6 tips to get you started with social media.
November 7, 2014
Participating in social media is a time consuming task, and a common problem facing SME’s. You may have a vision or strategy in place, but if you have limited time or resources, this can be a challenging task.
It’s important to allocate enough resources to your social media efforts if you’re serious about using it as a marketing tool. You’ll need time and people to do it.
Here’s some tips to help you get started:
- Plan. Before you get started it’s important to decide why you want to use social media, how much time you and/or your team can dedicate to it, and what your goals are. By answering these questions, it’ll help you to stay focused, and apply your efforts against clear objectives.
- Decide which social media platforms you should leverage based on your target market, your business needs, and the time you have allocated to it. There are many platforms you can use such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Twitter to name a few. Start by identifying which audience(s) you’re trying to reach (customers, clients, businesses), then research which platforms they use. You should also research which platforms your competitors’ use.
- Create a social media schedule. It’s important to decide when you’ll check your activity, how often you’ll share information – during the week and on weekends, and when you’ll engage and respond to conversations and enquires. If you already have a blog, this would align with how often you share your blog posts. Once you have an idea of the number, you can begin to see how much time you’ll need to allocate to it. Also remember that you’re not only posting and sharing information, but engaging with your followers, so you need to keep a regular eye on all the platforms you’re using. It’s better to start with using less platforms more efficiently, then more platforms and some get neglected.
- If you’re managing your own social media, make more time by delegating some of your existing work out. If you have a team, you may benefit from investing time into assigning some of the social media responsibilities to them.
- Utilise social media management tools. They’ll help you schedule posts ahead of time. There are a number of tools available – such as Hootsuite or TweetDeck. I prefer to use TweetDeck due to its layout and usability. I can also use it on my smartphone on the go which is ideal for me. Investing some time in finding and setting up the one that suits your needs is invaluable. On that note, it’s important that you don’t just schedule all your posts and forget about it. You should take a personal approach and respond to queries and followers, and create conversation. People prefer to feel like there’s a person on the other side of the platform, and not a software program.
- Get external help if you still struggle after you have implemented the above suggestions, or consider dedicating a member of staff to your social media activities.
Social media requires investing time, but it’s vital to create a schedule as it’s easy to get distracted and consumed by it. To improve your productivity levels, find your balance by planning ahead.
You May Also Enjoy
Will RRA mean almost 50% of renters need a guarantor?
A surge in tenants who require a rent guarantor is coming to the post-RRA rental market New analysis by Zero Deposit reveals that the proportion of local authority districts in which the average tenant is likely to need a rent guarantor to secure pass tenancy affordability checks could increase from one-in-five to almost one-in-two…
Read More 
Nationwide House Price Index for May 2026 – Thoughts from the Industry
The latest Nationwide House Price Index for May 2026 shows that: House prices fell by -0.6% between April 2026 and May 2026. This marks the first monthly decline recorded so far this year. Annual house price growth slowed to 1.7% in May 2026, down from 3.0% in April 2026. The average UK house price now…
Read More 
Annual house price growth slows in May
UK annual house price growth slowed to 1.7% in May, from 3.0% in April House prices were down 0.6% month on month Headlines May-26 Apr-26 Monthly Index* 551.0 554.3 Monthly Change* -0.6% 0.4% Annual Change 1.7% 3.0% Average Price (not seasonally adjusted) £278,024 £278,880 * Seasonally adjusted figure (note that monthly % changes are…
Read More 
Signs of Outdated Wiring in Older Tulsa-Area Homes
Tulsa has a lot of beautiful older homes. Brookside bungalows, Maple Ridge tudors, the postwar neighborhoods that fill out Midtown and East Tulsa. They were built well, but most were built before central air, before microwaves, before two-car households with two laptops and a dozen phone chargers. The electrical systems inside them were designed for…
Read More 
Britain’s seaside price hotspots revealed
New analysis from the UK’s largest property platform Rightmove reveals Britain’s seaside hotspots where prices are rising the fastest Bootle in Merseyside leads the way, with average asking prices up 11% year-on-year, followed by Crosby in Liverpool (+9%) and Penarth in South Glamorgan (+9%) Other coastal locations including Llantwit Major in South Glamorgan (+8%) and Llanelli, in Carmarthenshire (+7%) are also seeing strong price growth Average asking prices are currently 0.3% lower in Great Britain compared to last year, with some seaside hotspots outpacing the…
Read More 
Hertfordshire emerges as strongest performing London commuter county
New research from UK Property Development reveals that while London property prices fell by more than -3% in the past year, prices in some of the capital’s surrounding counties have enjoyed positive growth, none more so than the premium commuter county of Hertfordshire. In the past year, London’s average house price has fallen by…
Read More