Organizing Your Social Media for the New Year
There are so many social networks out there--Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Periscope, Instagram--and the list goes on and on. In this online world we are constantly trying to market ourselves, reach a larger audience, and take on what's trendy and new. These social networks can be great, but as more pile up it appears that our attention is spread thinly to all of these new platforms. The New Year is a perfect time for a social media clean out.
It's time to dust out your accounts, sweep up your old tweets, and reclaim your three month old profile pictures. As the New Year approaches a lot of us are making new resolutions and hoping to create new habits. One habit that I'm hoping to achieve this coming year is the ability to fine tune and focus on a particular set of social media accounts.
Say goodbye to all of those networks that you signed up for and never used. By forcing yourself to spread your attention thin across all of these platforms, you are not living up to the possible potential you could have on one particular network.
It's not as easy as it sounds though. For me, social media seems like my life--and in a sense, it is. I've created this business for myself where I attempt to master all platforms and teach others how to do the same. But mastering a platform and deciding if its the right one for you are two different things. Just because you understand how a social media platform works, doesn't mean that you should market through it.
Think about it: is this social media network where my audience is? Are the people that I want to reach out to using this network? If you answered no to those questions, then maybe its time to shut down that social media account.
Now that you've whittled down the amount of networks you are using, the next step is to clean out your content. Here are a few tips for taking control and organizing your social networks for this New Year.
Change up your profile pictures.
Profile pictures become very static for a lot of businesses. Maybe its time to change it up. By giving yourself a fresh face for this New Year you will allow your social media to look clean and new again.
Update your bio.
This is another one of those things that becomes very static. A lot of times we haven't even changed our biographies on our social media sites since the first day that we made the account. Take this time to review what your bio is saying about you or your brand. Is it still relevant? Do you have something fresh and new to say?
Study your analytics.
This is my favorite part of the New Year. I review all of the posts that I had previously put on my social networks and figure out what worked and what didn't. This is an excellent thing to do all through out the year, but by paying close attention to what worked particularly in 2015, you can make 2016 shine even more!
Start scheduling.
If you don't use a scheduling tool for your social networks then I would suggest making the New Year your time to experiment with some. There are amazing free scheduling tools available that can alleviate so much of your stress. I love using Hootsuite to plan ahead and make sure that I can keep a consistent presence on all social network sites. The sooner you start scheduling your posts, the easier the New Year will seem.
Are you planning on doing a New Year's cleanse on your social media sites? Let me know how you declutter your social media networks in the comment section below!
