Make Sure You're Doing These 3 Things On Your Social Media Accounts

When you’re just starting out, social media can feel hard. You have to create tons of content, schedule it, engage with your audience, and track how well your social page is turning into cash in your pocket — and all the while, run other parts of your business.

Social media’s really important to get right: it’s basically the face of your business. Do it right, and it’ll turn into a constant source of leads. But do it wrong, and it can become a time sink really quickly.

The good news is, there’s a way to make social media easier. Once you do social media for a little while, you’ll figure out what works for you, and then you’ll be able to tackle it more confidently. You’ll feel like an expert.

So, here are my 3 tips to make your life easier. I wish someone had given me these when I was first starting out!

Create And Schedule Your Content In Advance.

If you try to conceptualize, write, design, and post new content on your social media feeds every single day, then social media will quickly start to feel like a chore.

It’s hard to stay focused on making new content all the time. It’ll quickly become a chore. And then if you miss a day or two, that’ll become an excuse to miss more days… and your social media habits will fall into a downward spiral. (And your pages will suffer as a result.)

Instead, set a “content-making” schedule, where you create all the content you’re gonna use ahead of time. Stick to it religiously — so if you decide to make a month’s worth of content on the first of every month, it better be done by the first of the month.

When Should I Post My Content?

Try to post content when your audience is online. If that’s evenings, then post in the evenings. If that’s weekends, then post more on the weekends. You get the idea.

How do you figure out when that is? Test a few different times. If you notice that posts at 4 PM Eastern get the most “likes”, then schedule the majority of your posts for around that time. (But remember not to look like a robot — you don’t want to always post at the same time every day, or it’ll look fishy.)

You might also find that certain types of content are more effective at different times. For instance, maybe people will like and share posts on Mondays, but they won’t buy stuff as often. If that happens, schedule your “eyeball” content for earlier in the week and sale announcements for later on.

(HINT: Now that people are working remotely, they might check social media during business hours more often, because the boss isn’t peeking over their shoulder every few minutes. That means it’s worth trying morning and afternoon content again, even if it hasn’t worked for you before.)

How Often Should I Post?

That depends on a) how often your followers are willing to hear from you, b) what types of content you’re posting, and c) how much time you’re willing to dedicate to social media. Many recommend 2 or 3 times a day, but if you don’t have the time to create that much content, you can easily get away with just posting a few times a week.

More content is usually better, but it’s much better to go for quality over quantity — 1 good post can get you 20 to 30 times the followers and engagement than 5 bad posts can.

Why? There’s so much bad content on social media already. Having just a little bit of good content can set you apart and make you worth following.

How Far In Advance Should I Create Content?

You can make it as far in advance as you want. But keep in mind, there’s a trade-off: if you write something far in advance, it might not be useful by the time you want to post it. (Imagine writing a tweet about going to a restaurant in February 2020 and then scheduling it for April 2020, for instance — it would’ve been worthless by then.)

We recommend doing about a month at a time. That way, you can adapt to new trends without falling into a constant “ugh, time to create more content” rut.

And remember, you can always write something on the spot if you’re struck by inspiration, or if you want to post something more “current”. You’re not stuck to your schedule in any way, shape, or form.

Start A Dialogue.

Fundamentally, people use social media to talk to each other. So if you’re only posting about sales and promotions, you’re doing social media wrong.

You want to look like a regular user. Have some character and personality. Be fun. That’ll make you a lot more endearing to your audience, it’ll make you look authentic, and it’ll get you more eyeballs.

Talk In Your Normal Voice.

Here’s a secret: just because you’re a business doesn’t mean you need to sound business-y. In fact, sounding business-y is gonna be a big turnoff to most people.

That doesn’t mean you should be unprofessional, but it does mean the copy on your posts shouldn’t look like corporate robot-speak, nor should it look like a sales pitch. Just talk how you’d talk to a friend.

Do Fun Stuff.

Tons of brands are able to increase their follower count and get more eyeballs by hosting games and contests on their social media, such as:

Having contests.
Online scavenger hunts.
Rewarding people for tagging their friends.
Offering a cool incentive for people to “like” or “share” a post.

An example: offer people a discount for liking a post, or raffle off something cool and fun for people who share one of your posts.

This way, you can reward people for helping you get engagement and followers, while also making their experience more enjoyable. You get eyeballs, they get to have fun. It’s a win-win!

Post Comments.

Don’t just post — you should be commenting, too. That means replying to comments on your own posts as well as commenting on others’ posts (positively, of course). That’ll make you look more “real”. And commenting on other people’s posts will help people discover you.

Plus, social media platforms like it when you comment — they see it as a sign that you’re engaged with the community. In fact, there are rumors that posting good comments will help you in algorithms (meaning more eyeballs).

Be Part Of The Community

To a certain extent, you should behave like a normal social media user. Treat your business account as a personal account (just don’t share your innermost feelings). Obey unwritten rules and social norms. Listen to your community and behave like them. Try to add value to every discussion you’re a part of.

The more you try to be a “normal social media user”, the more authentic you’ll look, and the more people will want to follow you. Plus, you might learn a thing or two about your audience, which you can use to improve your other marketing channels, too.

Here’s the tricky thing about social media: you can get addicted.

Just like employees who spend all day at the office scrolling Facebook and don’t get anything done, business owners can easily get “trapped” in social media, and ignore their other responsibilities. But as a business owner, if you don’t get stuff done, you lose money — so you have to constantly be vigilant that you’re spending your time wisely.

Here are some tips to keep you focused:

Track Your Time

Know how much time you’re spending on social media. It’s way too easy to get caught up checking Twitter and Instagram all day to see how many “likes” you’re getting.

Try a time-tracking app like StayFree: it’ll tell you how much time you’re spending on social media. The results may surprise you.

As a drastic measure, don’t be afraid to block social media websites using a website blocker like ColdTurkey, which will actually prevent you from visiting certain websites during predetermined times. That way, you can get your social media taken care of when you need to, and then spend the rest of the day focusing on the important stuff.

Track Relevant Metrics

Don’t get caught up looking at “vanity metrics,” like likes and shares, too much. They’re a great way to track whether people enjoy your posts, but at the end of the day, you’re trying to make sales. Going after “likes” and “follows” for their own sake isn’t going to put any money in your pocket — always be looking at the bottom line.

If you’re getting lots of engagement but not many sales, you might not be attracting the right audience. It can be painful but don’t be afraid to start posting content that doesn’t get as many likes but appeals to an audience with more money to spend on what you’re selling. It might mean fewer “internet points”, but it’ll mean more in your bank account.

Don’t Be Afraid To Hire Help (If You Need It)

Social media marketing might not be worth your time. Don’t be afraid to hire a virtual assistant to handle some of the boring stuff — like scheduling posts, tracking your follower count, or even going through your feed and letting you know what’s going on.

This goes double for the stuff you’re not very good at. If you can’t write, hire a copywriter. If you can’t design, hire a designer.

Remember: if you’re a business owner, your job is to be the puppet master, not the puppets. Your time is too valuable to spend all day on Instagram.

BONUS: Look Good.

When people browse social media, they usually don’t read the words — they just look at pictures first. If they’re gonna stop and read your post, your picture has to convince them it’s worth it. So getting good, Instagrammable pictures is a must.

If you don’t have the time or the Photoshop skills to create your own, don’t be afraid to hire someone. Lemonaid will give you 6 branded graphics per month. They’ll look good, and people will want to stop scrolling for them.

Here’s what I’m talking about (mouse over the images below to see the updated versions we created):