This is an article by Chris Makara. Since 2003, he has developed a broad digital marketing background with a focus on SEO, Social Media, Automation and Analytics. He is the founder of Bulkly, a social media automation tool for individuals and small businesses. Feel free to find him on Google+, LinkedIn, or Twitter.
Whether you’re managing your own social media channels, or those belonging to your clients, you know that time is money.
And at the end of the day, your ultimate goal is to find a way to do more with less.
Do more work in less time, that is.
The key is efficiency. But you already knew that.
What you need to know is how to become more efficient managing your social channels so that you can take on more business in the time you have – or free up more of your time under your current workload.
Here are three easy and inexpensive ways to make that happen.
1. Monitor your social media channels – all in one place.
Monitoring your social channels is important. You need to know what your followers are saying so you can engage, analyze and use your findings to post better (or more great) content.
If you have a collection of social channels on your plate, it takes time to log in and out of each one to check notifications. Or dig through a zillion Facebook email updates. Or have a million tabs open on your desktop at any given moment.
While it may be smart to have notification emails coming in as reminders or to check each channel individually once in a while, the ability to monitor everything from a single dashboard is definitely the way to go.
My recommendation for the best social tool for efficient monitoring? Hootsuite.
Hootsuite is easy to use and extremely economical if you’re looking for an intuitive tool that does a lot for a small fee. It’s free to users looking to essentially test it with 3 social profiles, but upgrading to the “Pro” package that gives you access to the majority of the tool’s features is only $8.99/mo (when paid annually).
Simply create your account, log in and follow the step-by-step process to sync your collection of social channels to the dashboard.
At this point, separate tabs are created for each channel (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.). Within these tabs you have the ability to create multiple “streams” of social updates based on mentions of your company name, popular hashtags, your competitors, etc.
Additionally, you’ll be able to view the content currently being posted to each of your channels in real-time, as well as conversations and replies – just the way you would in the notifications section of each of your accounts.
Pretty snazzy, huh? Imagine how much time you could save…and how much free head space you’ll clear up without all those passwords running around in there.
2. Design your own social images in minutes – for free.
Ugh, stock photos. Can’t live with them, can’t live without them.
But you don’t have to succumb to the march of the masses using the same boring office shots – or waste your time sifting through endless free image sites for the one that might look just a little different.
And no, I’m not talking about signing up for a free crash course in graphic design.
I’m talking about Canva.
Ever heard of it?
If you find yourself beating your head against the wall for an amazing image, and lacking the resources to buy your own images, Canva offers a wide selection of templates and tools to help you create a digital masterpiece. No, seriously.
Just create your account – for free – and get going.
First you pick a category of design to start with, organized by the appropriate sizing. Your options span from Facebook Posts to Blog Graphics and more.
Next, pick a background, choosing either a solid color, pattern, stock photo or even your own uploaded image. Then add text, images, designs, you name it, and before you know it, you’ve got yourself your very own digital Picasso.
And with Canva, you can become a paying customer as you please – if you’re sick of the free, standard variety of backgrounds (and believe me, it’ll take a while to run through them), you have the option of selecting a premium image, design, picture, etc. for $1 each. That’s it.
When you’re done, you just hit download, select the file type you prefer, and voila! – social image in seconds.
3. Schedule out social media updates all at once – in advance.
So this last one is going to be a bit of an investment up-front, but it ends up paying off the most in terms of efficiency at the end. Worth it, right?
I’ll answer that for you. Yes!
To become more efficient when posting updates to your social channels, I’d recommend using Buffer.
Is it inexpensive? Yes – Buffer offers both free and paid accounts, but for just $10/month you’ll gain access to the majority of features you’ll need to get rolling.
The time investment that will lead to future efficiency will be your having to build out a social media calendar of updates to go out on various dates and times. But you probably already put together something like that to keep yourself on track, right?
Creating this calendar gives you a ready-made list of updates that cover the span of time you’re looking to post – days, weeks, months – so you can then schedule them out in Buffer.
Here’s how it works.
Simply set up your account, log in and sync your collection of social channels by following the steps to provide the appropriate usernames and passwords. Once your accounts have been synced they should show up in a list on the left side of your Buffer dashboard.
By clicking on each individual channel within that list, you can then choose the “schedule” tab at the top of your dashboard to select when updates will be shared to that specific channel.
