According to Social Media Today, the most common reasons cited by many small businesses for not taking advantage of social media is simply not having enough time. This is a common problem faced by many businesses today. Operating a business of any size often requires working excessive hours each week and wearing many hats. As a result, many business owners often feel as though they do not have enough time left to maintaining an active social media presence.
If there is any doubt that you need to make time for social media, consider these statistics. Media Bistro reports that 97 percent of marketers use some type of social media in their marketing strategy. Furthermore, 92 percent of marketers stated in a survey that social media is vital to their businesses.
The ways in which social media can be used to promote businesses is virtually limitless. With that said, in order to take advantage of those benefits, you must make certain that you have a social media presence and spend the time necessary to cultivate that presence.
If you are already stretched thin, how can you make sure that your social media marketing efforts are receiving all of the attention they deserve? As challenging as it may seem, it is possible to leverage the power of social media for supporting your business objectives. Here's where you should start.
Prioritize Social Media Marketing
First, recognize that in order for social media to get done, it must be a priority. If you already have an overwhelming schedule, there are likely many areas that seem to request your attention on a daily basis already. Only those things that are considered important will always be completed. Social media marketing is crucial and it should be viewed that way. Place it on your calendar and set aside time for handling it. If you can't handle it yourself or it's not where your time is best spent, consider hiring someone internally or contract with a social media management company.
Determine Your Social Media Goals
Another common reason why many businesses struggle to find time to address social media is that they are simply overwhelmed. If you find that you often fall into the trap of continually planning but never actually accomplishing anything, you may find it helpful to set one or two goals and focus only on those goals. Social media can be a vast landscape and by focusing on a couple of important goals, you can ensure that you do not fall into the trap of continually wasting time planning only to miss out on the results.
Do Not Reinvent the Wheel
Business owners commonly report that they feel challenged when it comes to creating original content. This can be time-consuming. One of the easiest and best ways to resolve this problem is to simply share the content of others. Sharing content that is relevant to your industry is an excellent method for reinforcing your business's position as an industry leader without incurring a lot of time in the process. If you are concerned that you will spend too much time trying to find content to share, consider using a tool such as Feedly, Buffer or BundlePost to ensure you have a steady stream of shareable content. With Feedly, you are able to customize your feeds so that you can find and then follow the information that is relevant to you and your industry. This makes it easy to check feeds for the various categories you want to follow. Content actually streams in an organized manner, so it only takes you a few minutes to stay on top of topics that matter to you.
Take Advantage of Social Media Tools
Have you noticed that it seems as though some businesses make social media posts on a 24/7 basis? While it certainly may seem that way, in reality, these businesses have simply learned how to schedule their posts and coordinate among various social media platforms. The right tools can help you to master this process, as well. For instance, tools such as Hootsuite or Sprout Social give you the ability to manage multiple social media accounts. You can easily use such tools to schedule posts on a daily basis and then tend to other pressing matters in your business without worrying about your social media presence. The posts you have scheduled will go out automatically. Sprout Social also integrates with Feedly, which helps you to save time in sourcing as well as scheduling content that you can share on various social media channels. Additionally, since Sprout Social also runs on mobile devices, you can take advantage of the opportunity to handle social media whenever it is most convenient for you, including when you are out and about. Don't forget, your engagement with fans and followers is important. Don't simply broadcast or you'll miss the real opportunity with social media marketing. The opportunity is to listen and develop relationships and trust with your audience.
Schedule Social Media Posts Simultaneously
Rather than feeling overwhelmed at the idea of trying to post on multiple social media platforms, consider posting across various platforms at the same time. With the right social media tools, you can send out the same post across multiple platforms simultaneously rather than needing to log into each platform and handle each post separately. A hashtag can also be used to tie your entire campaign together across multiple platforms. HootSuite, mentioned above, is a great tool for posting to multiple networks.
Get Focused
Today, there are many social media channels that can demand your attention. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Google+ can all demand your attention. The question is: Do you really need to be active on all of those social media channels? Maybe and maybe not. Spend a little time conducting some research to determine which social media channels best match your target audience and your goals and then focus on those platforms, especially in the beginning. For example, Twitter is often a good choice if your goal is to establish your position as an innovator and leader, whereas Pinterest is a good choice if you market retail items to women.
It is entirely possible to fit social media into your schedule, no matter how crowded your schedule may seem. By setting aside even one hour a week, you can make social media part of your marketing strategy.