Here are 17 social media management tips to help you stay productive and organized:

1. Identify the best platforms for your brand

From longstanding favorites like Instagram and YouTube to newer apps like TikTok and BeReal, there are so many social media platforms to choose from. And with monthly updates and new features, it can be tempting to try everything, but you need to choose the right social media channels for your business. Consider your brand’s goals, resources, current content types, your audience, your competitors and the industry you’re in. Use this information to form a strategic approach and identify the best platforms for your brand. Continue your research as you find the platform that works best for you. For example, if your brand uses Instagram, seek platform-specific advice by searching “social media management tips for Instagram.”

2. Set your social media goals

Set social media goals that are measurable and align with the overall business objectives of your brand. Use the SMART goal-setting framework to guide you. The acronym stands for:

Specific: Your goal should be clear and defined. State what you will accomplish specifically. Measurable: You need to track any social goal with numbers. This is where metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) come into play. Metrics are just numbers, but KPIs bring context and meaning to your data. Achievable: Do you have the necessary resources (time, budget, creatives, etc.) to achieve your goals? Realistic: Dream big, but within reason. Avoid promising results you can’t produce (think quadrupling conversions in one week). Time sensitive: Give yourself a timeframe (monthly, quarterly or annually) to reach your goals.

Once you set your goals, identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) you’d like to use to measure your success. Your KPIs are contingent on each goal so choose those metrics after confirming your goals. For example, if you wanted to increase your brand engagement, likes, comments, shares and mentions could be potential KPIs.

3. Create a routine for your day or week

Routines make the world go round. Create a productivity regimen to help organize your daily, weekly and monthly workload. A classic to-do list is always effective—whether it’s using a physical planner or an iOS app. Block off time on your calendar and dedicate it to specific tasks or projects. Experiment with productivity tools like Asana, Todoist or Hive— there are so many to choose from, so don’t be afraid to try something new until you find what works best.

4. Batch similar tasks

Think about which tasks are similar so you can strike everything off your to-do list. For example, if you need to write social copy for several posts across several platforms, do it together. You can do the same for pretty much anything from creating social graphics to scheduling content.

5. Use a content calendar to visualize your efforts

A content calendar serves as a great visual reminder of what you need to do to accomplish your goals, but it can also help you save time and avoid social media burnout. Use the calendar to plan out your content type, along with where and when you would like to post it. Just like your personal or business calendar, a content calendar visualizes your efforts.

6. Upload and schedule social media posts with time-saving tools

Work smarter, not harder with social media scheduling tools. A social media scheduling tool is software that assists with scheduling your posts across multiple accounts and platforms. You save time because you can upload content and assign a date for publishing instead of having to do everything within the app. With social media management platforms like Sprout, you can schedule your posts in advance, upload content and track KPIs all in one place. Start your free Sprout trial

7. Understand your best times to post

It’s not just what you post that matters, but when. The best times to post on social media vary by network, content type and your brand’s audience and industry. Take a deep dive into research and review your brand’s social media data and analytics to decipher the best timing trends. For example, if you notice your audience engages with your LinkedIn content in the afternoon more than in the morning, noon until 4 p.m. could be a sweet spot for posting.

8. Revisit your social media content mix

Variety is truly the spice of life. You need a mix of content to keep your audience engaged and grow your social presence. Consider adjusting your content mix based on your goals, resources, budget or brand identity. To give you a little extra help, we created an interactive quiz to help you find the right social media content mix for your brand.

9. Create an authentic brand experience for your audience

The heart of social media is human connection, so it’s no surprise that audiences are seeking brand authenticity. According to the Sprout Social Index™,  34% of consumers want to see authentic, less produced videos from brands on social. Your brand can shape a genuine brand experience by studying and listening to your audience. What do they care about? Which posts do they like the best? What are they talking about online? Cater to these questions with the content you share.

10. Add user-generated content to your social media content plan

Amplifying user-generated content is a great way to shout out your customers, while also helping your social media content strategy. UGC can be used to advocate for a business, and you can also feature content that relates to your brand’s values or the lifestyle of your target audience. For example, ESPN is known for its coverage of college and professional sports, but you don’t have to be an athlete to get reposted on their TikTok page. They highlight a range of user-generated content from intramural sports to wholesome moments like in the video below:

11. Don’t be afraid to recycle content strategically

Instead of constantly coming up with fresh, relevant ideas for every post, think about how you can repurpose your best content. Repurposing your top-performing content saves you time and energy. If you reuse the content you know works, it could perform well on another network too. Reshare a Reel on your story, create a carousel or edit YouTube videos into digestible snippets for TikTok. ♬ slipping through my fingers – Jen

Social media managers are familiar with trying to get inside the head of their audience. With social listening, you can become a fly on the wall and gain insights into your content. Social listening allows you to uncover conversations about your brand, keep a pulse on industry trends and learn more about your audience in general.

13. Use saved or canned replies

Using saved or canned replies is a common tactic for escalation management. Think of these responses like an FAQ page. FAQ pages help facilitate customer care because they provide immediate solutions to common questions or problems—a templated response does the same. Plus, conversational commerce is growing, so automated responses used in messaging apps and other tools can attempt to help customers before escalating to an agent in real time.

14. Set up social media automation to save even more time

As mentioned above, automated responses can help streamline customer care conversations. Setting up other social media automation features like scheduling and chatbots saves you time, which is one of the biggest keys to productivity and organization. Instead of posting or responding to every message manually in real time, you can rely on automation to lift some of the weight for you.

15. Automate social media analytics and reports

You can also reclaim more of your time by automating your social media analytics. Instead of starting from scratch every time you want to pull a report, set a reporting schedule to auto-populate your metrics of choice at a certain time period. There are a variety of social media reports you can automate to make managing social media for your brand easier.

16. Monitor, adapt, track, repeat

Get comfortable with frequently monitoring your social platforms, tracking performance, making adjustments as needed and repeating the cycle. Social media is ever-changing, so your content and strategy will evolve throughout the year too.

17. Learn to say no and delegate tasks

Social media managers are familiar with burnout. They juggle a lot of responsibilities while facing nuanced brand concerns, including complex issues that might impact their mental health. Talk to your manager about burnout if you need to communicate your concerns. Practice communicating your priorities when you’re feeling overwhelmed or need to rely on your team for support. Don’t be afraid to say “no” or ask for help. Think of delegating your workload as a part of managing your mental health.

Grow your social media management strategy

We’ve covered 17 social media management tips to help you achieve organization and maintain productivity. If you’re looking for even more tips, see our guide on how to build your social media marketing strategy.