How to Keep up With Social Media?

Last week I gave a demo to some colleagues of mine about Social Media and which tools I am using and for what. I always get the same question at the end. “How do you keep up with social media”? I am not going to sugar coat this for you… the bottom line is: it’s a struggle. Just like work-life balance can be consistent struggle. And you need to find out what works for you. I will try to give you some tips from personal experience, but keep in mind that I am not you. What works for me may not work for you.

Begin by asking yourself: What is my goal and how can Social Media support me in achieving my goals? This will probably take some time from you to do some research about all the different tools out there, defining tactics, metrics and available resources. Set milestones, measure, keep making changes, measure again…

Don’t get on the bandwagon just to be there
The most important tip I can give you is probably, don’t get on the bandwagon just to be there because you think you need to. In the end it will even harm your brand then it does good. It’s a set of tools that can be very useful for marketing in the right circumstances. And yes it takes time to keep up with it whether you like it or not. You need to figure out how much time you can spend on it and what you can do in this time. Again this all depends on your goal.

Assess your own Situation

• What is your Goal?
• How can social media help you reach your this goal?
• How much time can and do you want to spend on Social Media on a daily basis?
• Will Social Media eventually save you time on other tasks?

Look at all the answers you gave to the above questions and create an action plan. Mind you that setting up all your chosen tools will probably take more of your time then you initially thought. If you do not have the bandwidth for this my advice would be to see if you can hire an intern to help you with this. Once you have set them up it is a matter of keeping them up to date. See what works for you and make sure you have fun doing this!