Like many bloggers, social media is the main source of traffic for my blog, so it's important that I focus on continually growing a decent following across all of my platforms. As I work full time and enjoy having lazy weekends, I created a simple routine which makes my social media management a lot easier, without needing to be online 24/7 to see results.
Disclaimer, this routine will not grow your social media for you, lazy bum! There isn't a planner in the world capable of doing that. It will however allow you to focus on putting effort into smaller aspects of your online presence, which will make it easier to grow overall. Know what I'm saying? Let's begin...
What are your goals?
Ideally, what do you want social media to bring you? Do you want to increase traffic to your blog? Build a wider audience? Maybe even grow a following that will inspire brands to work with you. Write all your top goals down so you have something to work towards overall.
Start to break these goals down into achievable milestones, then from here, you need to decide what little tasks you need to do to achieve these milestones. One of my aims is to hit 4k followers on Twitter, as that's where the majority of my blog traffic comes from, so two of my tasks are to follow fellow bloggers and schedule my promotional tweets.
Task ideas
- Posting to Instagram - Following bloggers - Scheduling Tweets - Joining Twitter chats - Catching up on pods - Commenting on blog posts - Sharing articles on Facebook - Replying to emails - Contacting brands - Adding a Snapchat/Instagram story - Pinning images - Unfollowing inactive accounts - Replying to post comments - Liking Instagram posts - RT other blogger's tweetsRemember, these are things you are going to be doing every day, so make sure they are relatively simple and quick to do. You ideally want no more than six tasks, so choose the ones you feel are most important to your social media presence. My six tasks focus around Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram and other blogs, with most tasks covering several social medias. You ideally want your tasks to overlap platforms, so you can get the most out of each one.
Choose your time-slot
When will you be completing your tasks? I usually do mine first thing in the morning, where I will go on a following spree on Twitter and Instagram, looking for more bloggers to connect with. I also take this time to schedule my tweets on Buffer ready for the day ahead.
The rest of the tasks I complete in the evening. I like to spend the time before I go to bed winding down by commenting on blog posts and trawling Pinterest for pretty images to pin. I also make sure I'm caught up on my Instagram comment pods before I go to sleep and share the love to my fellow blogging babes.
You might notice I only have weekdays on my planner and haven't included Saturday or Sunday. This is because I am usually on social media a lot more at the Weekend, or I take a huge break altogether, so I tend to just take a rest from the routine on those days.
Put it all together
I made my schedule on Photoshop, but I'm sure you can create something similar on Word or even by hand in a notebook or planner. My schedule is printed out and stuck to my wall each week, and I also have it saved to my phone so I can check it when I'm out and about if need be, but I usually stick to my designated times. You can colour-code your schedule, or add icons like mine that you can colour in when you have completed that day's tasks.
So there you have it, (hopefully) all the advice and inspiration you need to create your own social media routine! But what happens if after all my advice, all the planning and goal-setting, you still can't get your schedule right?
That's easy - Download mine for free here.
What tasks are important to maintaining your social media?
Do you have a routine yet?
What tasks are important to maintaining your social media?
Do you have a routine yet?
I use my social media socially and have not actually connected the dots to my blog yet - I don't even know why. This has given me a lot to think about.
ReplyDeleteKatja xxx
www.katnapped.com
Pretty much all over my social media revolves around my blog now! I don't have any personal accounts left!
DeleteThis was very helpful! I know I get quite stressed out with all that's involved with keeping up with blog and social media. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteTadeja
www.happynami.com
Ahh don't stress! Just split it up into little chunks
DeleteThis is such a helpful post :) you're so organised! I do schedule my blog link tweets on the morning my blog post goes live but that's where my organisation starts & finishes haha so this is such a helpful post, thank you! Xxx
ReplyDeleteZoë | www.mammafulzo.com
Great post! I really need to get my social media schedule sorted so this post is super helpful for me thanks 💖🍵 - www.teaisawishyourheartmakes.wordpress.com 💖🍵
ReplyDeleteSuch a helpful post! I need to get myself going with a schedule!
ReplyDeletePanda xo | thealienb4by.wordpress.com
Planning is so important when you want to take social media to the next level. It's also important to find something that works for us and not just copy what big accounts do :) x
ReplyDeleteKirsty
www.corinneandkirsty.com
I love organising what im going to be doing. Since I put together my goals and started acting on them I can definitely see a difference! Fab post!
ReplyDeleteSarah | sazsinclair.blogspot.co.uk xx
Omg this planner is so lovely -- I'm in awe of your graphic design skills! I also focus a lot on Instagram and (to a lesser extent) Twitter, but have yet to get into Pinterest. I'll have to reset my password and try it out -- right now my Pinterest is just Year-old wedding pins, hehe.
ReplyDeletexx
Emily
emilyhallock.blogspot.com
I get so stressed with making sure i keep up with my socials, so this was amazing!
ReplyDeleteLauren | laurmatthews.blogspot.co.uk
This is such a useful post thank you! Definitely given me some advice and reminders that I need to go back and look at my schedule! xo
ReplyDeleteHanney | www.blogabouthanney.com
I really need to follow this - it seems so organized and easy to keep up with.
ReplyDeleteI need a firm routine in place. One day I follow one way, the next another. I need to be more constant in order to make it easier for myself.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a helpful post! Thank you xxxx
ReplyDeleteAh loved this one! It was so needed as well :D I suck at routines, don't know why though. Otherwise I'm organised af, but routines are just something I can't wrap my head around. This gave me some inspiration to create my own :-)
ReplyDeletePlanning is always important I usually spend my weekend posting and reading other bloggers post. Your planner looks super lovely!
ReplyDeleteMichelle|www.brokebutflawless.blogspot.com
Such a helpful post, need to put some of these points into action xx
ReplyDeleteThis is such a good idea!! xx
ReplyDeletewww.daisyhudson.com
This was really helpful because I really need to start utilising my socials more! X
ReplyDeleteKate// itskaterose.com
I need to schedule more because I work full time aswell as blogging!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this! I have a really hard time with social media, particularly Twitter as I've never really used it and don't like it much. Maybe that will change as I use it more.
ReplyDeleteKylie <3 | livingwhimsicaldreams.blogspot.com
Oh gosh you are so organised! I schedule posts and tweets, but everything else I do manually so to speak x
ReplyDeleteI love how organised you are! I am useless lol, I kinda stumble along with social media hoping for the best lol
ReplyDeleteThis was such a helpful post! Thanks for this :)
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I just love the design of your schedule, it's so feminine! I found myself while reading this post, I have these major goals you can't achieve overnight and that's why it's important to have milestones! You won't get discouraged that way.
ReplyDeleteBS, xx | https://queenbsdiary.com/
I have a planner just for social media haha It is the only way I keep up with it all.
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing! I'm off to download and print!!!! Thank you xxx
ReplyDeleteThis is such a useful post! You've inspired me to be more organised with my own social media :)
ReplyDeleteRachel | Hey Rachieface
Great step by step! Growing on Instagram is difficult these days but it can be done! X
ReplyDeleteThis was sooo helpful, thank you!
ReplyDeleteJenn x
https://etoilejenn.blogspot.co.uk
I struggle to have a proper routine with my social media. I think I just need to buckle down with it!
ReplyDeleteLauren :) x
I struggle to have a proper routine with my social media. I think I just need to buckle down with it!
ReplyDeleteLauren :) x