It’s one thing to say you’re going to own the internet with your killer social media presence, but putting the plan into action requires the management of a whole slew of moving parts.

Firstly, let’s start with the plan/strategy – you do have one right?!

If not, here are some questions to ask yourself that will help you create a basic social media strategy:

  • What am I trying to accomplish? (What are your goals?)
  • Why am I including social media in my overall marketing plan? (How will social media help you accomplish your goals?)
  • Who am I marketing to?
  • Where is my audience? (Which social media platforms do they use?)
  • What will I post?
  • When and how frequently will I publish my posts?

These are just some of the questions that I lead my clients through when we’re developing their social media strategy, but they’re also the questions that form the basis upon which the rest of the strategy is formed. You can’t go wrong by giving concrete answers to them!

Now that you’ve got at least a basic strategy down, we can look at how you’re going to implement it. Like I mentioned above, there are a lot of moving parts to manage, including:

  • Setting up new social media profiles/accounts
  • Overseeing daily actions to engage prospects and customers
  • Creating, monitoring, and growing Facebook or LinkedIn groups
  • Writing and curating content
  • Scheduling content
  • Monitoring, engaging, and conversing with prospects and customers on each social media platform
  • Measuring, tracking, and analyzing your results

Hands down, the most frequent question my clients ask me when they see what it truly takes to have a killer social media presence is, “who has time for all that?!?!”

The short answer to that question is… NOT YOU.

I’m not advocating that you hand off every single detail to a Virtual Assistant or Social Media Manager. That makes no sense. I strongly recommend that you have some form of active role in maintaining your social media presence, but what works for one person is not necessarily going to work for you. Here are 5 of my best tips for leveraging your time and making the most of your social media presence without giving up complete control:

Blog Writing

When I suggest including blogging in my clients’ social media strategies, the gut reaction for some of them is to want to run for the hills. Writing doesn’t come easily for many people – we can’t all be content machines! But hear me out 🙂

A blog that’s 500-750 words long (roughly a page to a page-and-a-half) can actually give you at least a month’s worth of content. Here’s how:

  • You (or your VA) can pull out “golden nuggets” like tips, quotes, and one-liners. Golden nuggets are words and phrases that sort of “jump off the page” when you read them. A sentence that you feel compelled to highlight in bold is definitely a “golden nugget.”
  • These “golden nuggets” can then be converted into images, tweets, video tips or how-to’s, and even infographics

All you had to do was write about a page or so on a topic related to your area of expertise. You don’t even have to do the editing or the grammar check – this is something that can also be delegated, if you don’t have the time or it’s not an area of strength for you.

Bonus points if what you wrote is considered “evergreen content.” This is content that is continually relevant, long after its original publication date.

If sitting down to write is just something you can’t do, for whatever reason, try recording what you want to say into a voice recording app on your phone. Then get it transcribed and edited.

Writing a regular blog will also help boost your search engine optimization, because search engines like Google crawl the web for sites that update regularly. “Fresher” sites land higher in search results… and that’s what you want.

There are many, many benefits to blog writing… but since that’s not what this article is about, I’ll move on for now. 🙂

Curating Content

One thing to keep in mind with your social media content is that it shouldn’t be 100% your stuff, just like it shouldn’t be 100% sell-sell-sell. I recommend that you keep a “swipe file” of content from other sources that you can reference whenever you’re looking for more content to share. This can be as simple as a Google Sheet that you share with a team member, and you both can add content to it as needed or as you come across it. I divide it into the following 6 columns:

  • Type of content (video, article, image, etc)
  • Title
  • Keywords
  • Link to content
  • Date last shared (great for curated content that is also evergreen, so you know the last time your shared it on your profiles)
  • Other comments (for example, specific instructions for when/how to share this content)

Scheduling Content

Beyond telling your VA if there’s a specific date & time (or window of dates) for certain pieces of content to be published, scheduling your content should absolutely be a hands-off task for you. If you only outsource one aspect of your social media management, this is the one. No ifs, ands, or buts!!

Engaging with Followers

It’s so important for you to be involved with this aspect of your social media presence. This is where followers turn into clients. There are certain things your VA can be responsible for:

  • Shout-outs to new followers
  • Liking posts or tweets you’re tagged in
  • Answering FAQs (I recommend creating a list of questions and answers with your VA, so they know what kinds of questions they’re responsible for and what needs to be referred to you)

But once your followers start interacting with you beyond this level, it’s important for you to step in. If you’re not tech-savvy or comfortable with social media, with the help of your VA you can steer the conversation so they’re booking a phone call with you or at least sending you an email so your communication can continue in a manner you’re more confident with.

Understanding the Analytics

Not everyone loves numbers like I do – I totally appreciate that! But you still need to know what your results are so you can adjust your strategy and your content accordingly. The keyword here is knowing your results, not gathering the data.

Communicate your goals to a VA or Social Media Manager who can help you determine what you actually need to measure, then let them gather the data however frequently you desire. It will save you hours of time and head-scratching to have someone put it all together and explain it in a way that makes sense to you!