Three billion people now use social media (40% of the world’s population). These people are spending at least two hours every day sharing, liking, watching and updating. As social media managers, it’s our job to keep your audience doing just that. Sometimes though, you can get in too deep and over our heads. That’s why we’ve put together a list of some of the top habits that will get you through 2020.

1. Focus on building a community instead of a group

If you are one of the 2.45 billion monthly active users on Facebook, then you’ve probably noticed on your mobile app, you now have a ‘groups tab’. The pages you manage on Facebook, now feature a ‘Community’ section. This section highlights the total likes, followers, which of your friends like the page and most of all it includes one of the newest features on the platform – “Top fans”.

Top Fans are people who have liked the page and are actively engaged with it through commenting, liking and sharing posts. Facebook has done this a response to the growing number of people who use social media to interact with the brands they love.

2. Set a timer

How much time do you have in your working day to spend on social media? Does it take up all of your time or barely any at all? The best way to figure out how much time social media management takes is to clarify the time you do have to dedicate to it. Once you’ve clarified the time you can spend, the best thing to do is to set a timer. The key to effective and successful social media management is consistency.

Being able to plan out your day – or even just an hour of it allows you to get yourself into the right headspace to focus on the next task at hand.

3.  Take mental health breaks

Being always available may seem the right to do but it can actually do more harm than good. Taking a step back from social media outside of the office can do wonders for your mental health, it can even help your productivity at work. Professor Daniel Smith from the University of Glasgow recommends a cut-off point of 10pm for mobile users to allow them time to wind down after the lights go out.

4. Just say no to perfectionism

Your content is never going to be perfect and your to-do list will never be full. Just as you finish 10 jobs, you’ll get the next 8. Perfectionism can have a knock-on effect on your habits such as timekeeping. Think about how many blogs you could have written in the time that it took you to edit that 30 second Instagram video. Of course, your content still needs to be of a high standard, but like setting a timer, time management is a perfect way to stop the perfectionist in you from running wild.

Google’s algorithm is updated so frequently that you can’t ever be expected to have all of your content rank highly all the time from the moment it’s posted.

5.  Advocate for yourself

Granted, it’s not always easy to speak up for yourself when you’re drowning in work. Social media managers are expected to wear multiple hats – creator, marketer, analyst and customer service. It’s no surprise that stretching yourself like that, you’re going to feel like your head is underwater. Keeping track of who is spending what time on what projects is the perfect way to see if you’re needing additional support or if you’re not managing your time and staff correctly.

Do you have any habits or tips you use for success? Tell us on our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn.