Social media is often a huge part of any marketing strategy, but just like everything else in your business, it needs to be evaluated regularly. It’s easy for social media to often take up a lot of time but we aren’t always getting the return for that time invested.
I find social media is a marketing strategy that business owners can get stuck in SHOULDs over strategic. So I wanted to give you a few points for you to review when you are evaluating your social media strategy that you might not think about.
How consistent are you at executing your social media strategy?
It’s important when evaluating your strategy, to also check if you are consistent in executing that strategy. And make sure you aren’t just thinking “strategy”, like yes, you did post 3 times a week, but also looking at how often you are carving out time for engagement.
If you aren’t able to execute a strategy for that platform consistency, then it’s time to take a step back and ask yourself if maybe you have too many social media plates spinning and it might be time to minimize your strategy for that channel. Time spent focused and consistency is always going to drive better results, so it’s better to do 2 social media channels REALLY well, then 4 so-so.
REMINDER: While consistency is important, missing a day or a week is not going to kill your strategy. If you need to take a break, take the break.
Watch the time you are spending on social media, is your time investment = return on investment? What are you getting from that time spent?
You should know exactly how much time each social media channel takes you to maintain each week. If you are not sure, I highly recommend you start time tracking. As humans, we tend to underestimate how much time “simple” tasks really take, and I know many people who have underestimated their weekly social media time investment.
Once you know your time invested, evaluate if you think that time is worth it for that particular channel. What are you getting from that channel, it is bringing in page views, email subscribers, clients, or other opportunities?
Are you using your social media channels intentionally?
This one relates the first and second point, but how intentional are you with your engagement? Do you have a set routine for dealing with the engagement side of your channels? Are you using these channel as procrastination techniques instead of a focused marketing strategy?
I highly recommend you set times to engage and try to cut out the random scrolling/liking that we sometimes like to pretend is engagement or work.
Also, are you on the channel because it is benefiting your business or are you on it just because? Is it a habit that is no longer serving your business?
These questions are some to get you thinking a bit more intentionally and strategic when approaching your social media strategy. Grab this worksheet for a more complete checklist list of what you should go through when reviewing your social media channels.
