One of the best ways to promote your online business is through social media. It’s really easy, though, to get sucked into these sites and waste way too much of your time.

In my Time Management and Productivity series, this first thing I tell you to cut back on is social media. Especially if you’re trying to increase your productivity.

So you need to pay attention to the time you’re spending there, and see how effective you’re being.

In terms of your business, any time spent on social media should be income producing. So be conscious of that every time you go to check your Facebook feed.

**This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive a small commission from any purchase made, at no additional cost to you. I only suggest products that I use myself. You can read more on my disclosure statement here.

Act—Do Not React

In order to avoid wasting time on social media, it’s absolutely essential that you have a game plan.

You have to go on there with a plan of action—a list of tasks to accomplish. If not, you will only be reacting to what others are putting out there. I’m sure this isn’t how you intend to run other aspects of your business, so do not let it run this aspect.

Don’t scroll through your feeds and respond to what you find there as a method of promotion—that’s reacting.

Instead, know before you go on who’s going to have certain promotional threads posted for that day. Go to those posts directly and promote. That’s action.

In order to do this effectively, though, you’re going to need a couple of things ready. First you’re going to need a plan of what you intend to promote. And then you will need to have a schedule of these daily promotions readily available.

Prepare the Marketing for Your Posts

After a post is created, outline how you want to market the post right away, while it is still fresh in your head.

Create a blurb that will fit in twitter with the link and a tag back to yourself.

Scan the post for quotes that highlight your main posts.

I shoot to create 5 different tweets for each post. I type them into a spreadsheet exactly as I will post them. Then when I go to fill my scheduling tool, everything I need is right there.

If you don’t want the exact tweets to be posted to Facebook, write these out as well and add them to your spreadsheet.

I also create 3 pinnable images and 3 Instagram images for each post. This allows for me to continue to circulate my posts without sharing the same images too often.

Amazing Freebie!!

For this post, I have created the ultimate freebie! It is a spreadsheet to track absolutely every aspect of your social media marketing. It has 4 tabs. The first is a color coded daily schedule, broken down into 15-minute increments. I highlighted the best time to post on each social media platform. I got this information from the folks over at coschedule.com. Read more here!

If you don’t have a scheduling tool, this tab has everything you could need. If want to sketch out your scheduling before loading it up, this is the place to do it.

The next tabs is where you will plan your marketing for each post. There is a place for the post name, the link, the category. You have room to include 5 different unique posts, 3 Pinterest images, 3 Instagram images. There are columns to track the last time you have posted on each of the different platforms.

AND—there are columns to track all your metrics that we talked about in the first post of this series. There is room to track how many times each Facebook post is liked and shared. How many times each individual tweet is retweeted and liked. Tracking for your Pinterest and Instagram images.

This information will clearly show you which of your promotional posts are working. And which aren’t. This allows you to really listen to your audience and give them exactly what they want!

[convertkit form=4983172]

Map Out Your Facebook Promotions

One of the best ways to promote on social media is through Facebook groups.

In order to keep your time on Facebook focused, though, you have to have a plan of action.

I keep a tab in my spreadsheet that lists out each Facebook group I’m in. I write down who the moderator(s) is/are, what type of group it is, and what promotional threads they have for each day.

This allows me to sort the document but group type if I have an article that would only pertain to certain groups.

Or I can scan—or sort—by day to see what groups I need to go into for different promotions. This is much more time efficient than scrolling through your feed and plopping in your links as you go.

It also makes it incredibly difficult to remember what posts you have already engaged in.

Keep Track of Your Posts

Most of these groups also have certain requirements to promote on their thread. This is very important to stay on top of. Don’t be that person who doesn’t follow up.

I have two different ways to stay on top of this. In my Facebook group tab, once I have posted in a promotional thread, I turn the corresponding cell green. Once it’s completed, I simply turn it blue. If I skipped that promotion for the week, I grey it out. On Sunday I turn everything white again for the week. I can also go ahead and gray any out I know ahead of time that I’m going to skip.

The problem, though, is that I must have access to this document at all times in order to check them off this way. Considering I’m gone from 7 in the morning until about 6 at night, I must have a backup way to stay on top of this.

So during the day, I use the iPhone Reminders app. It’s so amazing. I have a list for every day of the week. In each list are the different promotions. Once they are done, I click the little circle next to them and they are gone. (If I don’t join a thread, I also just mark it as done). Then on Sunday, I click show completed, deselect them all, and have a clear list for the week.

Track Your Pinterest Group Boards and Tailwind Tribes

The last thing I like to keep track of is my different Pinterest group boards and Tailwind tribes.

I use Tailwind for Pinterest, so I just load it up every weekend. But because I am constantly joining new boards, I like to have them all listed in once place for quick reference.

I have a tab for all of my different boards and tribes. I list the board name, the owner, what type of board it is, the board rules, and then how many members and pins per day there are.

Back to That Amazing Freebie

Of course, these last two tabs are included in my amazing freebie! So if you want to track all your different Facebook groups and Pinterest boards, you have to check this out!

The amount of time I have cut out of my weekly social media marketing is unbelievable.

I go onto Facebook with a plan of action. I don’t get sucked down the rabbit hole. Well, not as often as I used to at least—hey, I never said I was perfect!

But if you want to have more time for the important things in life, you have to be smart with your time. And this spreadsheet is the ultimate guide to planning your social media marketing. In the most efficient way! So check it out!

[convertkit form=4983172]

Sharing is caring, folks. If you know someone who could use some help with their social media marketing, do them a favor, and send them over!

[convertkit form=5021550]

And now, I am super excited to announce a new challenge that I created to help YOU increase your productivity!

5 Day Productivity Challenge!

Are you a highly productive person? Or are you still struggling to figure out a way to get things done in a way that works for you?

I have created a 5-day productivity challenge! In it, I will walk you through creating a system that works for you. The best part? It’s absolutely free! Click here to read more!