Many small businesses and non-profit organizations still don’t use social media to their advantage because they feel it’s too time consuming. It definitely can take time to stay on top of several social media accounts such as: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.
How can you focus on social media when you have other priorities?
Let me tell you, social media is crucial to the success of your business. Did you know that 72% of all internet users are active on social media? It doesn’t surprise me… since my mama is on Facebook!
Say what!
This means your customers or members are looking for YOU on one of the social media networks.
- Facebook has over 1.15 billion users.
- Google+ has 359 million monthly active users.
- Twitter has 215 million monthly active users.
- Pinterest has 20 million active monthly users
- Instagram has 150 million active monthly users
How do you know which social media sites to use and should you use multiple sites?
You want to use social media to reach out and connect with your customers/members. The sites that have more capabilities than others are: Facebook, Google+, and Pinterest. With these social media sites you can easily post contests and coupons, which means there is more engagement with customers/members. At least have 2 social media sites to work off of. Google+ is supposed to be more popular in the next couple years than Facebook, keep that in mind.
What will help you manage your social media networks?
The key is to have a social media management system in place and there are several out there some free of charge. Here’s a few of them: Buffer, Hootsuite, and Netvibes.
The wonderful thing about social media management systems is that you can schedule your posts for any time you want. There is a bit of science to when you should post to get the most engagement and clicks. Basically content marketing is what you aim for in social media networks. You’re not out selling your products. You use social media networks as a tool to provide the skills and service you have in a fun way so people can see what you’re really about. This is to show you’re professional but REAL. Show your customers/members you care about them.
When should you schedule your posts?
The best time is when your customer/members …
- Wake up in the morning – people check their smartphones as soon as they rise in morning.
- Between work and dinner – you know people always check their smartphones in their commute going home.
- Bedtime – when they get ready to lay down they have to check-in to see if they missed anything during the day.
According to Huffington Post Tech, it’s tricky to really pinpoint the best time because it depends on your audience. They did find that user engagement rates were higher on Thursdays and Fridays for Facebook and the weekends were best for Twitter. You will need to analyze your postings and see what works best for your company/organization.
Lastly, the social media management system is a great start in getting engaged with your customers/members and will save you time. Try posting every day or every other day and schedule your posts. Once you have your scheduled posts done, it will only take a few minutes to view any comments or discussion you will have on the posts.
Of course, your posts and comments will become greater in number because YOU ARE that awesome. That’s when you need to think about hiring a Virtual Assistant to help you with your social media management.
Let me know what your thoughts are on social media management. I’d love to hear from you!
Peace,
Lillian
http://socialmediatoday.com/index.php?q=danielle-cormier/1510911/when-best-time-post-facebook
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/belle-beth-cooper/a-scientific-guide-to-pos_b_4262571.html
Tigerlily 