Social media and social networking gives business owners the opportunity to reach a larger audience at a low or no cost aside from the time spent networking.As business owners we’re always looking to find ways to maintain our social media presence as efficiently as possible whilst still allowing us time to manage our other business activities. Below are 7 time saving tips we would like to share with you that might help you save time and create an effective social media marketing plan.1. Understand your purpose and have a planBefore jumping into social media set aside some time to think about specifically what you hope to get out of it. Perhaps it’s to increase traffic to your website, gain brand recognition or to maintain relations with your customers. Since time is limited it’s important to know what your purpose is, how you will approach it.2. Understand what social media is all aboutIt’s important to understand what social media is, learn the etiquette and the do’s and don’ts before jumping in. You don’t want to create a negative image for your brand. Take the time to get familiar with the various social media sites, connect with other users and learn how the sites work. One of the biggest mistakes is to jump into social media and start promoting your product or service right off the bat. This will tend to create the impression that you’re only interested in selling and not the conversation or the people who are following you.3. Targeting specific sitesAnother common mistake new users make is to sign up for an account on as many social media sites they can find. You’ll never be able to keep up with all of them and you’ll be spreading yourself too thin. Focus on a just a few sites and plan to be an active and consistent user. You’ll see far greater results!4. Use TwitterTwitter is a great way to connect with your target audience with fast and instant results if you have a product launch, event, teleclass, etc and need to market it to a large group quickly. Being active on Twitter doesn’t mean you need to create an account and follow a lot of people or send out tweets about anything and everything. Start by following people and replying to their tweets, start conversations, see who’s following them and if they fit in your target audience/niche follow them. When you have a new product/service/blog posting share it with your followers. As you make more connections and gain influence your results will improve by generating more traffic to your website or clicks to your links.5. Target niche-specific social media sitesNiche-specific social media sites are on the increase and these sites provide a smaller community of targeted people that you can get your content to. You’ll find a higher percentage of people on these sites will fall into your target market and produce greater results.6. Cultivate your networkYour network determines the success of your social media marketing. Get to know people in your niche, see who is promoting their content, and reach out to them about the possibility of helping each other.7. Schedule times for social mediaThe best way to manage social media is to schedule a set block of time to use social media. It could be 30 minutes a day or 3 times a week. By having set times it can help you to keep your usage down and still be active. Once you decide what’s right for you stick to it!Do you currently have social media marketing methods that you use to help you save time and still be an active member of the social media community? If so, we would love to hear what works for you!
Social media and social networking gives business owners the opportunity to reach a larger audience at a low or no cost aside from the time spent networking.As business owners we’re always looking to find ways to maintain our social media presence as efficiently as possible whilst still allowing us time to manage our other business activities. Below are 7 time saving tips we would like to share with you that might help you save time and create an effective social media marketing plan.1. Understand your purpose and have a planBefore jumping into social media set aside some time to think about specifically what you hope to get out of it. Perhaps it’s to increase traffic to your website, gain brand recognition or to maintain relations with your customers. Since time is limited it’s important to know what your purpose is, how you will approach it.2. Understand what social media is all aboutIt’s important to understand what social media is, learn the etiquette and the do’s and don’ts before jumping in. You don’t want to create a negative image for your brand. Take the time to get familiar with the various social media sites, connect with other users and learn how the sites work. One of the biggest mistakes is to jump into social media and start promoting your product or service right off the bat. This will tend to create the impression that you’re only interested in selling and not the conversation or the people who are following you.3. Targeting specific sitesAnother common mistake new users make is to sign up for an account on as many social media sites they can find. You’ll never be able to keep up with all of them and you’ll be spreading yourself too thin. Focus on a just a few sites and plan to be an active and consistent user. You’ll see far greater results!4. Use TwitterTwitter is a great way to connect with your target audience with fast and instant results if you have a product launch, event, teleclass, etc and need to market it to a large group quickly. Being active on Twitter doesn’t mean you need to create an account and follow a lot of people or send out tweets about anything and everything. Start by following people and replying to their tweets, start conversations, see who’s following them and if they fit in your target audience/niche follow them. When you have a new product/service/blog posting share it with your followers. As you make more connections and gain influence your results will improve by generating more traffic to your website or clicks to your links.5. Target niche-specific social media sitesNiche-specific social media sites are on the increase and these sites provide a smaller community of targeted people that you can get your content to. You’ll find a higher percentage of people on these sites will fall into your target market and produce greater results.6. Cultivate your networkYour network determines the success of your social media marketing. Get to know people in your niche, see who is promoting their content, and reach out to them about the possibility of helping each other.7. Schedule times for social mediaThe best way to manage social media is to schedule a set block of time to use social media. It could be 30 minutes a day or 3 times a week. By having set times it can help you to keep your usage down and still be active. Once you decide what’s right for you stick to it!Do you currently have social media marketing methods that you use to help you save time and still be an active member of the social media community? If so, we would love to hear what works for you!