By clicking on the “content” tab at the top, you’ll find a form that allows you to compose social media updates, just as you would to that stand alone channel. But instead of sending them out immediately, Buffer allots them to go out according to the posting schedule you’ve already created. So you’re essentially building up a queue of future posts in advance.
This is where your social media calendar creates efficiency.
Using your calendar for reference, you can literally spend an hour or two knocking out a whole month’s worth of social updates to various channels. Bingo. Work done ahead of time. All in one shot.
Not only can you add content directly in Buffer, but if you install the Chrome extension you’ll be able to add content from any website and add it to some or all of your social media accounts.
How’s that for posting efficiency?
And if you really want to maximize Buffer you can recycle your social media posts automatically.
Efficiency is a learned skill – that takes practice
Learning a new skill takes time. Or at least time to become really good, or efficient, at it.
But these three social media tools can help you upgrade your monitoring, image creation and posting efficiency with minimal effort – and expense.
Give them a try. Once you get going, you won’t be able to stop.
33 Comments
xgvwwkjfg gvxus echwuei ykdp kywcrkdtohavkvp
270428 181203There is noticeably big cash to realize about this. I suppose you created certain good points in functions also. 187961
11335 947092As I internet site possessor I believe the content matter here is rattling magnificent , appreciate it for your hard work. You need to maintain it up forever! Greatest of luck. 624886
292429 76353Usually I dont read this kind of stuff, but this was really interesting! 83936
Sutter Health
507184 623899Some genuinely nice stuff on this internet website , I it. 78543
smooth jazz instrumental
water sounds
I really like reading through a post that can make men and women think. Also thank you for allowing me to comment!
I appreciate you sharing this blog.Really looking forward to read more. Really Great.
You re so awesome! I don t believe I have read a single thing like that before.
So great to find someone with some original thoughts on this topic. Really..
159886 931159As I internet site owner I believe the content material material here is really superb, thanks for your efforts. 174953
521374 773177You might be websites successful individuals, it comes effortlessly, therefore you also earn you see, the jealousy of all the ones plenty of journeymen surrounding you could have challenges within this challenge. motor movers 890762
545035 130707Pretty! This was a actually great post. Thank you for your provided info. cool desktop 895728
299396 604982Currently it seems like BlogEngine will be the finest blogging platform out there correct now. (from what Ive read) Is that what youre utilizing on your weblog? 689287
485010 882323Conveyancing […]we like to honor other sites on the internet, even if they arent related to us, by linking to them. Below are some websites worth checking out[…] 628030
24213 906263I truly like forgathering utile info, this post has got me even much more information! . 267762
121976 877055Good article. It does shed some light on the issue. By the for those interested in binary options can get an exclusive binary options bonus. 688844
633156 779908Hey. Neat post. There can be a problem together with your website in firefox, and you could want to check this The browser could be the market chief and a large component of other folks will omit your outstanding writing because of this difficulty. 596451
591858 222598Glad to be one of a lot of visitors on this awing site : D. 117039
738862 606103Quite effectively written story. It will likely be useful to everybody who utilizes it, as effectively as myself. Keep up the great function – i will definitely read much more posts. 681947
167773 926711Hi there, just became aware of your blog by way of Google, and identified that it is truly informative. Ill be grateful in case you continue this in future. Lots of folks will benefit from your writing. Cheers! 259270
884123 535824Wow, wonderful blog layout! How long have you been blogging for? you make blogging look effortless. The overall appear of your web internet site is amazing, let alone the content material! 107539
197378 473681Id should talk with you here. Which is not some thing I do! I spend time reading an article that could get folks to feel. Also, appreciate your allowing me to comment! 334995
learn more
713293 318621I like this website really a lot, Its a actually nice situation to read and get info . 4167
376459 895059As I web-site possessor I believe the content material matter here is rattling wonderful , appreciate it for your efforts. You should keep it up forever! Greatest of luck. 416253
557073 145866This sort of wanting to come to a difference in her or his lifestyle, initial typically Los angeles Excess weight weightloss scheme is actually a large running in as it reached that strive. weight loss 957808
138544 298294This really is a extremely exciting write-up, Im looking for this know how. So you understand I established your web site when I was searching for websites like my own, so please appear at my internet internet site someday and post me a opinion to let me know how you feel. 900382
303547 343829Dead written articles , Actually enjoyed reading . 962370
365939 207973Merely a smiling visitor here to share the love (:, btw outstanding design . “Audacity, much more audacity and always audacity.” by Georges Jacques Danton. 544023
Click here