6 Tips to Optimize Your Social Media Game

Balancing all the things you need to do as a small business is tough. As a business owner and a mom, I get it. Trying to do it all, while having a busy home and any kind of social life takes work.

Social media is just one of the many tasks on the to do list. And it can be incredibly time consuming. Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Threads, TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, X (Twitter)… the list goes on and on. Whatever the platform, it's easy to get caught in a cycle of liking, commenting, posting, scrolling and sharing. With so many social media platforms, not to mention the constantly changing algorithms, it's next to impossible to keep up with all the accounts you follow, let alone post on all of them.

That’s why we’ve put together some tips and best practices to help you be strategic in your social media game and maximize your posting efficiency to help you take back your time. 

Be strategic

While it may seem necessary to be on all the major platforms, and perhaps a few niche ones, it's not realistic for a small business. If you can't maintain a consistent presence on a platform, you'll struggle to maximize its marketing potential, leading to content that underperforms. 

The flip side is also problematic. Building an audience on only one social media platform could leave you in the lurch if your account is hacked or suspended. Nothing is worse than rebuilding an audience from scratch with no other avenue to reach them.

Instead, choose two to three key platforms that best reach your target audience. For Gen Z, TikTok is the way to go while LinkedIn is key for business professionals. Knowing your core audience, and the demographics of each platform, is essential to successful social media marketing. 

Create a content calendar

Planning your content for the month ahead is the best way to be organized so you're not spending every day trying to come up with your next post. Block out a couple of hours and get planning! Don't forget to think about special days - Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Taco Tuesday - that relate to your brand. You don’t need to post every day. Pay close attention to your metrics and post when engagement is typically highest. 

Content creation day

Block off a day to create all your content for the month ahead including all the graphics, captions and hashtags. Then schedule the posts. This prevents scrambling to get posts up at the last minute. Plus, scheduling time for content encourages creativity and ensures you have polished, error free posts that best reflect your brand. 

Repurpose posts

Your content across social platforms doesn't need to be completely unique. Instead, repurpose and optimize content to be used across all platforms, adapting them as needed (video, photos, text) that performs best on each. 

Set ‘business’ hours

Always being on with social media is exhausting. Social media fatigue is real! While some major corporations require constant monitoring, they also have dedicated teams to handle it. If you're a team of one or a few, that's likely not realistic. Instead, consider setting a designated 15 to 20 minutes each day to respond to and engage with your followers, #s, and key influencers. 

Be selective with trends

A content calendar is designed to keep you efficient and organized, but it shouldn't restrict you from posting reactive content like jumping on a trend or responding to news in the media. You don't need to jump on every trend so be selective and consider what's best for your brand strategy.

Most importantly, have fun! Let your brand personality shine through.