Five Social-Media Timesavers

Save time on your social-media efforts by planning ahead and using online tools.

As a financial advisor, it can seem as though you never have enough time. And the time you do have is better spent with clients than on marketing campaigns. That’s the reason why many financial advisors I’ve spoken with simply say: “I don’t have time for social media.”

But creating and maintaining an active presence on social media can help you connect with prospective clients and deepen your relationships with current ones. These interactions can be crucial to the success of your practice. With these five social-media timesavers, you can reap the rewards of an active online presence while minimizing the time you spend in front of the computer.

1. Create a content calendar. Planning ahead is one of the best ways to stay active on social media. By writing your posts weeks or even months in advance, you eliminate countless minutes spent in front of the computer screen trying to come up with content on the fly. A content calendar can also help you craft your posts more strategically, timing them to important holidays and firm events.
2. Schedule your posts. Once you create your content calendar, you can schedule your posts in advance using a web-based tool such as Hootsuite or Buffer. Whether you’re at your computer or in a client meeting, your content will automatically post to select social media accounts at the time of your choosing.
3. Get a snapshot view of your accounts. The same web-based tools that you use to schedule your posts give you a complete, current snapshot of the activity across all of your social-media accounts. You can view and interact with all of your accounts at once, without having to log in to multiple sites.