0 3 steps to be succes sful on social media Influence of social media is increasing day by day, all progressive businesses now must have to establish and manage their presence on the social media. It is now become the essential part of every kind of business. I have good experiences in managing social media pages and the blog, most small and medium size businesses come to me because they struggle due to; *.Lack of time required to manage *.Need of up-skilling required to keep up with the speed of changes in technologies and; *.Cost of managing ‘Social Media’ specialists in-house and to manage their requirements. For those organisations that are planning to manage it in-house, here are 3 steps that must be followed to better manage your social media presence. 1. Managing multiple number of social media channels Concurrently managing multiple social media accounts can often be an overwhelming task and can easily go out of control. One of the main ways to save time and efficiently manage a host of social media channels is by using a social media management tool. The type of package may vary depending on the amount of accounts one needs to manage, and of course your budget. One of the leading platforms and one I strongly recommend is HootSuitewhich I think is one of the most flexible social media management solutions. Some of the other leading social media management tools are SproutSocial, Buffer, SocailOomphand Spreadfast. 2. Which social media platforms suit you? With the number of social media platforms increasing at a rapid pace, deciding on which platform that best suits your business in terms of return on investment and reach has become increasingly complicated. The main factors one should know when establishing a presence are that, being present in many takes additional time, money and skill; and in addition to that, one needs to understand that having a strong presence in a few is always better than having a mediocre presence in several. For a better understanding on which social media platforms that best suit your business, check out one of our earlier blog posts here. 3. When do I manage my social media accounts? Most people may argue that allocating a certain time for social media management is best and it may suffice in some cases. But one thing that customers look forward to is prompt responses when faced with an issue or for an enquiry they have made. Therefore, i recommend you to keep an eye on your social media accounts regularly to avoid letting down your online audience. Another important part of social media is the content you post. Drafting posts for several accounts can be a time consuming affair. To overcome this, it is best advised that you write status updates in advance and schedule them using social media tools at one go which would be a useful time saver. There you go! i have touched base on the 3 key steps to successful social media management. But THE MOST IMPORTANT fact to keep in mind is that none of this would be of much use if you do not possess a sound digital marketing strategy. Avoiding common mistakes such as this and creating a customised strategy that creates the required IMPACT to your target audience will go a long way to bring you success online.