9 Ways to Save Time as a Social Media Manager
Managing social media can feel like a full-time job... because it is! And if you manage social media as a part of your career or you run your own social media management business you know how much time it takes to actually manage social media for others. But what if we told you that you can save SO much time with just a few simple tweaks to your workflow and processes? Here are 9 simple tips to help you out.
Number One: Reuse Captions of Your Highest Engaging Posts
Why reinvent the wheel? Look at your past posts and see which captions got the most likes and comments. Use those winning captions again! Your clients' followers loved them before, and they'll love them again.
Reusing captions isn't about being lazy; it's about being smart. It’s a way to leverage what you already know works. Keep a list of your top-performing captions, and when you’re in a rush or just out of fresh ideas, go to that list. You can tweak the captions a bit to fit the current context or to match the new images or videos you're posting. The key is to ensure that your content remains relevant and engaging.
Additionally, analyze why those captions worked so well. Was it the humor, the call-to-action, or the emotional appeal? Understanding this can help you craft new captions that hit the mark, saving you time in the future.
Number Two: Create Content in Batches
Don't make one post at a time. Instead, spend a few hours creating a bunch of posts. Listen, we know that content batching can feel overwhelming at first, but it is TRULY the most efficient way to create content for your clients. You get into a flow and rythym, and it saves you a lot of time. Batching content means setting aside specific times to focus solely on content creation. For example...
... dedicate Monday mornings to planning all your client posts for the week
... then on Tuesday create all the graphics and videos
... on Wednesday write all of the captions
... on Thursday ask for edits from your client
... and finally, schedule all of the posts on Friday for the following week
This method allows you to get into a creative zone, where ideas flow more freely and efficiently.
When you batch content, you're not switching tasks constantly, which can be a big time waster. Instead, you're staying in one mindset, which makes you more productive. Plus, batching helps you ensure that your content strategy is cohesive. You can plan out a week's or even a month’s worth of content that aligns with your clients' marketing goals.
Number Three: Have Brand Kits for All of Your Clients in Canva
Canva is your best friend. As a social media manager you might have to step in and help create content for your clients, and organization inside of Canva is key!! The first step: make a brand kit for EACH client. This way, you don’t have to hunt for these brand and visual assets every time you create a post.
A brand kit in Canva allows you to have all the necessary elements for each client's branding in one place. This includes logos, color palettes, fonts, and even templates. When you have these readily available, you save the time and hassle of searching for them or trying to remember the exact color codes and font names.
Consistency is key in branding, and having a brand kit ensures that all your clients' posts look cohesive. Clients will appreciate the attention to detail, and you’ll save yourself from potential mistakes/edits and the time it takes to correct them.
Number Four: Schedule All Posts for Auto-Publishing
Use tools like Hootsuite or Buffer or (our personal favorite) Later to schedule posts. And the best part? You can set them up to auto-publish so that vast majority of the posts will be posted for you. This frees you from having to remember to post every day or logging in and out of multiple client accounts all the time. You can schedule a week or even a month’s worth of posts in one go.
Scheduling also allows you to maintain a consistent posting schedule, which is crucial for growing your clients' audience. Regular posts keep followers engaged and coming back for more. Plus, many scheduling tools offer analytics, so you can track how your posts are performing and adjust your strategy as needed for your clients
Number Five: Cap Your Community Engagement Time
Engaging with your clients' followers is important, but it can eat up a TON of your time. Set a timer for community engagement. Maybe 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the evening for each client. And stick to it.
Community engagement is a critical part of social media management. Responding to comments, liking posts, and interacting with followers helps build a loyal community. However, it can also become a time drain if not managed properly.
Two additional things you need to consider with community engagement for your clients:
Make sure you are charging accordingly! If it is included in all of your packages, make sure you communicate expectations to your client of how much community management you will be doing. Or make sure that you up charge or include it as an add-on so you are getting paid for the time and effort you put into engaging
You can tap into scheduling tools or other software to help you manage community engagement a bit easier for your clients. You will be able to use your computer and not have to log in and out of clients accounts on your phone as well.
Number Six: Set Boundaries for Client Communications
Clients can be demanding at times. Set clear boundaries for when you're available and make sure it is clearly communicated and is backed up in your contract. Let them know your office hours and stick to them. This helps you stay focused and avoid burnout.
Clear communication with your clients is essential. Let them know your working hours and response times. This sets expectations and helps prevent constant interruptions. Use tools like Slack or email to communicate and make it clear that you will respond within a certain timeframe.
Setting boundaries not only helps you manage your time better but also improves your work-life balance. Clients will respect your professionalism, and you’ll avoid burnout by not being on call 24/7.
Number Seven: Use the Computer More Than the Phone
This might seem like an obvious tip, but it is CRUCIAL. Using a computer is arguably faster than using a phone. Whether it’s typing captions or designing graphics, a computer helps you work quicker and more efficiently. And it can also help a bit with the mentatlity of work life balance. Keep social media personal on your phone. And use the computer to manage client social media accounts.
While phones are great for quick updates and on-the-go tasks, they’re not ideal for most social media management tasks. Typing on a keyboard is faster and more comfortable than tapping on a screen. Plus, design tools and scheduling platforms often have more features and better interfaces on a computer.
Number Eight: Create Reusable Stories
Stories are great for engagement and are probably a key part of your clients' Instagram or social media strategy. Create a few templates for stories that you can reuse in Canva, or have a standard approach to creating them inside of Instagram. This saves you from having to design new stories from scratch every time.
Once you have a few ready, you can easily swap out text and images to create fresh stories without starting from scratch each time. Not sure what Stories you should create? We've got you! We have a whole Canva template pack dedicated to reusable Stories for your clients inside of our Canva Template Membership, Your Template Club
Number Nine: Have Templates for Everything
Templates aren’t just for stories like in tip number eight. Create templates for all your clients' regular content. This includes posts, graphics, reports, email newsletters, and more! Having templates ready means you don’t have to design from scratch each time, ensuring consistency and saving you loads of time.
Use tools like Canva, Google Docs, or Excel to create and store your templates. Keep them organized and easily accessible so you can quickly find and use them whenever needed. Templates help streamline your workflow, making you a more efficient and effective social media manager.
And again, if you struggle with creating content in Canva for your clients' social media posts, we have a ton of templates inside of Your Template Club
These tips are all about working smarter, not harder. Being a social media manager doesn’t have to be stressful. With a few tweaks to your routine, you can save time and still deliver amazing content to your clients, and help them grow their community and their business!
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Manu Muraro is the founder of Your Social Team, an Instagram training membership and template shop that help social media managers and Instagram-savvy small business owners to grow engagement and sales using Instagram and content marketing, without the overwhelm. Born and raised in Brazil, Manu moved to the U.S. in 2000 right out of college to work for Cartoon Network, where she made an award winning career in creative and strategy. In 2021, Manu started Your Template Club, a Canva template subscription service to help social media professionals and Canva-savvy business owners to create content that performs on Instagram, add more Instagram features into their strategy, such as Instagram Lives and Reels, and save time.