For those of us in charge of a brand’s social media accounts, either professionally or on a volunteer basis, a summer vacation always comes alongside one question: do I truly take a vacation from all of my work? After all, just because you’re going on vacation doesn’t mean the brand (or brands) you represent are. Those brand pages often need to continue to run while you’re gone, and not all of us are fortunate enough to have a command center to fall back on in our absence.
In the interest of work-life balance, however, it’s a good idea to take the time and separate yourself from your social media responsibilities. That’s as easy as pre-scheduling posts, right?
Not so fast.
As most of you probably know, it’s a pretty simple process to pre-schedule posts for your social media accounts, either natively in the application, or through third-party systems such as Hootsuite or Sprout Social. While that’s the easy part, that’s only a small piece of the puzzle you should be considering.
Preparing to be away from your brand’s social media presence
I’ve worked in marketing for about five years now, and I’ve tried a few different approaches. When I first started working, I was an eager 22-year-old who felt passionate about work, and to me, that meant not leaving behind my brand’s social media while on vacation. Lucky for me, the brands I worked with were pretty low-maintenance. Now that I’m older (and wiser?) I prefer the value that comes from a disconnected vacation, so I have a few tricks up my sleeve. Getting ready to do the same? Try these steps before you board your next plane.
Step #1: Make a plan – and share it
Even if your brand is very low-maintenance on social media, make sure you’ve got a plan in place before you head out of town and leave your accounts unattended. Even the quietest of accounts can end up with an upset customer that decides they want to express their unhappiness publicly.
At a minimum, your social plan should include:
- Who is scheduling out content or posting it live in your absence, if the need arises?
- If someone mentions your account on social, who is in charge of responding?
- Who has the “kill switch” to override scheduled posts?
Once you know all this, make sure that anyone in the “need to know” category has the information. It’s also not a bad idea to communicate the information to your supervisor. That way, if an issue arises in your absence, your manager knows who to speak with to address the situation.
Step #2: Pick your players
Depending on the size of the company, it can be difficult to find someone to take on a backup role to your usual social media plan. Before you choose who you’re leaving your social plan in the hands of, think about:
- How familiar are they with the social media channels you use? Do they understand the concepts and styles of posts?
- How is their spelling and grammar? If it’s not great, is there someone that can quality check posts before they are published?
- Even if they agree to help, are they realistically too busy to give your accounts the attention that is needed? You can consider leaving different people in charge of different accounts if that’s the case.
Step #3: Tie up loose ends, and enjoy your vacation!
Before you leave for your trip, make sure everyone has the logins they need, any information they might need to be aware of while you’re gone, and that they feel comfortable with your impending absence. If you’re nervous about sharing logins, you can easily change them before you leave and after you return.
You’ve set yourself up for success. Now, enjoy it! And, don’t forget to disconnect any profiles that may be tied to your personal cell phone. The last thing you need is a distracting Tweet or Facebook comment popping up during your time away.
But wait … what happens if there’s no one else?
Obviously, it’s not ideal to keep an eye on your social media during vacation. But if you’re a one-man show, that might not be an option. If that’s the case, here’s a few things to keep in mind:
- Still make that plan! A plan will help you set parameters to what is (and isn’t) okay for you to do on social media for your brand while you’re supposed to be spending time with yourself or your friends and family. Then, you can share the plan with your fellow vacationers – along with the reasoning for why you need to “work” every once and awhile on your trip – and hopefully they’ll be more understanding.
- Consider taking accounts off of your phone, even if you need to check them at some point in the day. If you’re aware of any posts that pop up in your notifications, it can be hard to rewind and let go. Instead, try to set aside time in the morning or at night to respond to posts in bulk once per day.
- That being said, be mindful of when you choose to respond. It’s not uncommon for vacationers to take in a few cocktails with dinner, so make sure that you have a clear head when you’re publishing content or replying to comments.
What tips do you have for disconnecting on vacation?
