5 Ways For Small Business Owners To Deal With Social Media Burnout

Whether you use social media for personal reasons or are leveraging it to grow your small business, it can be a lot to manage. If you’re replying to a never-ending stream of comments, having lengthy conversations in DMs, and responding to notifications every five minutes, it’s hard to take a step back and focus on anything else.

Social media is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it gives you access to literally the entire world–individuals from all over are now potential clients. But on the other hand, it’s become a machine that you have to keep feeding. There’s no end to content creation and engagement. Rather than spending that time on your business, you spend hours just trying to keep the social media wheel running.

If you are exhausted because of social media but are scared that if you take a step back, the accounts will stop growing and the business will fall apart, then we have news for you…don’t worry, it’ll all be fine. Take a step back, take care of yourself, and come back with a stronger and more sustainable strategy for long-term growth. Here are 5 steps that you can take today to help with social media burnout as a small business owner.

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1. Set Boundaries & Expectations

It should be no surprise that this is tip number one. Social media is 24/7 but that doesn’t mean that you have to be connected all the time. When you’re using social media for your small business, you should always set clear boundaries and expectations for what you want out of this tool. 

One thing that our social media marketers here at The Silver Linings Group has found to be helpful, has been to set engagement hours. Literally scheduling out an hour or two a day to perform all the daily social media tasks of engaging, replying, and posting can help the brain create a clear distinction between when you should be on social media and when you should be doing other things. 

Set an auto-responder for your DMs to let your customers know that you’ll get back to them ASAP the next morning and turn your notifications off when you’re done with work.

2. Work Smarter, Not Harder

This is where social media strategy comes into play. Batch your content and strategize in advance. 

When you have a strong social media strategy, social media content creation for your small business becomes much less overwhelming. Review and set your social media strategy on a quarterly basis so that your content is up-to-date, purpose-driven, and intentionally created to maximize your efforts on whatever platform you’re using. 

Having a clear social media strategy and batching content beforehand reduces the amount of time that you spend on the nitty-gritty components of social media (like writing daily captions, hashtag research, etc).

For more social media tips and tricks, check out the “social media” category on our blog.
Ready to take your social media strategy to the next level? Join the Instagram Bootcamp waitlist!
Want someone else to manage your social media for you? Reach out!

3. Make Time For YOU

When you’re building your small business, it feels like every waking moment has to be spent on it. But remember, you are more than your business and in order for your business to thrive, you have to thrive.

Set aside time to maintain daily healthy habits:

• Take regular breaks
• Exercise
• Meditate
• Eat healthy meals
• Drink water

Set aside time for joy:

• Participate in activities and hobbies that bring you joy
• Schedule short trips just for yourself
• Spend time with friends and family
• Treat yourself to a fancy meal or spa session
• Give yourself permission to disconnect online and connect irl

4. Connect & Seek Support

Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. Whether you’re managing the day-to-day operations of your business or are resolving conflicts on social media, being a small business owner means that you’re balancing a lot.

Asking for support can look different for everyone:

• Maybe talking through your worries with family and friends is enough to lessen the burden
• Perhaps you’re looking for an objective perspective and professional support for your mental health is the way to go
• Maybe you need something specifically for the business side of things and are looking for a mentorship or business coach

Regardless of what help looks like for you, make it a priority to establish check-ins, take mental health days, and build a support network that you can rely on for challenging times.

5. Be Authentic

Social media was created for connection so use it as such.

Sometimes, it feels like there’s no way out of it. You have to be on social media because it’s essential for your business but even so, having that perspective might be more damaging than it’s worth.

Rather than seeing social media as a tedious task that you have to get done, switch your mindset and use it as an opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals. Slow down and get authentic with your captions and responses. It’ll make the experience that much more personal and you might even make some close friends in the process. 

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While social media is an important part of business strategy, it’s only a small component of the overall picture. If you’re ready to take your small business to the next level with sustainable strategy and clear goals, then join the waitlist for our Side Hustler to CEO course.

This 3-month coaching program will give you access to everything you need to know about creating a profitable business in your niche. From social media to offer creation, and optimizing to sales, if you’re ready to stop thinking of your business as a “side hustle” and start being a real CEO, this is for you.