
You can’t help but cringe when you look at your social media marketing plans. There are so many things you need to do.
And they’re not the things that you can lump together and apply to all platforms. These tasks are unique to one specific social media.
Well, there’s nothing much you can do since not all of them are created equal.
Some platforms such as Twitter and Pinterest will require you to post a few times in a day, no exception. But platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are fine with you posting at least once a day.
And it’s easier than ever to manage your social media profiles in one place with social media management tools.
But even with that, you can’t help but feel overwhelmed despite having social media marketing plans in place.
If that’s how you feel right now, then there’s only one thing you need to do.
You seriously need to cut back on your social media presence to the bare minimum.
The myth of having to be everywhere
You probably have this belief that you need to be everywhere, as far as social media is concerned.
Why do you even need to be on every platform you possibly can?
Well, it’s because your audience is on all these platforms. You have no idea how many of them are in those places. But you know that they’re there, for sure.
With this belief in mind, you sign up with every social media platform that you come across. And yes, even the lesser-known ones.
Hearing success stories about authors making a killing by promoting their books on TikTok?
Well, you should be there too. Your audience must be there. And you’ll never know that TikTok might be a game changer for you.
But here you are, getting yourself a profile on TikTok only to realize that it’s not as easy as it seems.
And now you have another profile to manage. But the problem is you don’t have any more bandwidth to spare. You have too many things on your plate, social media-wise.
Here’s the thing about the idea of having to be everywhere. Unless you have someone or a dedicated team to manage your social media presence, it can take a huge chunk of your time and energy just to maintain your presence everywhere.
And it doesn’t matter how sophisticated the social media management tool and the automation hacks that you implement in your social media marketing strategy.
It’s not going to help you much when you have too many social media profiles to maintain.
Another thing that makes the idea of having to be everywhere a bogus concept?
Your audience may not even be there at all no matter what you’d like to believe.
Sure, you probably hear tons of success stories about authors making a killing on TikTok. But it doesn’t mean that you should be there when you know well enough that the majority of them are not even on TikTok.
Yes, some of them are likely on TikTok. But it doesn’t mean that you should spend your time catering to this small percentage of your audience when you can be doing something else that is more productive.
Things like writing another book in the series, perhaps?
The hidden cost of using social media in your author business
While it’s true that it doesn’t cost you a dime to sign up with these social media platforms, it can still cost you precious time to maintain your presence on social media.
Sure, they’re easy to set up and it doesn’t cost too much time on your side just to post on these platforms.
But what seems like a small investment of time here and there will surely add up in the long run no matter how menial the tasks are.
And it’s not something that you can get back too.
If you realize that social media is sucking most of your time, then it’s best to dial back on your social media presence.
The strategic way to simplify your social media marketing plans
Believe it or not, it’s not that hard to cut back on your social media presence.
Will your audience notice when you suddenly become radio silent on that said social media platform?
Well, some of them do especially when you have a large audience. But for the most part, most of them won’t even notice considering how fast-paced some platforms can be.
So, no one will notice even if your social media profile has been dormant for years.
While it’s all well and good, how do you go about it?
Here are some of the things you can do to dial back on your social media presence.
Check your Google Analytics on which social media platforms bring you the most traffic
While Google Analytics can feel somewhat overwhelming to use for most people, it’s still a treasure trove when it comes to your website data.
And that includes which social media platforms that bringing the most traffic to your website.
If you find that navigating through your Google Analytics is confusing, you can always use the MonsterInsight WordPress plugin to access your Google Analytics straight from your WordPress dashboard.
I find it easier that way since Google Analytics is notorious for changing the user interface.
If you’re using WordPress, then I highly recommend that you use MonsterInsight to access your Google Analytics data.
While you can get more out of your Google Analytics with the premium plugin, I find that the basic version is sufficient enough for most people.
Check the engagement rate on your social media profiles
While finding out the engagement rate across your social media profile is easier to do when you use the premium version of Buffer or Hootsuite, you can still do the same by checking your profile analytics.
Sure, the analytics aren’t as robust as the ones you’ll get on Buffer and Hootsuite. But it does give you the insights you need when it comes to how your social media profile is performing all this time.
Let your audience know that you’re no longer active on that said platform
It doesn’t matter whether you have thousands of followers or just one person following you. It’s still a courtesy to let them know that you won’t be active on that said platform anymore.
Let them know where they can find you once you’re no longer active on that said platform and pin it at the top of your timeline.
Platforms like Facebook and Twitter allow you to pin your post on your timeline so it will stay on top forever.
And in the case of Twitter, you can even create a thread if the 280 characters don’t do any justice to you.
Creating a thread isn’t that hard either. Here’s the post on how you can create a thread on Twitter.
You don’t need to be on social media if you want to
This post by Naomi Dunford somehow got me thinking hard about my social media marketing plans.
As much as I love the idea of having social media bringing exposure to my websites, sad to say that they’re not my biggest source of traffic.
Funnily enough, I don’t plan to quit social media, at least for now.
But I really am cutting back on my social media presence.
Rather than having to post on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Tumblr, I will only be posting on Twitter and Pinterest for my fiction author blog and Twitter for The Efficient You.
Will I give another social media platform a try if any of them no longer work for me anymore?
Well, maybe. But I’m more likely to quit social media than me adding another social media to replace the one that doesn’t work for me.
If it does happen, then I’ll make sure that you’ll be the first to know.
P.S If you’re planning to take your Twitter marketing seriously, take a look at my Twitter Marketing For Business guide.
In it, you’ll learn all sorts of things about Twitter from setting up your Twitter profile the right way to managing your profile without sucking the life out of you.
Sounds like something you need? You can take a look at the guide right here on my Payhip store:
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