Social media is a powerful marketing tool
As a small business owner, you know that social media is important for marketing your company. Without an active presence, existing customers may forget your brand, and you may lose the opportunity to win new customers.
Or you may simply give a bad first impression when someone stumbles across your page.
Social media is a powerful marketing tool, but it can also be overwhelming for businesses. It’s hard to keep up with the latest trends, and sometimes companies don’t have enough time or staff to manage everything themselves. Fortunately, there are many tools that make social media management easier for small business owners.
For those short on time, we’ve put together a list of ways to effectively manage your social media accounts.
Create a simple content calendar
Creating a social media content calendar can help small business owners stay organized and on track. By planning your posts in advance, you’ll have a better idea of what to share, and you’ll be less likely to forget important updates.
To get started, create a spreadsheet with all your social media accounts in one column. In the columns next to each account, indicate the content categories you wish to publish.
For example, if you own a food truck, you can share photos of your menu, information about your location or behind-the-scenes images of your kitchen.
Once you’ve chosen your content categories, start filling your calendar with post ideas. If you’re having trouble coming up with ideas, try drawing inspiration from other companies in your sector. But don’t forget to be unique: your followers want to see what makes your company special.
Plan photos in advance
When you’re planning to take photos for your social media accounts, it can be helpful to plan ahead. This will save you time and hassle later on.
Think about how you can easily integrate social media into your current schedule. Do you have a new product launch, event or team outing coming up?
Identify the key moments you can use to promote your brand on social media, and make sure you take photos at those times. Decide in advance what you want to photograph. This will allow you to be better prepared when it’s time to take the photos.
Good lighting makes a big difference to the quality of your photos. If you can, take photos during the day or near a window in natural sunlight. If you’re using your phone’s camera, try using the flash. Take several photos of the same subject.
That way, you’ll have more choice when you edit them later. Be sure to take photos of different aspects of your business, such as your products, the store front, employees and satisfied customers.
Use batch photography. When it comes to taking photos on social media, batch processing can be a lifesaver.
It’s simply a matter of taking several photos at the same time, instead of just one at a time. You can hire a professional photographer and get a cache of images you can use. Do this in a day, and you could have up to 6 months’ worth of photos to use on your Instagram account. Edit your photos before publishing them.
This will ensure that they look their best before you share them with the world. By taking the time to plan and prepare in advance, you can save yourself a lot of time and hassle in the future.
Plan your captions
When planning your social media posts, it’s helpful to plan your captions in advance.
Here are a few tips for planning your captions on social media:
- Think about the tone and voice you want to use in your captions. Do you want them to be funny, serious or informative?
- Keep your target audience in mind when writing your captions. What kind of information does he want to see?
- Make a list of potential subjects for your captions. This will give you a starting point when it comes to writing them.
- Think about the overall message you want to communicate in your social media posts. What do you want your followers to take away from your messages?
Once you have a list of potential subjects, start writing your captions. Be sure to proofread them before publishing anything. By taking the time to plan and prepare in advance, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and hassle in the future.
Use a publication planner
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by social media, or simply don’t have the time to post regular updates, using a publishing scheduler can be a lifesaver.
Publication planners let you schedule your publications in advance, so you don’t have to worry about remembering to manually publish them later.
There are many publication planners to choose from, so take the time to find the one that suits your needs. Many publishing programmers have free versions, so you can try them out before committing yourself.
