Making Social Media Simpler

Today we are continuing our series for the month of September on streamlining your online presence. Last week we talked about creating a website that works for you and why you should update your website on a regular basis to get Google over there crawling around to see what is updated so that it can push your website out to the search engine.

Today we’re going to focus on simplifying social media so that it doesn’t feel overwhelming. We’re going to talk about why simplifying social media matters, streamlining your content creation, repurposing content—woo, that’s one of my favorite topics—and choosing the right platforms. We’ll also cover setting some healthy boundaries because we know social media can be overwhelming if we allow it to be. 

Why Simplify Social Media?

Social media can be a powerful tool, but for a lot of us, it often feels like a burden. As a reminder, if it does not serve your business, then you should not be doing it. It should serve your business, not control your business. As Christians, business owners, authors, speakers, and coaches, our goal is connection and encouragement, not constantly hustling after the next best thing. This is why you should streamline your content creation.

Use one of my favorite tools, which is called batching. Plan and create content in chunks. An example is to spend an afternoon creating a week’s worth of posts. Use scheduling tools to your advantage. Some of my favorites are Buffer, Later, Canva, or my favorite, the Meta Business Suite, because it’s free. It favors Facebook, and it is by Facebook.

Streamlining your content can also save you that mental energy of the daily posting stress. I have a very specific outline of types of posts that I do, and I do them on a consistent basis. Planning ahead equals more consistency with less overwhelm, and that’s why I like repurposing content. You can do that. You can repurpose your content across platforms.

One piece of content can be broken down and used multiple ways. You can use a blog post to break that into social captions. You can use a podcast episode to break it into short video clips, audiograms, or quotes. You can use your email content and turn that into social posts. Or you can do like me and take that podcast episode and use it for a blog post, email, and social media. I repurpose like crazy people.

The point is having that consistency without constantly reinventing the wheel. You do not have to have different content on every platform. You can have the same, because here’s the thing: not everybody is on every platform consistently. I might be someone who frequents Facebook often, and maybe I’m there every day, but maybe I don’t go on Instagram every day, or I don’t watch stories every day. It’s not like I’m going to see your same content on every platform because I’m not there. Most people tend to gravitate to one platform or another. Maximize what you already create instead of chasing new stuff all the time because it’s new to other people. You just feel like it’s old to you because you’re so close to it. 

Choosing the Right Platform

That’s why we’re going into the next thing, which is choosing the right platform. I just said we all tend to gravitate to one platform or another. Let me give you some examples. You want to pick one to two platforms where your audience already spends time, so everybody’s audience is different, obviously. Your audience is made up of your target market, so you have to think about their age. You have to think about their interest, what your topic is, and then consider what fits your strengths. Are you strong on video? Are you stronger in writing? Are you stronger at creating graphics?

Let me give you a couple of examples. For authors, I find that most authors have more success creating and being a part of their own Facebook group. A lot of authors are also very good on Instagram. Speakers, on the other hand, are more successful on a YouTube channel and LinkedIn because LinkedIn is a very professional platform. If you’re looking for speaking engagements, it is a great place to connect and network with people.

I tend to gravitate to Facebook. I have a Facebook group. If you’re not a part of it, you can come and join. It’s called the Christian Business Advantage. I spend more time personally in Facebook groups than I do on Instagram. I have an Instagram, but the same thing that I post to Facebook goes to Instagram. That’s just my preference.

You can also think about it based on your audience’s age. We recently had a new client for Alyssa Avant and Company, and one of my team members is helping her to find where Gen Z is hanging out. They are looking to reach Gen Z and so they have found a lot of things that are different about that. The generation that you’re from really does matter and it matters how you consume content and where you spend time on social media. It’s better to focus on one or two platforms rather than to burn yourself out. I’ll tell you that for sure. 

Setting Boundaries

That’s where we must take a moment to remind you to set healthy boundaries. Social media is a tool. Don’t let it become your identity. The older I’ve gotten, the more I haven’t been on social media my whole life. My children had started out in their teen years on social media, but it’s not been a part of my entire life. I’m grateful for that, but I’ve also had to learn to practice some boundaries.

One of those you could do is to set limits on the time that you spend. No endless scrolling during work hours. I don’t usually get on social media during work hours unless I’m doing something for a client, so I schedule some content for clients. I’ll usually be on social media to do that. I might post a quick story or something like that, but I don’t spend a lot of time on social media during work hours.

My favorite is turning off your notifications. The only thing that I have notifications on my cell phone for are text and calls from those important people in my life. Otherwise, I don’t have notifications. My phone does not ding every time a Facebook post comes up or an Instagram. I do not have notifications for social media on my cell phone.

I had that in years past. It’s been so long now that I haven’t had it that I don’t remember how many years ago I decided to make that decision. That was a very good boundary that I am glad that I chose. Spiritually, you have to have a spiritual boundary to protect your heart from comparison and from people-pleasing.

My heart really goes out to those who, like my children, have grown up in a social media or digital age because they see so much of the lives of their peers that causes comparison that I did not have to see or have to deal with as a young person. I’m very thankful for that, but it also ties into stewarding your time wisely.

Stewarding Your Time Wisely

It brings to mind the verses Ephesians 5:15 & 16. Be careful then how you live, not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. It is true that we have to make the most of our time and we only get so much time in a day. We don’t want to be using that time, all of it for social media.

I just want to do a quick recap. Streamline your social media with scheduling and batching. You can repurpose content, but also choose your platforms wisely and set those healthy boundaries. I want to encourage you that consistency matters more than perfection, and it’s important that you show up faithfully, not frantically.

I want to ask you to come back next week because we are going to be talking about email marketing made easy. This whole month has been about streamlining your online presence and how to do that so that it doesn’t take up so much of your time.