By Rieva Lesonsky
Feeling burned out on social media? You’re not alone. While social media is a great tool for small business owners, the sheer volume of social media options and the time required to stay on top of your social media accounts can make even the most energetic entrepreneur want to say “Uncle.”
Instead of throwing in the towel on social media, try these strategies to reinvigorate your blog, Facebook, Twitter and other content.
- Reassess your goals. You did have goals when you launched your social media efforts, right? Or maybe you just did it because it was “the thing to do.” Whatever the case, sit back and decide what you want each social media tool to accomplish for your business. Do you want to drive traffic to your Website, become known as a thought leader in your field or generate leads?
- Plan a strategy. In the fast-moving social media world, it’s easy to lose sight of your goals, so you need to create a strategy for what type of content you will focus on in each social media channel. For example, if you goal with your blog is to get known as a thought leader, then you’ll want to make sure you are regularly blogging about controversial or hot topics in your field.
- Delegate. If part of the reason for your burnout is that you’re handling all the social media activity for your business, think about what aspects you can delegate. No, I’m not suggesting handing your Twitter feed over to an intern—but you can (and should) enable other staffers to post to your business’s Facebook page, write blog posts and generate content (photos, videos, surveys) that can drive engagement.
- Measure results. Use the analytics tools that social media sites provide, or try the growing number of third-party tools, to measure what content gets the best response, what frequency and timing works best, and what social media channels are the most fruitful for you. Yes, using analytics is one more thing to add to your to-do list, but in the long run, it will streamline your social media activity by enabling you to hone in on what works and drop what doesn’t.
- Try tools. If you’re not already using social media management tools like Cotweet, Hootsuite and Tweetdeck to make your life easier, I strongly suggest you do so.
There’s a lot more you can do—and we want to talk about it at SXSW 2012. Check out the panel discussion we’re proposing at http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/ideas/view/11382 and vote for us via the “thumbs up” at top if you want to hear more about this topic!
Image by Flickr user Dave Hogg (Creative Commons)
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