Managing the morass of social media apps can be anxiety inducing for even the average user. When it comes to running business social media accounts, however, the pressure ratchets up. Navigating different campaigns across a half-dozen or more idiosyncratic platforms can border on the absurd. There are tools and tricks to help you more effectively engage your audience online.
Creating A Social Media Calendar
In looking to craft a social media strategy, first consider a holistic approach. “An essential step is having a content calendar,” says Emily Hutto, founder of RadCraft, a communications focused craft beer co-op that helps brewers, maltsters, distillers, and allied trade partners. “Keep a big picture lens of all of the different topics, which could include events or releases or campaigns that you want to be talking about, all in one place. It will help you then parse it out based on day of the week or based on topic. And that can also help you add some variability so you’re not always posting about the same thing, but rather mixing up the types of topics that you’re putting out to your audience.”
Hutto suggests that the structure of having a calendar can help bring some stability to your social media posting but can also provide some ability to vary it up. “Ironically enough, the structure builds room for flexibility, because you have a plan that you can work around versus feeling like you’re scattering all the time to decide what you’re going to post that day, which is something I see on behalf of a lot of brands,” shae says. “There’s this kind of mindfulness of what to post without it being on paper anywhere as a plan. And it causes a lot of stress. How can people who do social media reduce their stress? Have a content calendar and use it.”
Scheduling Social Media Posts
Whether you manage your social media solo or as part of a team, few can maintain their accounts on a real time post by post basis. The value of scheduling a social media post is incredibly valuable for allowing full creativity while balancing flexibility and maintaining sanity. Social media scheduling tools allow you to create and schedule the publication of content at set points, either in a few hours, days, or weeks. You can schedule posts around events, dates, or holidays, instead of in single or one-off moments. Without the crunch of time pressures, you can improve the quality of your posts, allowing some time to review and even edit the posts.
While many social media platforms include some basic ability to schedule posts for later publication, there is a movement to restrict access or place it behind a paywall. Using each individual service to schedule posts can also be a hassle for someone managing multiple accounts across numerous different platforms. This is where third party services that combine scheduling abilities come in handy. With such services, which include Hootsuite, Later, and Sprout, you can schedule posts on Instagram, Facebook, X, Youtube, LinkedIn, TikTok, and others. This avoids the need to access each app independently and cross-post your content. These services also allow you to manage your scheduled posts in a calendar mode, showing you the entirety of your social media schedule and lineup.
Another key takeaway for managing social media is that each platform is unique, with your followers behaving differently on each app. Third-party social media management services understand this and allow you to access a range of analytics tools, which can show you when your audience is most engaged and when your posts would likely achieve the greatest success. Through graphs, charts, and other data displays, you can assess the peak times of engagement across each distinct platform and schedule your posts for when your target audience is most active.
Hutto advises clients to pay close attention to the analytical data. “Look at the behavior of your audience,” she says. “When are they online? When are they the most engaged? When are they just scrolling and not really paying attention versus taking time to comment on and like your posts? That can help you plan your content calendar as well.”
In terms of scheduling social media posts, it’s important to maintain consistency without over-saturating your audience. Using the content calendar and third party tools to space out your posts and to vary their nature can help. Some posts may be time sensitive, such as promotion of an event or a beer release, while other content may be evergreen in nature or can even recur multiple times. It’s also crucial to be mindful of current events and how they may impact your audience’s response to a post. In the wake of a widespread news event, especially a negative one, a previously scheduled post may come across as ill-timed, in poor taste, or worse. Be sure to keep your calendar in mind as news evolves. Don’t just set it and forget it.
Managing The Stress
A business’s first contact point with many consumers is often through social media channels. This can often lead to social media employees receiving the brunt of a disaffected customer’s wrath or even the unsolicited comments from random people online. It’s important for managers and owners to routinely check in with their social media managers to help manage their stress levels and to address issues as they arise. Hutto advises those in the social media
management trenches to not take anything personally but to take it seriously.
“They’re not targeting you,” she says. “And they’re usually using stronger language because they have this shield piece of technology between you and them…All feedback can be constructive, if you frame it that way. And it’s important to really read, receive, and integrate the feedback that you’re getting from your audience. And then let it roll off when it’s not relevant. Hutto acknowledges that this can be difficult when the responses are heated. “There’s a grain of salt that needs to be taken there but also a seriousness around paying attention to the comments that matter. And I think that philosophy can help someone develop some thicker skin to some of the harsher stuff that can come in sometimes.” Companies should also encourage their social media staff to report any inappropriate or offensive responses and develop a strategy for addressing problematic interactions and to protect staffers.