Managing social media can seem daunting and time consuming – just what are you meant to post about everyday? You’ll also need to find time to respond to comments, questions and mentions. Yet there are ways to make this manageable within your busy schedule.
Plan your content
Whether you share a simple document with colleagues, put together ideas on what you will post about every week. You’ll need to work closely with colleagues, including those who don’t share in communications, to source ideas and content. Don’t forget to factor in time for writing copy and sourcing good images.
Schedule your content
Use a social media planning tool like Hootsuite or Buffer to schedule content in advance. But do check in a few times throughout the day to respond to any feedback from your stakeholders. If you get the apps on your phone you can do this wherever you are.
Use the rule of thirds
If you’re stuck for inspiration, a good rule of thumb to remember is that one third of your content should be about your charity’s work, one third should be content relevant to your organisation and your audience and the final third should involve talking to your audience. Find out more about the rule of thirds.
Follow the golden rule
Your social media content must be relevant to your audience to resonate with them. If in doubt, ask yourself how they’ll respond to the post you’ve just written, bearing in mind that their attention is a scant resource. Will they be excited? Shocked? Amused? Or indifferent?
Test, learn, improve
Remember that audiences’ needs and wants change quickly, so keep tracking how they are engaging with your content and change it accordingly. Find out how to measure success on social media
Further information
Contributors
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Serena Snoad
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W Editor
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Christopher Milway
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chrism
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Tom C McHugh
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Mel Sept
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Rob Brennan
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Mark Barratt
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Chris Milway
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Debbie Valentine
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Paul Webster
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Jack Garfinkel
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