Most business execs know the importance of keeping their social media sites up-to-date. Dormant social media pages can be the kiss of death for a business’s marketing efforts, causing followers to stop paying attention or, worse, unfollow altogether.

But with budgets tight, many businesses can’t afford to pay a social media manager to consistently update Facebook and Twitter pages. It then falls to existing staff, already strapped for time. Even marketing departments, tasked with managing online marketing efforts, can frequently forget an update or two as things get busy.

One-Stop Shopping
Dashboard sites like HootSuite and TweetDeck allow social media users to combine their social media newsfeeds in one place. HootSuite supports Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, and Linked In, among others. Users conveniently see all their feeds in one place, allowing them to update across multiple sites. TweetDeck is geared toward Twitter, but in recently has added support for Facebook.

Dashboard sites offer features far beyond the convenience of seeing multiple feeds on one screen. One of the biggest advantages is, using their apps, marketers can use dashboard services on tablets and smartphones, allowing them to check on social media sites whenever they find a few minutes throughout the day. Instead of wasting time waiting in the lobby of an office building for a meeting to start, they can post a status update or Tweet that reminds customers of an upcoming event or product launch.

Scheduled Updates
One of the best features of social media dashboard sites is the ability to schedule updates. Tweets and updates can be set up days in advance, positioned to be launched at the best possible time. This can also help social media users by allowing them to schedule updates for times they might be in a meeting, stuck in rush hour traffic, or out of the country on business.

Dashboard software can also put social media updating in the hands of an entire team, rather than having it all fall on one person. These team members can log in and post updates and interact with other social media users.

Analytics
Social media dashboard users also allow users to analyze success of a campaign by determining who’s engaging with your site and when that engagement most often happens. Users can search for mentions of their business name and respond appropriately. Reports can be customized to meet the unique needs of a particular campaign for maximum benefits.

By using dashboard services, businesses can resolve the issue of never having enough time to keep social media sites updated. While businesses can certainly continue to update each social media site separately, the advanced tools available on dashboard services address needs social media sites are not yet able to meet on their own.

However, many business owners would likely agree that a few of these tools—such as the ability to schedule automated updates—would be handy tools to build in to sites like Facebook and Twitter.

During 2003, John Lessnau popularized Text Link Advertising when he founded LinkAdage.com

John’s latest project is SocialLinkMart.com. Social Link Mart is a Social Media Link Marketplace for SEOs, website owners, and social media enthusiasts to buy and sell Facebook Likes and Shares, Google Plus Shares, and Twitter Tweets. Social link sellers are ranked by social media authority which insures the quality of paid shares.