Love it or hate it, social media is a game changer for so many small businesses. And a headache too, sometimes.

As we shift into the holiday season, whether you are ramping up or ramping down, the last thing you want to worry about is “what do I post next ?”.

So if you are not in a position to bring on a Social Media Manager to support you, hopefully these six tips will give you clarity, and so you don’t have to suffer social media burn out yourself. And they will require minimal investment, when you have so many better things to do.

For the purpose of this article, I’m going to assume your audience is predominantly on Facebook and Instagram.

1. Revisit your posts for the past 3-6 months. What resonated with your audience and performed well? (You can check your analytics via your Facebook Page, Business Suite, or via Instagram insights.)
2. Repurpose these greatest hits. Often these messages and posts, with the exception of competitions, are messages that will still apply. You still have those products, those services, and that amazing team. Was it a win? Celebrate it as a highlight of the past. Boom! Post done.
3. Schedule your posts over the holiday period. This doesn’t need to be daily, let alone multiple times a day. Check your current insights to see when your audience is most engaged and/or online and apply this logic to your upcoming schedule. 3-5 posts per week will typically cover your bases – and also head off Zuckerberg’s algorithm punishing you for being AWOL for too long. Apply this to stories as well. Some of your posts can just be shared to your stories, but a few extras in between will keep you in good stead, as your users will typically spend more time in stories than they do in their feed.
4. Don’t have a scheduler? No problem! For now, let’s utilise Facebook Business Suite. You have most likely already set this up, and it’s free! Future you in 2022 can take the time to investigate and invest in a better scheduling tool or community/social media manager if you find it doesn’t work for you. For now, let’s focus on getting it done so you can put the phone down.
5. Be authentic with your audience. They are not really expecting you to be online 24/7/365. Let them know you have reduced hours, closures, and depending on the relationship you have with your audience, let them know you’re planning some down time yourself! This is a perfect post to prompt more personal engagement. Ask them how they plan to decompress over the Summer, or reconnect with loved ones following the lockdowns.
6. Set up automated responses for your DMs. Seriously. You can also do this directly from Facebook Business Suite and this allows you to respond to your customers, letting them know you’re enjoying some rest yourself, your reduced hours, or better ways to get in touch for genuinely urgent enquiries.

Ok, so you have posts to repurpose but you’re wondering how? Again, we’re going with simplified solutions you can easily apply.

Bonus tip: you don’t need to be a graphic designer to create great content. 

If you haven’t already, get yourself a free account with Canva. The Pro subscription offers royalty free stock images if this is beneficial for you and your business, and the monthly subscription is less than what I’d pay for lunch in the CBD.

With templates set up and ready to go on the platform, it’s just a matter of you uploading images of your product, team, locations, whatever is relevant, and applying this to some templates. With Pro you can also upload your fonts, and on all plans you can create a brand kit with your custom colour palette, so your feed remains consistent and your branding “on point”.

If you don’t have the opportunity to engage a Social Media Manager or a team member to support you, it’s still worthwhile checking in personally from time to time to make sure things are still ticking over and no nasty comments or spam are lingering on your posts.

Again, this is a chance to get familiar with Facebook Business Suite, where you can literally click ‘Done’ on comments you’ve checked, responded to, etc, so you have a tidy inbox and see what you need to at a glance.

You may find this works perfectly for your business, but you may find you reach its limitations quickly, depending on your social set up and if communities are part of your business.

My most important tip: Don’t be hard on yourself! 

Larger businesses typically employ content creators, social media managers and outsource to people like myself who live and breathe the social media landscape so you don’t have too. That’s a lot to compete with, so celebrate the successes you do get from your limited resources.

If you find these tips aren’t enough, and you’re looking for a bit of extra guidance to get your social media journey jump-started, drop us a note for a complimentary consultation to discuss your social media strategy.

And enjoy your holidays – after all that good work setting your social media up for holiday season success, you deserve it even more!