There’s no question that social media can be a big help to your business, whether you’re trying to reach current customers or target new ones. There are also many people who say that social media takes up too much of their time, and they don’t feel like they get enough out of the time they spend on it to make it worthwhile. Here are five tips for spending less time on social media without missing out on all the great benefits as a business. These are the same tips I follow when it comes to all my businesses; Modern Market, Wordsmith & The Essential Studio Manager.

THE IMPORTANCE OF USING SOCIAL MEDIA AS A BUSINESS

We live in a digital world. Most people use social media, so if you’re trying to grow your business, you have to be where your customers are: on social media. But there’s more to it than that. It’s no longer enough to just have a Facebook page and hope for people to like it and engage with it—you actually need content and strategies, or you risk losing valuable leads. Take some time out of your day and design a plan that will allow you to maximize your presence without wasting all of your time (or missing out on opportunities). 

WHY YOU NEED AN ONLINE PRESENCE 

There are plenty of reasons why businesses (and individuals) create social media accounts. It’s a way to share content with your audience and spread your business’s name, establish yourself as an expert in your field, network with other businesses or people in your niche, even find a new employee. However, if you’re struggling to keep up with social media while running a business (particularly if you work solo), then it might be time to evaluate how much time you spend on these platforms and how you can still get all the benefits of using social media, without having to spend so much time on social media.

CREATING CONTENT PILLARS

Content pillars are a core component of every successful social media strategy because they take the guesswork out of what to post, making it easy for you to stay on target and have fun with your content. Pillars are relevant topics and themes that keep your audience engaged. The content pillars I’ve always built my content around is: 

1. Personal 
2. Educational 
3. Promotional 
4. Engaging 
5. Passion

Depending on what kind of business you have, you could adjust these content pillars, or change them to something more specific that your audience enjoys.

CREATING CONTENT AHEAD OF TIME 

Write out a schedule for content creation and stick to it. Schedule your social media posts several days or weeks in advance. Utilize tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, or Later to plan content in advance and save yourself time. These apps allows you to create a queue of pre-written posts, which you can then schedule at different times over an extended period of time. This way you’re not having to do all the work on the go and can dedicate one day to plan and schedule all your content. 

TIP: Just because you automate your posts doesn’t mean you can get away with not showing up online. I try to schedule my posts but then push the notification to my phone so I can post it manually and engage during the best time. Which is typically shortly after posting.

SHOWING UP AND ENGAGING WITH YOUR AUDIENCE

Let’s not forget one of the most important ways to participate in social media is to simply show up. Engaging with your audience requires you to use social media as a place for interaction and presence, even if it doesn’t directly lead to sales or customers. Using it only for promotion means you’re missing out on half of its value. Let’s not forget what makes social media great. It’s a place you can connect. Although I’m all for planning ahead and scheduling my posts in advance, one thing I won’t ever miss (or outsource) is the opportunity to show up and connect with real people. 

 Promoting your business or brand on social media is important, but it’s just one use of a diverse and valuable tool. You’ll get more out of it by showing up and connecting with people in your industry on a regular basis. Even if you’re not being asked for advice or solutions, being there to support and encourage others can help build relationships that lead to collaboration later. Sometimes all you need to start is an introduction, so never be afraid to say hi!

EMAIL MARKETING VS SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

It’s obvious—email marketing is one of, if not THE, most effective ways to reach customers. If you’re hoping to spend less time on social media, then getting your email list started might also be a really great idea. I learned a valuable lesson after spending years building up my Facebook fan page (back when we could still reach our followers organically) and overnight losing that connection when Facebook pushed new changes on who saw our content. I promised myself I wouldn’t make the same mistake with Instagram or any other social media platform. Instead, I used social media but focused more on building my list. A direct connection to my customer and clients. Thanks to my list, I was also able to spend less time on social media, but still reach my audience directly anytime I sent an email. Email marketing is also just one piece of the marketing puzzle, but a piece that I truly enjoy utilizing. 

