Do You Feel Buried Underneath Too Many Social Media Accounts?
Can you identify with feeling any of the following?
- Burned out
- Overwhelmed
- Inundated
- Crushed
- Swamped
No matter what you call it; if you feel you are working too many hours as a social media manager and you are working too many days without a rest and without relief or end in sight, you may have to adjust the workload.
What would that look like?
How many social media accounts can one social media manager manage, and still do a good job?
In this article, we will explore how to find the right balance between staying busy and total overwhelm and doing all of it while satisfying your own and your clients' expectations.
Defining What ‘Social Media Accounts' Are
Depending on whom you ask, social media accounts are either
- the total number of platforms managed, or
- the number of social media clients one social media manager serves
For the sake of this article, we will define a social media account as one social media platform.
Thus a social media manager who might serve six clients might have upwards of twenty social media accounts to manage between these six clients.
Let's Talk Social Media Account Numbers
The question of ‘How many social media accounts can one social media manager handle?' came up in a recent post in our Social Media Manager Facebook group.
How varied the answers were!
We heard from social media managers who managed three to ten social media accounts each.
Others reported managing twenty or more Facebook pages, while other managers reported higher numbers, between twenty-five and sixty.
Only a few social media managers reported managing more than one hundred accounts, and we believe several of those managers work as part of teams.
So, we know you must be curious; is there a magic number to stick to when juggling the management of multiple social media accounts?
The answer is ‘no'.
The workload one social media manager can handle vs the workload another can handle depends on a variety of circumstances including:
- work environment
- equipment
- experience
- expertise
- education
- expectations
- skillset
- type of clientele (small business, corporation, non-profit etc)
- client industry/niche
- homelife
- mindset
- drive
- employed vs freelance
- budget
- tools
Therefore, it is you, the social media manager, who decides how many social media accounts you can handle and nurture and grow each of those accounts to produce results that matter.
Social Media Account Management Tips, Tricks and Tools
Truth: tools make social media management tasks so much easier!
Anything from scheduling tools, video editing tools, graphic design tools, workflow apps, online calendars and phone apps can make your day as a social media manager better and brighter and more productive.
The best way you can get started with tools is to figure out the precise processes of doing everything each day.
Ask yourself ‘How do I get a task done?' and then record how it is done (step by step) and when it is done (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly).
Once you have a list of recurrent tasks, you can start to see how you can get these done quicker if you
- do these at set times each day/week/month
- manage these tasks in bulk (i.e. schedule all your Facebook posts for the week in one sitting)
- outsource certain tasks (outsource those tasks you despise doing first)
- use tools to complete these tasks
Every social media manager will have their own way of doing things, of managing their accounts, of preferring one tool over another, or working solo or as a team.
The first step to freeing up more time is to streamline the work you are currently doing.
Will Teamwork Be The Answer To Social Overwhelm?
Teamwork certainly can be your answer to social media overwhelm.
It may be the best solution.
However, if you do not have a team, here are some other solutions, including;
- being organized
- setting clear goals for your clients and yourself each and every day
- giving yourself permission to take breaks
- setting clear boundaries with your clients
One More Tip
If nothing else, learning how fellow social media managers manage their clients and accounts can help you put things in perspective.
We invite you to join the oldest, largest and most active Facebook group for social media pros today!
You will be able to exchange tips, tricks, tools, and experiences with social media managers from all around the world.
See you there!
I am a Certified Social Media Manager, Strategist, International Keynote Speaker, Organic Specialist and Agile marketer! Blogging is my creative outlet. Running, hiking and skiing are how I recharge. You'll recognize me on stage and online by my always present orange glasses, a nod to my Dutch heritage.
