Social media is a great tool for businesses to advertise, market and promote their services or products, and there is no shortage of them. However, they can quickly get out of control without your knowing and can turn to chaos. So how do you control your social media network?
It’s important to first take inventory. How many networks do you or your business utilize? Is the right information connected to them? Are ones not working anymore? Organize your networks, making sure you’re making good use of them. It might help to create a chart of all your social media networks, outlining the ones that get the best results, or ones you enjoy the most. Know which business accounts belong to which networks and manage them with a daily spreadsheet tally. If they’re not working for you, toss them.
If you own a business, have the right management team in place to track when, where, and how social media networks or customer service software are being used in your business. Having a verifiable tracking system will get accounts and campaigns organized and easy to implement. Have your team report back to you monthly to keep things under control.
Make a list of exactly what you want out of your social media network. Is it for pleasure, business, both? Are they taking precious time away from more important things? Again, you can opt out of anything which doesn’t meet your business or personal needs. If you use Twitter, organize your lists so you know which list goes to which account, the same with Facebook. Narrow down your lists to personal family and friends and create other pages for business marketing and promoting.
Set aside a limited time dedicated to your media network and stick to it. Decide a time of day you will check emails, messages or tweets. An hour or so should be plenty of time to manage the day-to-day needs of your business or personal life. Your management team can also take charge of how best to use that time.
Whatever method you choose to take back control of your social media network, know that by doing so, your time will revert back to you and life won’t be so hectic. Ah, isn’t that nice.