Episode 42: How to Keep Momentum on Social Media While You Take a Break
Dec 03, 2020
I find that there are two types of business owners this time of year. All businesses have peaks and valleys when it comes to revenue trends. Some businesses are seasonal and some just simply follow a natural trend of buyer behavior (active and less active).
At the time of this recording, it's December. Obviously many seasonal businesses are crazy busy this time of year, some even earning 80% of their annual revenue right now. While others find this to be a time of year where their business is slow or buyer behavior just doesn't get triggered this time of year. People are focused on holidays and family gatherings, winter vacations, etc.
It's good to use these times to rest and recharge, but that doesn't mean you should go dark online. Maintain your content and communication. While engagement may be lower, it's still critical for you to maintain your virtual momentum. Here are a few reasons.
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When you take a break from social media, the algorithms will come after you.
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Gaps in your content also leave your loyal followers hanging, and they may feel disconnected from you.
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You'll also lose your flow or momentum - I've experienced this more often than I'd like to admit which is why I wanted to create this episode.
So, how should you handle the slower times or downtimes in your business?
Plan for it.
First, know it's coming. Look at your trends and history. Look at your promotional calendar in advance (oh you don't have one - it's time to make one). No natural slow time or gap? Then make one. It's healthy for a business to find a period of time to slow operations even if for just one or two weeks.
Because you've planned ahead, you can create a plan that will allow you to step back and take the break to recharge, do some annual planning, or whatever your heart desires.
What to do before you take a break.
Continue publishing content regularly. Work up a batch and schedule the publishing of your content. This may also be a great time to repurpose old content too.
Use scheduling tools to schedule posts. Most websites and email service providers allow you to create your articles and emails and schedule when you want the content to go live or be sent. The same goes for podcasts.
You can then use a scheduling tool such as Hootsuite, Buffer, or Facebook Creator Studio to create and schedule social media posts.
So, I actually recommend you consider this process for all of your content, but it's especially critical during the times when you need that break or want to step away from operations. This process allows your content to continue to flow while you're doing whatever it is you need, holiday shopping, spending time with family, being alone in a cabin to do annual planning.
Be mindful of the things you can't "schedule" or put on auto-pilot.
Support and responses to questions. A few examples of this - emails coming into your business, phone calls, or questions that get posted in a Facebook Community. Same goes for support - plan for it. You essentially have two options here. You can assign these items to someone in your business or hire a VA to keep an eye on things while you're "out." Another option is to be transparent and let your audience know you're on a vacation or business retreat. Inform your community and customers that you'll be out and slower to respond.
Responding to Social Media Comments. Another thing that can't be scheduled is responding to the engagement you receive on your social media content. Unless you have a social media team or manager, this is something I suggest you NOT leave alone while you're out. Simply determine a schedule for yourself and check on your content. Engagement is critical, and you don't want to leave those comments and algorithm points hanging.
Producing Live Videos. Obviously, you can't pre-record and schedule live video. Technically you can, but I don't recommend it. What I do recommend is that you either maintain your live content plan or simply create a regular pre-recorded piece of content and schedule it as a video post.
If you're going to maintain going live - use this as a behind the scenes time or a way to show the personal side of you. Share what you're doing during your downtime. Is this an opportunity for you to inspire your audience - maybe they should take some downtime. Or if you're using the time to plan for the future, share what ideas you're drumming up and get some real-time feedback. Don't think your live video during this time has to be the same level of quality - do it as a lifestream.
Do it your way, just don't go dark.
Listen your business is your business. You know your industry, you know your customers, and you know yourself. Do what you need to do. I simply want to encourage you to maintain your momentum when it comes to your content. I'm not going to preach about laser precision on consistency, but I am going to encourage you to avoid big gaps in your content. I hope this episode helps you create a plan to do just that.
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
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