School’s out for summer!

As we enter into the silly season where so many people have packed up and headed off for their summer holidays, it’s easy to forget that social media never sleeps. For those that manage their social media for their business themselves, thinking about how your various accounts will run while you’re away can be lower down in the list of overall priorities for your business when you’re planning ahead, with the temptation being to just leave it and pick it up again on your return.

Don’t.

After you’ve worked hard to build up your presence on your social media, posting regularly and engaging with your audience, you risk losing traction if you fail to maintain momentum. With some careful planning before you go away you can set up your social media so that it mostly takes care of itself – leaving you to enjoy your break while your social media accounts still work hard for you behind the scenes.

Think about it: your audience is out there looking at their social media platforms all year round. And while they’re away on holiday, some people will be able to spend more time looking at them, not less, as they have more free time to do so – the main difference is that they will be looking at them from their phones, rather than from their desktops. Whether they’re looking for inspiration about where to go, what to do, what to wear before they leave, they’re just catching up on all the news from back home while they’re away, or reminiscing about those blue skies when they’re home, people are on social media, so your business should be too.

SocialBee Social Media has some top tips about planning for the summer holidays so your social media remains active and relevant while you’re enjoying the sunshine!

Plan ahead By creating a social media plan that covers all your content ahead of time, you’ll have everything in place before you go, ready to just press “go” whenever you’re ready. This takes care of half the battle, as you’ll already know what you need to post and when. Something as simple as a spreadsheet with all your posts already written up and a folder on your phone with all the relevant photos will mean you can post directly from your phone quickly & easily.

Be mindful of content Whilst planning ahead is a must, consider the type of content you’re planning to post and ensure that it’s not something that will look out of place if posted out of context. For example, don’t risk planning a post about the glorious sunshine when it turns out the rain has been pouring for the last week!

“Hook” your posts on what’s topical Over the summer holidays people are looking for holiday-related information. They’re sharing posts from the beach, enjoying delicious food & drink and participating in activities that the warmer weather lends itself too. Piggyback on this to make your posts more relevant to what your audience is looking for. Whatever type of business you’re in, there will be creative ways to be able to link it to the season. Hot topics include:

  • how to entertain the kids
  • fun at festivals
  • healthy eating
  • staying sun safe
  • back to school

It’s all in the timing Think carefully about when people might be looking at their social media. The times are likely to be very different from the usual before work, during lunch break and on the commute home. Make sure you post at various times in the day, see what’s generating the best results, and then go with it.

Are you able to offer an offer?! The high street is awash with sales, so could you turn the summer holidays into your own sale time?

Be responsive We’re not suggesting you sit on your phone waiting for people to get in touch. Just keep an eye out for any comments so they can be responded to in a timely manner. Just remember that if someone has taken the time to get in touch with you, then they’ll be expecting an answer. If there’s someone back in the office that you can assign a responsibility to offer a more generic “thanks for your message, we’ll get back to you with the answer as soon as we can” response while they wait for you to send a reply, then this is a good halfway house.

Time to get it taken care of on your behalf? One of the best ways to ensure your social media posting is seamless – not just for the summer holidays but every day – is to enlist the services of a social media agency like SocialBee Social Media to take care of it all for you. This can be especially beneficial as it means you gain the services of experts who know how it all works, know how best to engage with your audience and get it all done.