Connor BrookeWhat’s your biggest struggle when it comes to social media?
I’ve sent that question to hundreds of social media professionals and digital marketers in the past few months and the consensus is…
TIME!
I feel the pain. I know from first-hand experience that juggling a presence on multiple social networks is difficult, especially when you don’t want lose out on the benefits of the newest shiny toys — lately, Google+ and Pinterest.
We’re all constantly looking for new tools and methods to increase efficiency without sacrificing quality engagement, which of course should always be our focus with social media.
Below are three simple tools and methods to cut down on your tweeting time, especially if you’re on a web page without social sharing buttons.
Buffer as a whole is one of my favorite tools, and their browser extension is just icing on the cake.
This extension adds a tiny toolbar to the bottom of your browser with a Buffer icon. Any time you want to tweet a blog post, video, or a web page, you simply click the Buffer icon at the bottom of your browser and BOOM! You get something similar to the image below.
The great thing about this extension is it pulls the title of the page and automatically shortens the link, so it’s ready to go straight to Twitter.
You also have the options of posting it immediately or adding it to your Buffer feed to be shared later.
Extra Bonus: Of course, with Buffer you can add multiple profiles from all social networks. So you could effectively and efficiently share updates across multiple profiles in just a few simple steps.
If you’re not a Buffer user (you should be by the way), this nifty little tool is also great to have around.
The Bit.ly Bookmarklet gets dragged up to your bookmarks toolbar just below the address bar. It essentially does the same thing as the Buffer extension, with a few less bells and whistles.
When you’re on a website and want to tweet that page, you simply click the bookmark on your toolbar and a small Bit.ly box pops out from the right side of your screen. See below for an example.
The drawback of this bookmarklet in comparison to Buffer is you have to copy and paste the text into Twitter and you can’t share on multiple social networks as easily, so it’s a little less efficient. But it gets the job done quickly enough and it’s a good alternative to those who aren’t Buffer users.
3. RSS Reader + Twitter Names
This is going a little old school, but I thought I’d throw it in for good measure.
Like many, I often subscribe to the RSS feeds of blogs I love reading. Scheduling tweets is usually my first stop in the morning, so my RSS reader is my best pal.
Let me lay out the general process:
- I filter through the content in my RSS reader.
- I find a blog post I like and think is worth sharing.
- I hit the Buffer app and the tweet is ready to go, right?
Wrong! I want to give credit to the blog author with a @mention, but then I either need to a) Remember their Twitter username or b) Open Twitter and look it up.
Two options that take up time. So here’s what I do…
Every time I subscribe to a blog’s RSS feed, I immediately look up the Twitter username for that blog and change the RSS feed name to that Twitter username. See below for an example.
Now I can hit the Buffer or Bit.ly extension, have the tweet ready to go, tack on the mention quickly and send or schedule the tweet. Simple sharing.
Why Not Just Use Social Sharing Buttons?
I realize social sharing buttons typically do all of these things for you, but there are a couple reasons I prefer to take a slightly more manual route.
- I personally like to monitor my own sharing results. If you use Buffer or Bit.ly, you get analytics on how many people clicked your link. Social sharing buttons, of course, don’t provide that data. I like to know what kind of content gets click-throughs and at what time of the day those clicks come. This data helps me narrow down optimal tweet times and understand my Twitter audience much better.
- As hard as it is to believe, tons of blogs and websites still don’t have functional, easy-to-find social sharing buttons. You need a backup plan for those cases.
What Do You Think?
I’m curious to hear about the tools and methods you use to share more efficiently. Share your thoughts in the comments and happy tweeting!
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Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
This article was written for Business 2 Community by Connor Brooke.
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Great tips. I am definitely going to try buffer.
Thanks Sara. Hope you like it!
Thanks for sharing these tips, Jonathan. There are some good time-saving suggestions in your post.