LIMITING TIME ON SOCIAL MEDIA CAN HELP YOUR BUSINESS

Many entrepreneurs say that social media is addictive, and believe it’s holding them back from focusing on what really matters. By spending less time on Facebook and Instagram, you’ll be able to invest more time in other areas of your business—and get much more done in your day-to-day operations. Start by determining how much time you currently spend on social media each day, then figure out if that is the best way forward. Figure out how much time you really need to spend on social media, and then make that your goal. Often enough, when it comes to social media it’s easy to let those quick 5 minutes turn into two hours. By being more aware of how we spend our time on social media, we become more productive with how we spend our overall time. 

IT’S OK TO NOT ALWAYS WANT TO CREATE CONTENT 

Being on social media is important because it provides another way for people to engage with your brand and business. But just because social media plays a big role in how we market our business these days, doesn’t mean we should feel obligated to spend all our time on it. I’ve actually had more success with marketing by being less on social media because it’s allowed me to focus my time on other parts of my marketing strategy that so often got pushed to the side. Remember: Social media marketing is just one tiny piece of the marketing game. There are many other ways you can go about marketing your business. What’s most important is that you find a way to market your business in a way that you enjoy. If social media isn’t at the top of your list, then stop making it such a huge priority and instead focus on marketing you enjoy. 

Thankfully, I specialize in creating social media captions that can easily be customized to who you are and what you do. They are perfect for any kind of business owner ready to start showing up online consistently.

WORDSMITH SOCIAL MEDIA CAPTION EXAMPLES:

1) BIG WARM HELLO (PERSONAL)

I haven’t introduced myself on here for a while so I thought I’d do that again. A big warm hello to all of you  My name is [name] and I’m the [girl, woman, man driving force, dreamer] behind [your business name].

When I was [age or time in your time] I fell in love with [what you do] after [an experience that helped you find your passion] and in [year you started your business] I decided to go for it and [your business name] was born.

I spend most of my days [what you typically do for your job] and love every minute of it. For me, what I do is so much more than just a job, it’s something I picture myself doing for years to come because it allows me to [your favorite part of what you do], and I honestly couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

I’m also a [something else you are, parent, mom, occupation] and obsessed with [something you love to do, like spending time with your family, drawing, reading, etc.] in my free time.

I’d love to get to know you a little better, comment below and come say hello and tell me where you’re from, it’s always so much fun to see where everyone is!

2) THE PERFECT FIT  (EDUCATIONAL)

What’s the number one thing you look for when you’re searching for the perfect [enter your job title]? Is it [list a few things like price, style, location, personality, etc]? If you’ve been looking for a [your job title] you’ve probably realized that it can be a little overwhelming at times and I’m here to help you in your search with my 5 best tips on finding the perfect [your job title]! 

[offer tips to help them in their search. ex; if you’re a photographer you might mention that they should view their portfolio to see if they have the right style, or that cheaper prices can sometimes be a red flag]
1. [Tip number one]

2. [Tip number two]

3. [Tip number three]

4. [Tip number four]

5. [Tip number five]

I hope these little tips help you with your search. If you’d love to talk more about hiring me as your [job title] then shoot me a message! I have a few [available appointments, spots, sessions, etc] in the next [week, month, year] and would love to send you some more information to see if we’d be a great fit! 

3) WHERE ARE YOU FROM (ENGAGING)

I’d love to know; where are you from? There are so many new faces, and it’s always fun to see where everyone is located! Most of you probably know, but I live in [your current location] and have been calling this beautiful place home for [how many years you’ve lived there].

Near or far, comment and below and let me know where you’re from!

FREE INSTAGRAM CAPTIONS

You can get a whole month’s worth of social media captions when you sign up for the free trial for Wordsmith. A platform dedicated to helping business owners create great content. I publish new content for you to use every single month!

If you’re a business owner, spend less time on social media without missing out on any of its benefits and be more productive with how you use social media to grow your business.  This will in turn help build your brand and give you back valuable time.  Start by creating daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly goals for yourself on social media so that you can track your results over time. You don’t need to spend hours each day managing your social media pages. Sometimes it comes down to using these marketing tools more efficiently to get the most out of them. 

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