Christine Hope explains why spending a little bit of time on social media is worth it

Last week I was talking with a bed & breakfast owner who pays someone £15 an hour to do their social media.

Firstly, I was jealous. I wish I could pay someone else to do our social media! Secondly, they have a great following on Facebook and all their posts seem like gold dust to me – commented and shared by many.

But for their money they still needed to supply pictures and check the posts for accuracy, which sometimes needed editing. If they did the posts themselves they could easily have a better return on investment. In the time it takes to get a picture and send it over, you could write it yourself and save money in the process.

The main question I get asked is how long social media takes to do. Some weeks I don’t do anything and other weeks, particularly if we have an event on, I will upload details over three social media platforms about 15 times leading up to, during and throughout the event, which takes about an hour in time. 

The most time is taken up by two factors: attending courses and updating your skills.

You need to work out what you want social media to do for you. This can be raising your profile to a new audience, sharing news with a target audience or just researching what other shops do, retail trends or new suppliers you like the look of.

Don’t be jealous of other stores. You have your own followers, and 10 loyal customers advocating your business is better than thousands of followers who don’t do anything for you.

So make some time to do online and follow my three top things to do this summer:

1. Ask your staff how they would describe your shop and start using their language.

2. Claim your Google page and update your opening times. Add bank holiday hours and the changes in opening times that go with them.

3. If you’re not sure what to add to your Facebook page share someone else’s event to your Facebook page event listing, to highlight what is happening in your area.