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
High Quality Modular Homes for the UK
Are you looking for added accommodation space in your garden / on your land? Modular Living Homes by tutumHOUSE offer a new way to live – minimalist in form, rich in experience. “There are approximately 9.6 million homes in the UK with a garden shed, and around 52% of the population owns one.” asgardsss There…
Read More 
The most stressful places to move to in the UK
With more people in the UK moving homes during summer than any other season and the average cost of moving in the UK rising to over £14,000, picking the right place to move to has become more crucial than ever. Luckily, new research from Pay Less for Storage reveals the UK cities that make life easiest…
Read More 
Time-Traveling Estate Agent Sequel Climbs Amazon Charts
A UK Estate Agent Currently Bringing Joy to People’s Lives – Shame He’s Fictional… Eric Meek, the fictional estate agent created by author Dale Bradford, is back for a second outing in The Time‑Travelling Estate Agent 2, a sequel that is already climbing Amazon’s bestselling time‑travel rankings. Estate agents were recently highlighted as the third…
Read More 
Is it finally time for lenders to back green homes?
Andrew Smith weighs the risks and rewards Property developers are increasingly pitching green homes to lenders; however, with sales cycles slowing down and repair costs rising, is now the right time to back sustainable builds and at what price point is there market demand? Sustainability is continuing to shape our future of construction with the…
Read More 
Breaking Property News 24/07/25
Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X. OpticWise – digital infrastructure in commercial real estate If your building were a product, how would it perform on the user experience scale? Week 9: Experience as Infrastructure – Designing for Human-Centric Buildings Welcome to Week 9 of our 52-week journey into the future…
Read More 
UK Housebuilding Falters as Construction Hiring Flatlines
New research from Inventory Base reveals that UK construction industry employment has increased by almost 11% in the past five years, but there has been less than 1% growth in the past 12 months. Inventory Base’s analysis of the UK construction industry shows that in 2024 (latest data available) it employed an estimated total of…
Read More