If you’re spending hours of every day on social media scheduling, you won’t see the return on investment that social media promises. Last year we looked at how to get huge results using social media. Now it’s time to get a handle on time-saving techniques to optimise your strategy. Don’t let social media scheduling swallow up your precious hours. Save time and money with the following tips.
Re-consider your tools
So you’ve ditched those cumbersome spreadsheets, and you no longer take time out of your day to post. You’re already saving time with scheduling tools, but are you using the right tools for your particular strategy?
Start by looking at which social media channels you’re posting to, and how many you’ve got, to find the optimal scheduling tools for your business. You’ll also have to work out what purpose each channel serves, whether that be engaging existing followers or reaching new audiences. You could be wasting time by using several scheduling tools for each different channel. But, a mix of scheduling tools may be just what you need to save time.
For instance, tools like Sprout Social allow you to plan, schedule and view several channels at the same time. This allows you to do and keep everything in the same place. Tools such as Hootsuite allow you to boost directly from the scheduler, so you don’t need to go to the channel to boost once your post’s gone live. Single-channel scheduling tools such as Schedugram are still popular. In the case of Schedugram, this tool does one efficient thing that many tools don’t: post straight to Instagram. Finally, scheduling through Facebook rather than a scheduling tool also has its advantages. It allows you to build posts with buttons, which your audience may find more clickable than your average front-end post.
Extensions
How many times have you come across a sharable piece of content, saved it in bookmarks to post or schedule later, then forgotten all about it? Schedulers such as Buffer come with browser extensions, allowing you to schedule tidbits of content as you go, even on a mobile device. Without the need to stop what you’re doing and open your scheduling tool, using a browser extension can save a great deal of time.
Are your goals SMART?
When considering how to save time on your social media scheduling, it’s easy to forget the big picture. But one way to achieve efficiency in your social media strategy is by setting SMART goals. According to this popular method for setting and achieving objectives, your goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Use SMART goals during your strategy planning stage to make your marketing more efficient, and above all, lucrative.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Recycling content is more than a time-saving cheat, it’s a technique with its own advantages for your social media strategy. Take a post that performed well in the past, change its date and give it a fresh boost. You’ll increase the amount of engagement on that given post, and increase your reach. Or, re-vamp old content by changing the copy or tying it in with current events. This allows you to reach followers who missed the post the first time around, and test different types of copy to see what works. Just as you do with household products, reduce, reuse and recycle your social media content to save time on your scheduling.