Is time management an issue for you?  In a recent blog post on social media and ROI, Candace Davenport of Our Little Books asked some fabulous questions: “Is there a point where it is better to use someone like a VA to do your SM stuff (not exclusively of course, but the main postings that don’t actually require direct connection) and do you use someone like Jan to do so? It would seem, if people start having numerous pages that at a point, either SM takes over or the quality goes down. Maybe future blog posts?”

I absolutely believe that there are ways to manage your time effectively when using social media as a marketing tool! And, there is one place that I believe you cannot outsource your social media! This is when it comes to actually developing the content to ensure that it represents you’re calling, your values, your voice. Even when I work with larger companies like BMW Concord located in the East Bay of California they have learned, even the hard way the importance of this. Even when you have a team of people in your company willing to participate in social media marketing,  consistency in the voice and message is very important and it needs to match the flavor and feel when the customer shows up! Only you can create that voice in your marketing content.

Once you have created content there are great ways to get help and support and making sure you consistently post fresh information. Fresh information is critical in social media!

1-Work to expand the current content you already have. I find with many of my clients they don’t realize they already have content that can be reused and repurposed in multiple ways for social media marketing. Have a staff person or a virtual assistant work to pull tidbits out of your blog, your newsletters, your radio shows, and places you’ve already posted so that you can reuse it in social media.

2-Write  your content to different buying styles. This is one of the most powerful ways to get more bang for your buck just by taking the content and repurpose it to different buying styles.  This has the potential to quadruple your content to post! This is e primary service I do for my clients, they just have to get fist draft to me (so it’s in their voice) and I work my magic!

3-Use schedulers! Yes this still requires your time to get them scheduled once your content is written but they save you the hassle of having to remember to post. Go in once a week and schedule your posts for the entire week. I recommend Post Planner for Facebook and Twaitter (Twitter scheduler) or HootSuite (great for for Twitter and LinkedIn).

4-Hire people who will post and stay on top of FRESH and CONSISTENT posting! I actually have a team member do mine! (And I have team members who can do it for you! We post up to 2 accts, 3 times a day/7 days on Twitter and 2 times a day 5 days a week on Facebook for as little as $50 a month!) Then all you need to do is be YOU and engage!

 

Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”