4 Key Ways to Find Efficiency in Your Social Media Budget

I love being a part of the Social Fresh family. If there is an event that truly goes above and beyond to act for gender parity and diversity, it’s these fine folks. Jason, Nicole, and the team truly go out of their way to identify voices that are diverse, engaging, and super smart.

This past week, I was honored to be one of the speakers at the inaugural Social Fresh X, an online edition of their conference that still featured amazing keynote speakers (Guy Kawasaki!) and amazing workshops from the likes of my super smart friends Lauren Teague, Chris Brogan, Jess Tyson, and Brian Fanzo. In addition to moderating an incredibly insightful panel, I also had the pleasure of presenting my session “Finding Efficiency in Your Social Media Budget,” and today, I want to share with you a couple of key takeaways.

Content Creation: Do More With Less

According to an open-ended survey by ClearVoice, most content marketers believe that their main challenges are production oriented, so that’s an intuitive area with which to start when you’re slimming down your budget.

Identify what resources you currently have (e.g. stock video sites, stock photography sites, stock music sites, video creation tools, social graphics tools, etc.) and figure out where you can slim down or consolidate. We at Media Volery use the Envato Elements marketplace to get almost all of the above items in one place.

Also, identify your top performing content and use those pieces MORE. Just because you’re tired of your marketing doesn’t mean that your audience has even seen it before. Repost more of your top content and even ACKNOWLEDGE that it’s popular—that’s social proof!

Software and Tools: Make Changes for Efficiency

Are you using one suite of tools for creative content, one suite for organization, another for email and calendars, and other for social media management? You’re not alone. But at times like this, it’s important to get the MOST out of your packages.

Did you know that GSuite has tools like Keep (organization), Jamboard (visual collaboration), and Meet (video conferencing) built in? If you’re already using GSuite for calendars and email management, why not leverage these other tools within your team?

Paid Advertising and Partnerships: Optimize and Iterate

Now is the time for optimization. With recent upgrades to the targeting options in Facebook Business Manager, your social media targeting can be much more effective. We’ve seen some of the lowest cost per results for our clients during these last few months, as we’ve sharpened their targeting.

For influencer relationships, this is a great time to renegotiate: see what additional value they can provide to your brand through collaboration. Perhaps your core influencers can host virtual events or AMAs for your community. Or perhaps they can help you develop more how-to materials for your website. If you don’t ask, you can’t get more value.

Training and Management: Save Time and Money

Now is the time to identify which resources your team is underutilizing. Once you’ve cut what you don’t need, make sure to dedicate time—real time—to teaching your team how to get the most out of that content.

Did these points resonate with you? Do you want to learn more about how you can find efficiency in your social media budget? Contact me and let’s talk about either doing this as a workshop for your team or a live video session.