Image by Joshua Rothhaas
Just last week Twitter published a blog post called "Got a case of the Mondays? You're not alone." The post offered data-backed results showing people are most likely to tweet 'feeling sad' on a Sunday in December or a Monday in October, the day before you head back to work and the first day of the work week.
Mondays can be hectic and difficult, as you catch up after the weekend and prepare for the week ahead. In those situations, social media will often take a back seat to other job duties. That said, there are ways to prepare so you don't have to fall behind in your social media efforts.
To help you through your most challenging day, we've created the Monday Morning Social Media Checklist.
Make Sure Content Posted Smoothly (You Know, the Content You Scheduled on Friday)
If you've ever had to write a few blog posts, Tweets, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn posts in a single day, you know that this can be a very difficult task. But on a Monday morning? Good luck.
To avoid that scenario, we create and schedule the majority of our Monday content on the previous Friday. Usually this means that three fresh blog posts are scheduled to publish at various times on Monday morning, with supporting social media messaging across several network also scheduled in advance within the HootSuite publisher.
Don't Create, Curate Content (Trust us, There's a Lot to Choose From)
Once you've shared your prepared content, what's left? The Monday morning blues don't exactly help you perform at your best. When your tank isn't full, you're better off not trying to create groundbreaking, shareable content. That's where content curation comes in handy.
Not everything you share needs to be actually created by you. Social media is a fantastic source of quality content if you know how to find it. Create search streams on Twitter to track keywords from your industry (think #tech, technology, #startups, etc.) and try and identify the most shared content. There are also several HootSuite apps, including Trendspottr and ContentGems, which will identify trending content about specific search terms. Once you've found a piece you like, share it with your social media followers. You provide them with quality, valuable content without having to work beyond your means on a Monday morning.
Another option is to curate content from your followers. They're not only a great source of content, but mentioning them in a Tweet or Facebook post is a great way to thank them and turn them into a brand advocate (and often a client) for life.
Figure Out What You Missed on the Weekend (Not Everything, Just The Big Stuff)
Not all businesses with a social media presence will have someone monitoring and posting to those channels over the weekend. As a result, social media managers are often faced with a backlog of Facebook comments, Twitter mentions and other social media interactions when they get to work on Monday morning. While we often feel obliged to find and respond to every single mention, forcing yourself to do so on a Monday morning can lead to unforced errors.
Instead of trying to do it all at once, try to identify the most significant messages and focus on those. Using HootSuite, you can filter all of your business mentions by Klout score, so the most influential users can be separated from the pack. Once you've taken care of those posts, you can take your time and respond to other comments. This isn't an excuse to ignore mentions, especially not customer service issues; but chances are these people are in the same Monday morning rut as you, and you push your responses until you're fit to give them your full attention.
Browse and Relax (Seriously)
When you get to work in the morning, take 15 minutes to relax. Check Facebook, check Twitter, check LinkedIn, Pinterest and Google+, have a laugh and then continue. If you're able to get comfortable at the beginning of the work day on Monday, you'll have an easier time with the rest of the day. And a productive Monday usually means a productive week.
Did I miss anything important? Let me know in the comments below.