Make The Most Of Your Social Media
Social media enables us to instantly interact with a very wide audience, often reaching much farther afield than a simple black and white advertisement in a newspaper. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest, you can generate a lot of interest, feedback and possibly new business based on what you post to your accounts.
But how do you do that? It’s so easy to get caught up watching funny videos or chatting with friends over social media, wasting countless hours in the process. So how do you maximize the benefits to your business?
4 ways to make the most out of your social media.
- Make social media an item on your daily “to-do” list. Schedule your social media time like you would any appointment. Is it best to do it first thing in the morning, or do you prefer to end the day with it? Whatever works for you, schedule your social media time for work or business purposes, and stick to it. Once you get into a routine, it’s easy to follow.
- Give yourself a time limit. This limits the amount of time wasted on silliness if you do get side-tracked and provides a measure of accountability to yourself if you don’t follow through. If you know you’re dealing with your “business” social media between 9 and 10 a.m. every day, you’re more likely to stay focused and get it done.
- Know what you’re trying to achieve. Is your purpose to share your own work – listings, market updates, links to your blog etc? Think about it ahead of time and stick to the time limits for posting work items. It simplifies creating the posts if you know what you’ll be posting about beforehand and it reduces time wasted on other things. Make lists throughout the day as you think of something you want to post so you won’t forget it before your next social media session.
- Set your social media outlets to cross post. All the major platforms can be set up so that if you post to one, Facebook for instance, it automatically posts to whatever other platforms you have linked such as Twitter or Instagram.
This brings us back to our first point – your posts will reach a much larger audience if you use your social media accounts effectively. As your reach grows and your audience expands, so will your leads and your business, so make sure you dedicate time each day to your social media business. You can always catch up with friends and family once your day is done and you’re no longer “on the clock”.
More in depth tips for sharing on social media here.