By: Mae Demdam
Businesses should know the importance, value and essentialness of social media, but it’s much more than throwing up a Facebook Business Page or Tweeting once a week. Proper social media management takes extensive research, strategy creation, and most of all time.

A majority of the customer experience happens online, thus social media enables brands to take advantage of a customer’s engagement outside of typical channels, like their website. Social media has also become a lucrative marketing tool, providing advertising and sales capabilities. But how can we maximize our Social Media Campaigns and save time?
Zen-Den-Web-Design-Buffer
Luckily there are tools like Buffer. The newest and simplest way to share what you want on Social Media. Buffer’s dashboard makes it easy to connect all of your social profiles, i.e. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus in one cohesive place and post just once. Buffer takes care of posting throughout the day at the best times with pre-set schedules (however, you do have the option to create your own schedule), all you have to do is drop your posts in.

We know that link building and social engagement is important to all Social Media and SEO Campaigns and with Buffer everything you share becomes more focused and consistent, while saving you time. Knowing that you only have to post once makes it easier to concentrate on a well thought out message to your social community. It also gives you the opportunity to see what’s trending within your industry and on others’ social media. By focusing on social media efforts like content creation, engagement, voice and brand identity and analytical metrics you are gain the opportunity to build your audience.

Now that you’ve discovered a tool to make your social media managing a bit easier, you can concentrate on what to post. Here are some tips for knowing what type of content to publish and share.

Promotional Content: Use sparingly and only when there is real value. This will make the promotion more appealing to consumers.
Relative Content: Post related content. If there is big news in your industry, share it, but give credit where credit is due. If you can, create original content based on the same concept.
Tips & Tricks: Post tips and tricks that will help your customer. You can easily add value to your posts by offering your consumers a “How To” guide or an “Instant Download”.
Conversations: Post to other posts and start a conversation. Social Media is about engaging with your audience. If there is comment on a social post, be sure to acknowledge it, if warranted.
Non-Promotional Content: Humanize your social media posts with posts about company events, volunteer efforts or community outreach.

For more Social Media Best Practices click here.