August 2025

I was talking to a friend the other day who commented that she hated social media because it’s such a time suck. She manages business accounts as part of her work, a lot like I do. But it got me thinking about why so many small businesses are floundering around on social media. Small business owners are already doing so much, and managing this beast called social media just feels impossible, so why bother.

I’m going to put on my PR hat here, though, and say our businesses should absolutely be on social. Social media can be such an incredible blessing to businesses, bringing in new clients and buyers, showcasing the great work that you and your team are doing.

It’s such an incredible PR tool, and if we aren’t using it, then we’re missing out on so much exposure. However (and that’s a big however), it becomes a time suck if we don’t have a plan.

Every day I’m talking social with clients. So I thought I’d share the 7 ways I advise my clients to approach social media…

1. Choose one platform. If you don't have the time to change up tone/voice on various platforms then just choose one and do that one well. (Make sure it's a platform where your audience lives.) I’m releasing you from the pressure of “needing” to be everywhere. Don’t fall into that trap.

2. Make a plan, and be consistent. It's important to post consistently, but that doesn’t mean that you have to post every single day. 2x or 3x a week is plenty.

As you’re thinking through what you can fit into your workload, consider the amount of time it takes to put each post together — what I mean is, videos take a lot more time than a simple image or slide. If you can’t commit to the hours it takes to shoot and edit multiple videos a week, then don’t make that your plan. You’ll fail.

Seriously ask yourself what feels do-able for you, write it out, and stick to that schedule for a couple months. Then reevaluate.

3. Schedule time to engage. What I mean is, take 20 minutes every day or every other day to pop into your business account and engage with the people who you follow/who are following you. Respond to their comments, like posts, share on stories. As you engage with people, they will in turn engage with you (and the algorithm will show them your content!).

4. Mix up your content. As you’re making your plan, make sure you have a mix of posts that range from educational, behind the scenes, selling, etc. Especially if you’re just starting out and trying to figure out what resonates with your audience!

I also strongly advise my clients to show their personality. People buy from people. And the more you can connect with your audience, the better chance you have at selling your service or product.

5. Schedule Your Posts. Trust me, this is a lifesaver. Spend a day every month creating your posts for the month, then schedule them out. That way you don't have to take time to go in and post on the selected days. I mean, who wants to stop what they’re doing to go post on Instagram. 🫠

Most platforms now have this function within the app. So do yourself a favor and try this out.

6. Do not spend money on it. What I mean by that is don't spend money on ads or boosting if you are just getting started. If social media (or being consistent on social) is new to you/your business, spend your energy focusing on consistently posting.

Get a feel for what your audience wants, what they respond to, what they share (and what they don’t). You don’t want to spend money to push content that doesn’t resonate with your audience. 🥴

Once you have built up your content on your preferred platform or platforms with at least 30+ posts, then consider paying for ads. But, not until then.

7. Set up simple tracking. Create a google sheet, Excel doc, whatever and create a way to track your work. What you want to track depends on what your goals are, but I typically recommend tracking the following (Remember, what it’s called varies by platform, so this is a general list.)

Profile visits
Impressions
External link clicks
Content interactions
Followers (specifically I care more about overall growth rather than specific follower counts)
Top content (what performed the best overall)

Simple enough, right? I kid. I kid. Nothing’s simple about owning your own business. If you need some guidance as it relates to social, then let’s book a FREE 15-minute call together. I want you to succeed, so let’s get you on the right track.