Social media needn't be so time consuming! There are plenty of tools out there that you can use to help you save heaps of time. I know that it can be a bit taboo to use automation but it shouldn't be. Let me explain... Social media is about being social yes! If you are using social media for business you also need to make it cost effective and if you are spending days a week on social media when you could be working on your business something needs to be done. Also if you are spending hours per week on social media admin then you aren't spending as much time as you should be actually being social. Enter IFTTT (If This Then That). IFTTT is an application which links up your social media platforms and devices, Google Calendar, Evernote in fact just about anything! (Completely free).(you may also like this hootsuite bulk scheduling hack!)

With ITTT you can choose recipes that help you to streamline your online activities. For example, if you are following a particular hashtag you can use the: build a twitter list from a specific hashtag recipe. You know how long it takes to build lists for specific hashtags or users so you can track them or even target them with ads later? Well here is your hack! Here's that recipe:

Another recipe I like is the tweet your Instagram photos as native images. You know how when you share your Instagram to Twitter it appears as a link? Well now you can have your Instagram upload automatically to twitter as a native image. Here's the recipe:

There are so many recipes you can use! Each time someone mentions you they can be added to a list. You can welcome new followers and say hi. Create a content calendar in google and have your content tweeted on automatic days. Say happy birthday to your friends and so on! If you can spend a day setting up some recipes for success you could save hours per week on social media admin which frees you up to well... BE MORE SOCIAL!