Let’s make this quick – you’ve got things to do, right? If you’re a social media manager, then it’s likely you’re constantly both checking things off of your to do list and writing down more items onto it. Your work is never done, and that’s understandable.
Keep track of all of your hyper-specific tasks, but we’ve got you covered for everything else. Use our handy guide to social media management to step your game up and keep on top of all you need to get done in a day.
We’ve broken it down in terms of frequency to help you out:
DAILY – Your Everyday Grind
- Respond to all of your inbound social messages. This is simple and easy enough to do. Do them all in batches every hour or so.
- Monitor and respond to your brand mentions. Take note of these as they come in. Respond every thirty minutes that you’re on the clock.
- Communicate with your brand advocates. Touch base with those who advocate for your brand. Make sure they’re doing what they need to.
- Keep up to date on current social media industry trends. This can be as simple as checking trending topics and going through your favorite industry blogs.
- Engage with potential customers and partners. Don’t just make the mountain come to Mohammed. Engage with customers you find using buzzwords that fit in with your brand.
- Post up to 6 times on Twitter. Space out your posting so they aren’t clogged and fit in with appropriate (and high traffic) hours.
- Post up to 2 times on Facebook. Post once in the morning and once at night to satisfy both early and evening crowds.
- Post up to 2 times on Google+. Same as Facebook.
- Post up to 3 times on Instagram. Make sure your Instagram content is on point with your business brand. Remember to keep it professional but trendy. Include appropriate but popular hashtags.
- Post on LinkedIn. Keep this very professional and consider promoting your content for more visibility.
- Go over your products and service notes. You probably know all this by heart, but keep the info fresh.
- Monitor the competition with analytics. You can do this both via business programs, or you can do more personal reconnaissance and study them for yourself.
- Work on and post something to either your blog or your business’ blog. Blog content boosts visibility and SEO. Start utilizing it more frequently.
WEEKLY – Bits and Pieces
- Engage with thought leaders. Connect with them and see what they think about current trends in the industry and how you can better your social endeavors.
- Engage with marketing partners. Make sure you connect with marketing partners quite frequently. Swap tips, ideas and analytics for a more fruitful relationship.
- Discuss tactics with your social team members. Your social team needs to be on the same page with one another. Keep them there.
- Go through all analytics. Whether it’s strictly Twitter data or your overall success rate, keep a weekly eye on your analytics. This is something you’ll go over monthly, but weekly tracking the trends will show you a more concise time period for successes and failures.
- Help fine-tune social strategies. Use the most recent analytics data to make certain immediate changes to social strategies you’re currently using.
- Connect with other employees and advocate for better connectivity. It’s always great to be better informed. Do this with frequent talks and meetings.
MONTHLY – The Bigger Picture
- Audit your strategies and overarching goals. You should be holding monthly personal meetings with just me, myself and I. Why? This time to go over your data and collect your thoughts makes for better social strategy auditing.
- Visit seminars and local events focusing on your business and/or purpose. Never miss an opportunity to stay educated.
- Don’t forget to occasionally take social breaks. Being a social media manager is a tricky business. You’re going to have to take some breaks from social media once in a while in order to detox from it. It’s exhausting to deal with it 24/7 – give yourself a break and close the computer for a weekend.
- Start more department collaborations. Don’t keep social strategies in just the social department. Communicate your methods and what’s working to other teams so you’re all on the same page. These methods can also help them succeed as well.
QUARTERLY – Start Asking Questions
- Create quarterly goals. What do you want to accomplish in the next three months? How can you do this? Why is this goal important?
- Adjust previous quarterly goals. Did you achieve your previous quarterly goals? If so, why not? Is it something you still need to work on?
- Asses your performance. How well did you do in your position? How can you become better?
- Assess the performance of others. How did other team members fare at work? Could they do better? Is their poor performance hindering you/the team?
- Gauge your team’s work load and potential. Can you go further? Are you taking on too much? What more can your team do to better your overall success rate?
