Do you already have a social media plan and a content marketing strategy but you want to know how they can be improved? Are you looking to get a bit more out of your social

media communication? Whatever you are currently doing in your social media management, I’m sure you are aware that there is always room for improvement. So today I am going to share with you 2 of my

favourite social media tricks. Not only do they boost interaction, but they can also save you precious time (especially if you’re a one-man company!) AND help you avoid taking risks.

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The Simplest Social Media Plan Challenge: Adopt These 2 Tricks

Now & Boost Social Media Communication

Social Media Plan

Here’s my challenge:

You review your social media plan and your content marketing strategy. Then you choose at least ONE of these 2 areas to improve in your communication:

1. 1. Platforms 2. 2. Frequency Tip: Challenge your entrepreneur-friends and see who gets the best results the fastest!

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Share this tweet with them and see who joins the competition: Taking an effective social media plan challenge via #SSB. Click for more. Join the challenge!

1. Platforms

We all want to get results – and get them fast – in our online businesses. This is why a lot of the people I know and work with have an account on each and every social media platform. The general way of thinking is “the more the better” – but it is not better at all.

The risks of a faulty social media plan

Here are the risks you’re taking when you want to be “out there” on as many social media platforms as possible:

You don’t have enough time to create posts for all platforms You’re caught up with so much to do and to post that you get overwhelmed and panic You get low engagement or no engagement at all Your profiles go stale – a very unprofessional thing to do

You don’t achieve the results you are aiming for You are using too many platforms, and lots of them are irrelevant to your business Because of the lack of time you risk creating and publishing low-quality content –

therefore people will never perceive you as the leader of your niche

Now, I’m sure nobody wants all this extra stress in their business.

So how can you avoid all that?

Trick #1: Avoiding risks, focusing on results

First of all – and most important of all – is understanding that each social platform has its own communities. For example, if on LinkedIn you’ll see corporates and business-oriented people, on Twitter you’ll encounter an “online journal” kind of community.

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Here are the main social media platforms, each with a short description of the communities they’re centered around: Google Plus – businesses

LinkedIn – corporate Pinterest – fashion Twitter – online newspaper Facebook – broader audience

Now, bear in mind that’s just a general layout. That doesn’t mean that on Pinterest (for example) you won’t encounter lots and lots of successful DIY businesses. Or plenty of successful designers, illustrators or architects.

What’s your business about? Who are your customers? What products or services are you offering?

By answering these questions you could get a grasp of which of the above-mentioned platforms you should use. And then you can start thinking about your social media plan for each of those platforms.

But then… How much time can you dedicate to social media posting? What’s the optimum number of media to use? Time management is tricky. I understand you are a business owner, so life gets extraordinarily busy at times. You barely have time to breathe, not to mention dealing with

a social media plan… How can you avoid getting overwhelmed? At this point, there are two options – pick the one that’s best for you:

1. You continue doing the work on your own.

In this case choose one primary platform (like Facebook, for example) and maximum two

secondary platforms.

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For example, if Facebook is your primary platform you can use an RSS to connect your profile to Twitter. Thus, all your Facebook posts will automatically be shared on your Twitter account as well.

Tip: You can also create automated posts with Facebook. You can create a social media plan for an entire month/week and schedule your posts to go live at different times of day/week. It may take you an entire day to come up with the plan, but imagine knowing you’re done with your social media plan for the whole month…!

2. You hire a VA.

In this case you’ll still have to check what they’re creating and posting, but you’ll not be so

tight on time. Plus, the virtual assistant will be able to post on and monitor more than just 2-3 platforms, and they can also deal with the online customer care part (replying to messages, interacting with followers, increasing engagement rate with social photos and comments, etc).

In time you’ll be able to hire an illustrator or designer – because images and photos are another core part of your social media plan.

2. Frequency

What’s the frequency of your posts? Are you posting regularly? Frequency of posting is a discipline thingie… nonetheless, it should not be absent from your social media plan. While followers might not notice the frequency of your posts, they will notice your absence from social media communication.

So it is advised that you decide upon certain times of the day when you want your posts to go live. Their frequency – again – depends on the social media platform you’re on.

Tip: Announce each new article on your blog at the same hour on the same weekday, every time.

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Now, you don’t have to come up with new content on a daily basis. You can always reshare and repurpose old content. If you already have, let’s say, 30-40 articles on your blog, you can reshare an article a day for an entire month.

Tip: Make sure that the text of the post about the reshared article is unique each time. Focus on a different benefit of the article with every reshare; change the text so it is not identical with a previous post (which is bad for both users and SEO).

How often should you post? The best answer will be given to you by your followers. There is no set rule and each platform is different. Keep an eye on the reaction of your audience – that’ll give you some

crucial indications of when and how much to post.

Otherwise, here are some numbers you can use as guiding lines: Pinterest: 12-15 pins a day

Twitter: 10-15 tweets a day Facebook: 5 a day Bonus Tip: Lots and lots of businesses are using Facebook. Unfortunately, Facebook have

recently dropped the reach of Pages posts. It is wise to consider investing in Facebook Ads if you are looking to get an increased reach of posts; also keep in mind that the regularity of your posts is now more important than ever on Facebook. Now is your turn…

Do you have a social media plan? Is it working?

What are the areas that you think could be improved in your social media management?

What platforms are you currently using for social media communication? Do you have a secret ingredient for coming up with the best social media campaigns?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below… I’d love to hear from you!

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