Welcome to episode number 24 of The Social smarty Show.
Now, as a business owner, it is totally normal to feel overwhelmed by the constant demands of social media. You're told (maybe by me) that you need to post consistently on social media and good quality content as well. You need to have scroll-stopping visuals, captions that connect and tell a story. And then of course, don't forget to finish with that call to action. And of course, I want you sharing your behind the scenes and stories. We need to nurture our audience and stories. And then of course, we want to focus on video content because we know that performs better. TikTok's and Reels are a must for brand awareness. Hey, when was the last time you went live? And what about paid ads? Are you running paid ads? Because I bet your competitors are running paid ads. It's a lot, isn't it?
And it can really easily lead to what we call social media fatigue. That's that feeling you get when you're just exhausted or burnt out by being constantly tied to your phone and your social media platforms. Or maybe it might present as just a feeling of boredom. You're just bored by it all. Or you're frustrated or overwhelmed or stressed.
The stress of constant information, constant notifications. You feel like you're being bombarded with notifications just nonstop. And forget about the content creation. All of those notifications are relentless. You have messages, comments to respond to, Facebook group conversations to join on. Someone's tagged you again, you've got to go and find the comment or the question and answer it. And of course, we're comparing ourselves to our competitors. We all do it. It is totally normal. So it's no surprise at all that you'll find yourself maybe a little bit less motivated to use social media at times.
In fact, I'd be really surprised if you didn't feel this way. Social media fatigue can also make it really hard for us to connect to others online. It can even impact your sleep and your mental health. Now, if that's the case, we know we need to address this thing. So I want to share with you today some tips, some different ways that you can prevent or even just minimize your own social media fatigue.
Now, we're going to kick off with number one, and that is something I've talked about a lot before on this podcast, but it is setting clear goals for your social media marketing. So the thing is that when you have clear goals that are directly linked to your business goals, then you have a focus for your social media marketing and it gives you a kind of lens with which you can kind of apply to all of your activities on social media. So then you can kind of evaluate if what you're doing is not leading you towards your goal, then don't do it. Don't waste your time. So focus on the parts of your social media marketing that are going to move you towards your goal and just ignore the rest, ignore all of the noise and the stuff that doesn't matter.
It's really, really going to help you. It's like giving you permission to say no, that's not leading me closer to my goal. I know what my goal is, so I'm not going to bother with that. Okay, on to number two again. Another one I have talked about a lot, but that's around creating schedule.
So there's a couple of things here. So firstly, I want you to block out time in your calendar, whether that's every week or a couple of times a week or every fortnight. And that is your time to work on your social media marketing. Now personally, I like to block out separate times for content creation and engagement. So sometimes I'm working on creating and scheduling my content and then other times I'm working on my engagement.
So I'm responding to comments, I'm responding to private messages, engaging with others, that sort of thing. But I think it's really important to block out that time in your calendar and keep that appointment with yourself. I know it is so easy to get tied up in other areas of your business, working in your business rather than on it. I totally get it. And when you don't stick to those schedules, that's when you find social media starts to kind of invade other areas of your business and it becomes really stressful.
Either you just ignore it for ages and then you feel overwhelmed because it's been so long since you've posted and it feels like this thing that's kind of hanging over your head. And then you jump online and you start to scroll instead of thinking about actually creating some content. And then you start comparing yourself to others. You look at your competitors who are showing up a couple of times a week and then you start to spiral into that sort of negative self talk. But if you do keep that schedule with yourself, then you know you have that dedicated time to work on social media.
That means outside of that, you can just do your best to ignore it. Put your phone away on the weekends. You can even remove the apps from your phone because you know that you've got that time in your diary next week to focus on your social media marketing. Right? That leads me nicely into recommendation number three, which is using a social media tool.
Now there's two tools that I use consistently in my business. Number one is Meta Business Suite. And number two is Publer. Now, let's start with Meta Business Suite. So this is really, really good if you are focused just on Facebook and Instagram.
Now the two things that it's really good for is number one, scheduling your content. So sitting down, batching your content. That means creating a whole lot of content at once and then scheduling it into the calendar on Meta Business Suite. Now, the other thing that's really good about Business Suite is that it can consolidate all of our comments, private messages, DMs, our tags, our mentions, all into one sort of universal inbox. So we can see all of that noise in one place, we can respond to it in one go.
