6 Easy Ways to Save Time Running a Social Media Campaign

One of the first things I hear from people when I talk about Social Media, is that “it’s too time consuming”. While that can very well be the case as it is very easy to get distracted – with a little self-discipline and some handy tools, it does not need to be time consuming at all. Here are some easy ways I go about saving time while running numerous Social Media campaigns.

1. Integrate – this is the easiest and quickest way to syndicate your content across platforms and to get the maximum exposure out of it without having to login to countless networks. Simply integrate them all with each other so that when you post to one social network or your blog, they are all updated. Several tools to help you accomplish this are:

Ping.fm – set up all your social profiles in one place and when you want to update them all, simply login to your Ping.fm account and post your update. It will get sent out to all the accounts, profiles and networks you have set up to work with this service.

Twitterfeed.com – Take any RSS feed, such as the one from your blog, or from your Twitter account or even a Yahoo! Pipe, and send it to Twitter, Facebook, Ping.fm and more.

Twitter Tools – This is a plugin for privately hosted WordPress blogs, which sends all your blog updates to Twitter and allows you to add a Widget to the sidebar of your blog that lists all your recent tweets.

Networked Blogs – An app for Facebook, this tool lets you run your blog RSS feed straight to your Facebook profile or fan page. Whle tere are other apps that do this, Networked Blogs is by far the most reliable and it comes with the bonus of having a blog profile on the Networked Blogs web site.

Feedburner – Feedburner tracks your RSS subscribers, allows you to let people subscribe via email, and you can have it automatically post to Twitter.

A lot of social networking sites have Twitter and Facebook integration built in, such as Foursquare and Glue so don’t be afraid to poke around in the settings and find out what more you can do with your favorite social networking site.

2. Create a Calendar – Utilizing your favorite Calendar software such as Google Calendar or iCal, set up your day-to-day schedule for handling your social media campaign and stick to it. I find this helps a lot with blogging – each day I have a certain type of blog post in my calendar. For example, the calendar for a Music Blog I write for looks like this:

Monday : New music web app review – review of a new, upcoming web app tat relates in some way to music.
Tuesday: A List – any sort of list, 12 easy steps… , 6 ways to…, top 8 ___ of all time… etc. These have the most potential for becoming viral.
Wednesday : Video of the Week: Choose a music video you like, and post it.
Thursday : Upcoming concerts – a list and info for concerts in the area.
Friday: Follow Friday – feature a cool music-related Twitter user.

There are so many more types of blog posts you can write as well: book reviews, recipes, photo of the day or week, or if you’re running a business perhaps customer of the week, product profiles, promotions, employee of the week, interviews, polls, questionnaires, and lots  more. I find that having this already figured out beforehand, coming up with a topic becomes that much easier.

You can also include in your calendar, Facebook page updates, Twitter updates. Allot yourself 15 minutes each day for each, to respond to your fans and followers, post your own comments for the day and maybe pictures or videos.  Once the 15 minutes is up for each, leave it be and if it needs any more attention do it when you’ve finished all your other work for the day. I have set up my own calendar to include a visit to Facebook and Twitter in the morning, at lunch and then again at the end of the day if needed.

3. Use your Smart Phone – There are a ton of apps for iPhones and other smart phones that allow you to post to Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Glue, and so many more. Use them, set them up to auto-share your activity or share your activity manually. One example is Shazam – did you know that when you get Shazam to recognize a song, you can then Tweet that you just tagged that song, and post it to your Facebook profile? You can also set up Twitpic so that when you take a picture on your phone, you can just send it to your Twitpic email address and it will be posted to both Twitpic and Twitter. When you shoot a video with your iPhone, in the share menu you have the option to post it to YouTube and if you have your Youtube account setup to share with Facebook and Twitter, all your friends and followers on those networks will see that you uploaded that video.

There are also the apps like Tweetdeck, Facebook, Foursquare, WordPress and Twitter that allow you to access those social networks directly. Post status updates on the go, check in wherever you are, post blog posts while riding the train. All the idle moments you spend waiting in line at the bank or the supermarket, waiting for your check after lunch, sitting on the bus or waiting to board a plane, can all be harnessed and put to good use with your smart phone and a few social media apps.

4. Edit yourself – If you’re one of those people who have a tendency to go on and on and on about something, be conscious of that while you’re writing blog posts, status updates or even emails. The fact is, the longer something is, the less likely people will get to the end of it, no matter how well written or said it is. Always assume your audience is intelligent and can get the point the first time you explain it. Otherwise, it can feel, for a reader, condescending and even insulting at times.

5. Kill Blogger’s Block – There are so many great ways to do this. First, every time you think of something to write about, write it down. I use Things on my phone and sync it with the Things app on my computer, so any time I’m somewhere where I can’t start a blog post, I just add an item in the project in Things that represents my blog, with the subject of the blog post I just thought of. Then, when I am near my computer, I sync the two versions of Things and when I’m stuck for a blog post topic, I refer to that list.

Another way to beat blogger’s block is to subscribe to RSS feeds for blogs and news sources that relate to what you blog about. I use Google Reader to subscribe to RSS feeds – it allows me to star items, which I do when I want to blog about something that I’ve read, or revisit it later when I have more time. When you read something that interests you or that you have an opinion on, write about it and link to the article or blog post you read that spawned your post. This can get the attention of the blogger who posted the item that inspired you, which can lead to comments, link sharing and more readers than usual.

Finally, when all else fails, revert to your FAQ. Frequently asked questions are just that for a reason. A lot of people want to know the answer to them. And if you answer one of those frequently asked questions in a blog post in more detail than they would find in your FAQ, you’ll find that a lot of people appreciate the information.

6. Crowdsource – Ask your readers, your fans and your followers to submit content. Keep a form on your blog for story submissions, allow your Facebook fans to post things on your wall (although keep this closely monitored), have photo and video contests, or even short answer question contests on your Facebook page. Reward your fans for submitting content and being social within your networks, with prizes, or titles (fan of the day), bragging rights and recognition.

If you take all of these steps and stick to them, you should be able to run an effective social media campaign without having to sacrifice too much time. And you’ll see how much an effectively run social media campaign can actually pay off.

social media, twitter, facebook, blogging