What to do when you don’t have time for social media for your small business

Whether you’re showing homes, scheduling appointments, selling insurance policies, or managing someone else’s finances, having a lot of free time is a luxury that few of us have. For many business owners who are overbooked, social media marketing is the first thing to go. However, this should not be the case. These social media tips can assist you in prioritising this critical marketing task without overwhelming you. Alternatively, you can work with a company that offers professional social media management services.

With nearly 30% of all online time spent on social media, it’s no surprise that business owners must maintain an active online presence. However, how can they maintain a social media presence when their time is limited? With some planning, you can create an effective online presence with little effort. Here are some strategies for completing critical social media tasks without sacrificing excessive time:

Improve Your Ability to Plan Ahead

The best piece of advice anyone can give you about managing your social media accounts while maintaining a busy schedule is to automate. On those rare occasions when you find yourself with an extra 30 or even 60 minutes, you can create a queue of content that will keep your social media channels looking active for weeks. Our Buffer account ensures that we always have content ready to go.

Numerous online services are available to assist you in planning, scheduling, and automating posting across all of your social networks. You’ll need some time to familiarise yourself with your scheduler’s operation, but it’ll all be worth it when your pages run smoothly.  

Make a Professional Move: Go Live!

Are you attending a trade show? Are you developing a new product? Are you commemorating a colleague’s anniversary? Oftentimes, the activities that keep us too busy to work on social content are precisely the activities that our audience would love to participate in. 

Many of the social media platforms we use support live video; you just need to do some testing to ensure you’re comfortable. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter all support live video. Real-time video is extremely popular and can provide your customers with a “slice of life” perspective that will help them fall in love with your brand.

Are you unsure whether a live video is right for you? A simple photograph of your life and business in action can have the same effect. Never be afraid to demonstrate personality, as long as it fits the image you’re attempting to create for your brand.

Create a List of Priorities for Your Pages

Stop debating whether or not your business requires a social media presence (it does) and begin determining which platforms to utilize. Juggling ten different accounts makes managing your content difficult and time-consuming, so focusing on what matters is a critical first step.

As a business owner, the “Big Three” social networks—Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn—are the best places to start. By prioritizing just these three sites, you’ll join a community of over 2.2 billion monthly active users! Bear in mind that you do not need to be everywhere; rather, you need to be in the right places.

Would you like to broaden your horizons a little bit? Your business may benefit from an attractive Instagram page, or you can use Snapchat to take your customers behind the scenes. There are numerous choices available to you.

Keep an eye on your notifications and take part in them.

As simple as it may sound, the simplest way to keep your social presence active is to keep your notifications up to date. By checking your notifications, you’ll stay informed of what people are liking, commenting on, and sharing, and you’ll be able to respond immediately.

There are few things more frustrating for a customer conducting research on a business than discovering cobweb-covered social media pages. If you maintain a consistent level of engagement, customers will recognize your presence even if you don’t have the time to post original content as frequently as you’d like.

Have you observed someone engaging with a large number of your posts? This is an opportunity to initiate contact and build a stronger relationship. Never underestimate the value of the information that notifications provide you and your business.

Incorporate Genuine and Curated Content

Don’t have time to write about a variety of unique topics? Take a deep breath—no one expects you to. Sharing content from other sources that your followers may enjoy is a necessary part of being an effective social media user.

Consider following news sites, industry-related companies, celebrities, thought leaders, and anyone else who may be of interest to you or your audience. Then, when you log in, you’ll see that your feeds and timelines are brimming with content you can reuse on your own page.

While everyone is busy and time is limited, critical business tasks such as social media cannot be overlooked. Facebook and Instagram are designed to assist you in connecting with your customers, establishing brand recognition, and growing your business. A small amount of effort goes a long way, and these social media tips are an excellent place to start.