Social media is a full time job

“I don’t have time to spend hours on social media!” This is a response we often here from clients and business acquaintances who have commercial websites and social media pages. It is an understandable point of view. Anyone who runs a business will know that building up a social media following takes time and commitment.

Your social media needs to be monitored regularly, and used on a daily basis to ensure it is used to its maximum capacity. Yes, you can build a Facebook page build up some followers and then simply let it sit there. You will have ticked a box and if anyone asks you can say, “Yes, we are on Facebook.” The problem is, if you do this, which is the path millions of businesses take, you will be missing out on huge opportunities that other business in direct competition with you are taking advantage of. The same is true for Twitter. Ignore it and you will very quickly lose your followers. To take full advantage of social media you must use it.

First think about how you want to present your business. Once you have established this foundation, it will be much easier to create content and develop ideas for using all the different social media tools available to you.

Make a plan for monthly, weekly and daily activity. In your plan, don’t forget to include out of office times in the evenings and at weekends or on public holidays. Add in any special dates or celebrations that happen throughout the year that your brand can use as a hook. For example, cake shops will promote special products at Easter, Valentine’s or Christmas. Or fashion retailers will do additional promotions when new collections are launched.

Action your plan and stick to the plan! This is the step where the majority if businesses lose their way. You must stick to it. Don’t give up. If you are extremely busy, hire one of your employees to take on the work, or outsource it to a reputable interne marketing agency who can do it on your behalf. It doesn’t matter who delivers your social media, as long as the content is high quality at all times, the activity is regular and consistent, and responses to followers and customers are almost immediate.

If you are not using social media to its full potential, start planning now, and figure out a way that you can create a social buzz for your business.