Spring Clean Your Social Media

Just as you did with your emails, you probably need to do a clean-up of your social media accounts.

But before you dive in, ask yourself these questions for each platform you use:

• Does this social media platform produce the results I want for my business?
• Do the groups I belong to help me with networking and marketing?
• Is my profile up to date and projecting the message I want?

You might have opened social accounts before you had your business, so there may be changes to make to bring those up to date. But you also might find that a particular platform isn’t doing anything for you. If so, close the account so you can concentrate on the ones that do bring results.

Reaffirm your social media strategy so that you’re clear on why you’re spending time on social media. Is it to:

• Get your name known widely
• Increase your reputation as a thought leader
• Drive traffic to your website
• Get sign-ups for your opt-in report
• Share content and educate
• Build a brand
• Get support from colleagues
• Enlarge your professional network

Once you’ve defined your strategy, you can use your time better when you visit a platform because know why you’re there.  

Now you’re ready to do some spring cleaning. Make sure you:

• Deal with outstanding messages, requests to connect, requests to join your group (if you have one)
• Unsubscribe from groups that are no longer useful
• Delete any accounts you don’t use

Use Your Social Media Time Wisely

Social media is an extremely useful tool for marketing and connecting people. But it has its drawbacks too. You need to ensure that you’re disciplined enough to take charge of your social media activity and make it work for you, rather than the other way around. Otherwise, social media can become a huge time waster.

Here are some tips to help you manage your time on social media:

• Be sure to schedule specific times for interaction on social media. 30 minutes per day should be your limit.
• If you use instant messaging, let others know when you aren’t free or put your setting to ‘busy’ when you need to concentrate.
• Make sure you turn off any buzzes, pings, or notifications when you need to focus.
• Use mobile apps when you’re waiting at the airport, in line for coffee, etc. to sign in and check messages. This is a positive use of your time.
• Switch everything off to have quality time with your friends and family and stay in the moment.

Social Media Management Tools

You can use social media management tools to optimize the time you spend on social media.

For example, instead of uploading the same post to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram separately, use a tool that allows you to upload to all at the same time, such as Hootsuite or Buffer. You can also use these tools to schedule your posts in advance.

There are also tools that will re-share previous content you’ve posted, such as MeetEdgar, Missinglettr, and PromoRepublic.

Social media platforms themselves are recognizing that time management is a problem and are introducing tools to help. Check out your platforms to see what they already provide before you look elsewhere.