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Want to get more hours from your day? Try these 6 tips.
As an SMM specialist, you’ve got a lot on your plate. You have to stay on top of all trends, you run and ideate campaigns, and you act (sometimes literally) as the face and personality of your brand. It’s no wonder why you often reach the point of a burnout. Without prioritizing your time and making your work routine as productive as possible, your projects will inevitably suffer.
When leading social media marketers, you have to encourage better productivity. No; you can’t do that by assigning more work! The point is in helping them complete their tasks as well as possible within a reasonable time frame.
What’s the Deal with Productivity?
This isn’t a spectacular discovery; we all know we have to be productive in order to be successful. But it’s not always easy. SMM specialists face all kinds of distractions at work, so it’s hard for them to stay focused.
Technology distractions are common obstacles. These professionals have to respond to messages, research competitors, and analyze the target audience. This entire workflow is conducted in an extremely distracting environment: social media.
Lack of direction is another common issue that stands in the way of productivity. Digital marketers may know their end goal, but they rarely have proper guidance on how to get there. That’s why it’s hard for them to organize the workflow in a way that meets the client’s goals.
6 Ways for SMM Specialists to Become More Productive
Have a Personal Growth Strategy
What motivates a marketer to be more productive in their work? It’s not all about proper organization and goal-setting. It’s mostly about their inner drive to keep getting better at their job. The task of managing SMM specialists involves a consistent encouragement for personal growth.
When they feel less productive, marketers should ask themselves:
- Why did I get into this business? This is the starting question, as we often forget the real reason why we focused on a particular career. Remembering the starting motivation may be enough to trigger a productive workflow.
- Who am I helping with this project? Audience profiling isn’t just about demographics. It’s also about the issues they face and the improvements a product/service brings into their lives. Remembering why a particular marketing strategy is important makes the daily tasks more manageable.
- Where do I see myself a year from today? This is the foundational question of a personal growth strategy. An SMM specialist must have a vision for their future in the industry, so they can keep being productive. When that big goal is translated into smaller ones, they realize that today’s achievements will guide them towards the future they envisioned. That’s a huge motivational burst!
Rely on Others!
Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic started changing the way businesses work, outsourcing non-core functions has been an important focus for companies and managers. This approach helps them to overcome productivity challenges. Surveys show that the future of freelancing is bright. Upwork’s Freelance Forward 2021 survey showed that 9 in 10 freelancers believed that the best days for freelancing are ahead. 67% of the respondents said they were optimistic about their career outlook.
The freelancers are out there; skilled and ready to assist SMM specialists. When you realize that you’re stuck with a particular project or deadline, don’t wait before it’s too late: outsource to your teammates or hire a freelancer to cover some of the tasks!
Optimize the Usage of Professional Software
SMM specialists use several applications simultaneously. These include social media, conferencing, analytics, time-management, team-management, browser apps, and more. If the computer’s application memory is overwhelmed, the system becomes drowsy. With time, that causes various technical problems.
But it’s not just about technicalities. Slow computers make SMM specialists less productive. A few seconds more on a single app may mean nothing to a casual user. But when your work depends on a reliable machine, they make a notable difference.
Fortunately, it’s easy to free up memory on Mac. For example, AdBlock is a very demanding extension, which can be replaced with a lighter one. The computer will also be faster when fewer tabs are open in the browser. Finally, frequent restarting will free up some RAM as well.
Use a Unified Social Inbox
Social media marketing encompasses several platforms: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and more. Once the campaign starts gaining traction, managing the social media inbox takes up a lot of time. Digital marketers work on several strategies at a time, which makes this part of their job even more complex.
Delegation is helpful, but the SMM specialist still has to oversee how the audience communicates with the brand.
A unified social inbox is a critical time-saver when working with multiple accounts. Instead of going through the profiles one by one, they get all the messages on a single interface. That makes it easy for them to see who’s waiting for a reply. Archiving messages is also helpful, as it cleans up the inbox for more recent and important messages.
Automate wherever you can
SMM specialists deal with multiple repetitive tasks throughout their workflow. The problem with repetition is twofold:
- Not all those tasks require human interaction, so the specialist may feel like their job is purposeless
- Dealing with the same tasks over and over again is boring and demotivating
Without scheduling and automating posts, there’s no way for a digital marketer to handle their job on a daily level. But in addition to tools for scheduled publishing (which most social media marketers use), there are more opportunities for automation:
- Use IFTTT to send a thank-you message to new Instagram followers
- Rely on custom keyboard shortcuts for faster typing
- Use tools to monitor the industry and make prediction without diving into big data yourself
- Use scheduling tools to book meetings with timing that works for both you and the other person (Doodle and Calendly are great ones!)
Create a Personalized Routine
Checking the email at the same time every day may seem like a silly suggestion, but it works when it’s a part of a well-developed routine.
Doing the same things by a schedule every day doesn’t make one’s work boring. It makes it more effective. The tasks have to be covered no matter what, and they still vary on a daily level. Marketers will still face challenges and keep learning.
Creating a routine makes an SMM specialist’s work more predictable, so they can easily stay on track. They start the day knowing that it’s possible to handle all those tasks. That mindset alone makes them more productive.
For example, you can schedule client-facing tasks for the first half of the day. You’ll have enough energy to communicate with clients, and you’ll be able to show them the best version of yourself. Then, you can schedule tasks that require teamwork. After that, you’ll cover the tasks behind the scenes (planning and scheduling posts, market research, email sending, and so on).
Let’s Get More Productive, Today!
All above-listed tips are universal. They work for everyone, regardless of what the obstacle to their productivity is. However, it’s important to remember that each SMM specialist works differently. It’s important for them to experiment with different strategies and develop an approach that works for their individual challenges.
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Why settle for a lackluster social media management tool when you could be using Sked Social? With unlimited collaborator access, streamlined approvals and advanced auto-post technology that lets you schedule to all major platforms, Sked Social offers everything you need.
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