by Natalia Jones

Created on: November 30, 2010

Social media marketing is a way of taking your business to the next level by creating meaningful connections with people you interact with online. The success of a social media campaign is hinged on the perception of sincerity that comes from your messages and links. It can therefore be very difficult to know when or even if to delegate your social media tasks. Before you think that you are just going to have to find a way to be more disciplined with your Facebook time, there are a few ways you can effectively delegate your social media without losing the authenticity that adds to your appeal.

Automate Your Updates on Twitter and Facebook

You can safely create a list of automated messages that are schedules to go out to your Facebook and Twitter profiles. If you are a blogger you can set your profile to broadcast when you have updated your blog complete with a link to the new post. There are a number of free applications that can automate your Twitter messages, such as Hootsuite or Tweetdeck. They are capable of storing messages and sending them off at a predetermined time, which means all you have to do is check your responses and then reset for the following day. You can hire a social media marketer or ask your assistant to take on updating your Facebook account to make the messages unique.

Delegate Responses to Page Requests and Invitations

Another way to spend less time on your Facebook account is to delegate the tasks that can start to pile up to someone else. If you are inundated with requests to “like” other pages, join groups or attend events, you can leave guidelines with your assistant and have your messages cleared on your behalf.

Delegate or Automate New Friend or Follower Requests

Some automated applications developed for use with Twitter can actively find potential new followers or will automatically send a welcome message to your new followers. This saves a lot of time and energy and allows you to focus on other tasks.

Know When to Hold On to a Task

There are some aspects of social media that you should not outsource. For instance, taking the time to respond to those who send you personal messages or mention your name on Twitter can go a long way to building a relationship that lasts. Also if people direct questions that are best answered by you it is advisable to come up with a response yourself.

Social media marketing can be tricky, but it is also a great way to attract a lot of attention to your product or service. It is therefore worth it to get it right.

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