So we've got that time set aside in our calendar. We sit down, we do all of that, and then we get on with our day. Now, the other tool I love is Publer. While Publer doesn't yet have that consolidated inbox, what it is good for is scheduling your content for other platforms other than just Facebook and Instagram. So if you're using, I don't know, TikTok, Pinterest, LinkedIn, you can use it for your LinkedIn personal profile and your company page.
So it's really good for giving your place to sit down and literally just schedule out your content. Now, one of the big reasons that I love using a scheduling tool is it helps you to create content before you consume it. So you're not logging into Facebook or Instagram thinking, oh, I'll just have a little scroll before I post. No, you are logging in to actually create and schedule your content, not aimlessly scroll. And this can be really helpful to keep you on track, to make sure you're using your time efficiently and you're not falling down some rabbit hole or comparing yourself to your competitors.
Right, suggestion number four. This has been a game changer for me, but it's turning off your notifications. Now, I was really reluctant to do it. You know, what if I missed an important message or a comment? Plus, I was kind of a bit lazy.
So instead of looking through my settings and figuring out how to turn off the notifications, I would just try and ignore them. Except I wouldn't ignore them. Every ping, every vibrate, I needed to know who it was, what it was, what they were talking about. And that right there is at the heart of what makes social media so addictive. Those notifications are designed to pull you in constantly.
You get that little dopamine hitch because someone has liked your post or they have commented on your post, and then that creates a positive feedback loop. So it just keeps you coming back for more and more of that dopamine. So switch off your notifications and take control of when you access social media. Refer back to suggestion number three. Or was it number two, where I suggest putting some time in your calendar, that is when you're going to access your business social media.
Now, I've turned off notifications for business and personal, and again, it has just been life changing for me. I'm no longer just constantly tied to my phone and that ping, that constant noise, that's drawing me back in. Right, number five. This could be a really obvious one, but take a break. Take a break.
It can be just a period during the day. It may be going for a walk without your phone. If you're not ready to turn your notifications off completely, maybe put your phone on Do Not Disturb and your computer on Do Not Disturb for an hour or two each day. Or maybe you need a longer break, a week or two weeks, even longer than that. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, they're all going to be there when you come back.
Your mental health is more important than your social media marketing. I am officially giving you permission to take any breaks that you need. Even me. With all my knowledge and my tools and everything that I have in place for my social media marketing, I still take breaks all the time. And you know what?
My reach still grows. My audience is still there. Really, it's not very noticeable at all that I'm taking breaks. Okay. Right, this is my last tip.
It might be a little bit of an unusual one for me, but it is, tip number six is outsourcing your social media marketing. Literally handing it over to someone else. Now, yes, I do preach the power of managing your own social media marketing. That's what I've built my business around is upskilling business owners like you, professionals like you, to manage their own social media.
But I do not want that to be at the detriment of your mental health. If it makes sense for your situation, your budget, all those sorts of things, go for it. This can almost immediately help you reduce your workload, and it lets you focus on the other bits of your business that you're really good at that will make you money. Now, I know if you're listening to this podcast, it's probably unlikely that you're going to take my suggestion, but honestly, give it some thought. Now, of course I want you to do your due diligence when you're outsourcing.
If you want some tips on that, on what to look for when outsourcing your social media marketing, let me know. Actually, that would make a really good topic for a future podcast episode. I might put that one together for you. So stay tuned for that one. But if you need to outsource, if it makes sense for your business, then absolutely do it.
But yes, I want you to make sure that you pick the right social media marketing manager for the job. Right, there you have it. My six tips and suggestions to help you beat social media fatigue. As always, let's take a quick recap. Number one is setting goals.
Give yourself that lens. You can apply to whatever activities you're doing on social media to ensure they are moving you towards your business goals. Number two, create a schedule. Block out that time in your calendar. Number three, use a social media tool like Business Suite or Publer.
Number four, turn off those notifications. Honestly, it's the best thing you can do number five, take a break when you need it. Number six is if it works for you, maybe consider outsourcing your social media marketing. Right? Come and find me to continue the conversation on social media.
You'll find me all over the place @socialsmarty.co come and let me know which of the six suggestions you're going to implement in your business. Or maybe you have another suggestion I would love to hear from you. Until next time, stay social.
