your ranking on Google and means you are more ‘findable’ than you are without it. Just another way to get more traffic in less time.

‍Ask questions in your posts – this opens conversations up and provides the opportunity for more interaction per post. Not only does this mean you have to spend less time posting for the same amount of interaction, but it opens opportunities to develop strong connections and build more trust with your audience.

‍Don’t just promote your business – social media is meant to be ‘social’. Share more than just what your business is doing, talk about topics that matter to you or areas of interest for your audience.

‍Cross promote your platforms – you’re working hard on your content and not all your audience is on the same platform. Let them know where else to find you and you’ll get more engagement.

‍Use a well-crafted bio – Make your bio personal (and truthful) and your followers will be there because they truly resonate. You will spend a lot less time chasing likes and subscribes if your audience genuinely feels they know who they are connecting with. As LinkedIn is an incredibly successful social platform for business communication, make sure to read our article here on crafting a profile for that site that’s sure to get you noticed.

‍Use Direct Messaging etiquette – DMs are a great way to enhance individual connections and allow you to be more personal than in you could be a comment on a post. Don’t abuse this link by sending random bulk emails. Our short video on the topic here offers some good advice. Be personal, genuinely engage with the audience and create the kinds of connections you’d be happy to have in person.

‍Short of ideas? – Here’s a short video about how you can share other people’s content on your Instagram feed.

What if you already use these hacks but still have social media burnout?

A great way to ensure you maintain your balance and still create great social content … outsource.