Buffer is a definitely lifesaver for me when using Twitter! There is a contingent of people using social media who are completely against the use of any automation, stating that it’s impersonal. I used to be one of those people! But now, I realize that using automation tools to post quality content allows you to have even more time to engage as a real person on social media!
I was one of those people too and your point that it frees up time for real engagement is 100% true. My network started growing immediately after I started using Buffer, HootSuite, etc.
I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who adds RSS feeds by Twitter name. It’s so helpful when sharing content.
It’s a helpful little method for sure. Saves me tons of time and frustration of having to look up the name.
Jonathan… I agree, some excellent tips here. I especially liked the RRS feed tip of changing RRS feed name to the Twitter name. Great tip of which I can say I learned something new today.
Good deal, Jeff. Always glad to help someone learn something, no matter how small :)
Great tips! I have used all of these tools and they do help! another thing that has helped me tremendously is scheduling time to be on social media. It’s a no brainer for time management!
That’s definitely a big no-brainer. I’ve heard of people getting a stopwatch and doing 10 minute segments on their social media profiles. I can see the benefit of that. I tend to just go at it randomly.
I love the idea of changing the RSS feed name to the Twitter username! I also want to @mention, but if I can’t find it on the page, I’m likely to skip that. Thanks for taking time to put all the screen shots on this post – I think I can set it up! Awesome!
Thanks Lori. If you need any help, you know how to get in touch with me :)
As a social media novice this is not only interesting but very useful! I’ll definitely try adding RSS feeds using twitter handles…never thought of that. And, thanks for the reminder on doing proper mentions when tweeting a post because I always forget. Also, what are the differences between Buffer and Hootsuite??? Thanks!
Thanks for the comment Nathalie. Buffer and HootSuite share a lot of features and serve many of the same purposes. In my opinion, HootSuite is better if you’re managing lots of social profiles — especially if you’re managing them for many different clients. It’s easier to keep tabs on many different profiles in HootSuite.
Buffer is really great if you only have a handful of profiles and I personally like the interface/usability a lot more than HootSuite.
It’s mostly preference if you’re managing only 2-4 social profiles as many people are. HootSuite is a little more “comprehensive” than Buffer, but both have scheduling features though, which is what most people are after.
Hi Jonathan,
I am a big fan of Hootsuite it is what is working for me right now. I like the new autoscheduling feature they have.
For very special blogs, I have set a automatic post using Twitterfeed.com, it picks up the rss feed of the blog and posts as per my instructions. Love this one!
great tips time is always a fickle friend and finding new ways to take advantage of tech is always high on my priority list.
Thank you, Lori. I’ll have to check out TwitterFeed. It sounds like a really helpful tool. I don’t use HootSuite too much, because I’m in a comfort zone with Buffer, but I probably will start using HS more and more in the near future. I’ve heard some good things about the auto scheduling.
Thanks for the comments and suggestions!
Good points. I love that Buffer integrates with Twylah. I often use it to schedule posts.
Thanks Rabab. Buffer is a life saver for sure.
Hi Jonathan,
Nice post man. I use hootsuite but had completely forgotten about it’s ability to immediately tweet out the current page I am on. You have saved me massive amounts of time by reminding me of this (you showed it with buffer but it is basically the same thing with hootsuite).
Really awesome man. Oh and it was only fitting that I did my very first share using the hootsuite link to share this content piece. Nice work :)
That’s awesome, Izzy. I wasn’t aware HootSuite had a similar feature. Glad I could remind you…by accident :P
Jonathan, thanks for the Twitter tips. Anything to make the process less time consuming. I do use Buffer, but not as much as I use the Hootlet from Hootsuite. Feels easier than Buffer and I like the auto scheduling feature, which seems to be working. Big time thanks for the RSS/Twitter idea. I’ll have to try.
Thank you Sheila :) We all have our preferences!
Hi Jonathan,
U did a very good job. The way you explained may helpful to most of the tweeters which helps them in scheduling their tweets. Keep sharing.
Thanks Samy!