Social media doesn’t start when you walk into the office in the morning; nor does it stop when 5 o’clock rolls around. The social community is alive and well 24 hours a day, seven days a week, long after you’ve completed your 40-hour work week. If you’re treating your social networks as if they have an on/off switch, you’re likely missing out on opportunities to connect with your audience. While it can be challenging, extending your social media strategy outside of the traditional 9-5 can boost your business and help it stand apart from your competitors.
If a customer has a question, or worse – a complaint, they aren’t going to wait until Monday morning to address it. They hope you won’t either. Users expect you to respond to their tweets and messages in real time, and when you fail to do so, your audience no longer has a reason to stick around. Do you need to be refreshing your notifications until sunrise? No. But investing a few minutes before bed or throughout your weekend to check your social pages can make all the difference. If users can’t connect with your business, then you’re missing the “social” in your social media strategy.
Scheduling your content for posting is one way to stay relevant outside of business hours. Plan to share an interesting article or a funny behind-the-scenes picture. The occasional scheduled post is fine, but be wary of becoming reliant on these tools. As mentioned earlier, social media is a two-way street and requires engagement from both users and brand to work effectively. If you schedule your post and never think about it again, you are treating your social channels like a voicemail system instead of a means of conversation.
When it comes to social media, you just can’t beat live interaction. Go ahead and schedule a few tweets, but jump online when you’re in line at the grocery store and respond to any comments or questions. If you hear about breaking industry news, take five minutes to post about it. Take advantage of the time when most businesses hit the snooze button. It’s easier to stand out when less content is being shared. Make connecting with your customers a part of your weekend routine. We live in a world of instant gratification, where every tweet, reply, and comment counts. It’s time to quench your social media followers’ digital thirst.
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