Social media can feel like such a trial at times. It seems the lists of social networks is ever-growing, and each medium requires its own plan of attack.
Social media can be a tremendous time sink, and you can’t afford to waste any hours. But honestly, social media posts don’t have to take hours to craft – in fact, in many cases shorter social updates fare much better than longer ones.
These 11 quick and easy social media status updates can be cranked out in less time than it takes to cook up a pack of microwaveable rice.
1. Pictures Are More Powerful Than Words
Even in a busy day brimming with meetings, you can probably spare a few quick seconds to snap a picture. It doesn’t have to be a perfect artistic representation of the proletariat struggle – your photo can be as simple as the door to your office building covered in snow, or a tray of cupcakes someone brought into the break room.
Social users love visual content. In fact, a study from KISSMetrics has shown that photos attract 53% more “Likes” and 84% more click-throughs than text-based posts. Apps like Instagram make it easy to snap and share beautiful images, even of the mundane.
2. Quick Facts or Tips
Your social posts don’t have to be a major feat – in fact, shorter, pithier posts tend to fare much better than lengthy monologues. Your post can share an interesting statistic, reveal a special deal, or provide helpful info users might enjoy. Examples include:
- Facebook posts with 80 characters or less receive 66% more engagement!
- Come stop in the first Thursday of each month from 8-10 for our open mic sessions!
- Users can now add filters to their social photos – try out this beautiful new feature!
- Did you know? Newborn giraffes fall more than 5 feet to the ground when they are born, as their mothers give birth standing up!
Source: Samsung Mobile on Twitter
3. Ask A Question Or Post A Poll
Fans enjoy giving their opinion on social media – dish up a question or poll and many will be happy to respond. If you want engagement, it’s essential that you ask for it with a call to action. Ask and you shall receive. Studies have shown Twitter users that simply ask, “please retweet this!” at the end of posts receive substantially more retweets than those that do not.
4. Celebrate National Corndog Day
It turns out there are tons of unofficial holidays out there. Nearly every week there’s a quirky holiday you can celebrate. In fact, Ice Cream for Breakfast Day is right around the corner! Craft a quick post announcing or celebrating these lesser-known holidays, and fans will gladly join in! Taking part in these wacky celebrations also helps your brand show some of your personality to followers. Users want to see companies with heart and spirit, not corporate robots.
5. Comment On Current Events
If something hot is happening in your industry, comment on it and ask for other opinions.
Image Source: Good Morning America on Twitter
6. Share Customer Success Stories
Need a quick and easy social post idea? Go for a customer success story. An example might be:
Hurrah for Sally at @BigTimeBagels! She increased email opens by 23% this month with our software! #OpenRateAwesomeness
7. Inspire With a Quote
Post an uplifting quote or piece of advice from industry gurus. Everyone digs a little inspiration.
Image Source: Toms on Twitter
8. Caption Contest
Share a fun image or cartoon and ask for users to comment with a caption. Give a small prize to the best!
9. Fill in the blanks
Our brains can’t resist filling in the blanks – we just always want to complete that missing ___________. For optimal engagement, write a fill in the blank that opens a larger discussion. For example:
When it comes to social media, my business struggles a lot with ____________.
10. Share a Sweet Resource or Guide
If you have a great resource to share (whether created by you or from another source), you don’t need a huge introduction. Just write up a quick line or two explaining what the resource is and why it rocks!
Image Source: Microsoft on Twitter
11. Share Something That Moves You
Engagement is often driven by emotion – people get excited about what makes them laugh or moves them to tears. If you come across a video that makes you chuckle or ponder, go ahead and share it.
Video content is especially powerful and drives a ton of engagement. Best of all, sharing video content on social media is super easy. Most sites will auto-generate the video clip in social feeds when you paste in the link.
Make Social Media Easier: Use Tools To Work Smarter
The quick social media post ideas above will help you whip out great posts even when you’re short on time. However, there are additional social media productivity tools you should be using if you really want to get the most action out of your limited available time.
HootSuite: HootSuite is a free all-in-one dashboard for monitoring your social media presence across various networks. Best of all, HootSuite lets you schedule social posts ahead of time. This means you can craft social posts on Monday for the entire week. Talk about a time saver!
Buffer: Buffer is a favorite of savvy social media users. Buffer makes it easy to find, schedule, and share great content across the web with your fans. Install the browser plugin and hit the Buffer icon whenever you come across a great article you want to share with followers. From there, Buffer puts the article in your sharing queue, and will send out the post at one of your pre-allotted times.
Save Time With Social: Monitor What Works
With new social media networks popping up quicker than acne on a teenager’s face, it can be pretty tough to keep up with them all. The good news is that you don’t have to be on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Vine, LinkedIn, Twitter, Reddit, and Google+.
Initially you’ll want to put some effort into all of these networks to experiment and see which social networks work best for you. Different audiences will favor different social sites. Brands that are very image-oriented will likely find better engagement coming from Pinterest and Instagram. Businesses oriented with geek culture might find that Reddit drives more traffic than any other network.
Once you’ve taken some action on different social networks, break open Google Analytics and see who is your referral savior. See what social sites work for your business, and then invest the majority of your energy into those networks. This ensures your valuable time and attention go to the most important social sites where you will get the most leverage.
What are your tips on saving time with social media?
