I have been working as a marketer for various brands (including my own) for almost a decade now. During that time I couldn’t count how many social profiles and pages I have either managed, or created and maintained. But it would have to be well into the hundreds, and currently I have dozens under my control in either full or part.

It is a big part of my livelihood, and I love it. Social media is a huge part of my life.

That being said, it is a very complicated balancing act. Every brand’s page has its own personality and tone. As the manager of that page, it is my job to maintain that tone for each one, while following the marketing strategy unique to the company and platform.

The more brands I am covering at any given time, the harder this can be.

In other words, I get the stress and challenges of managing multiple social media personas. Even if you are only managing a single brand, it can be difficult to keep your head above water and keep from making mistakes.

Here are some tips to help you.

Keep All Logins In One Place

This is probably my biggest tip because keeping track of login information for multiple accounts is the most frustrating part of social marketing for several pages. So having a password manager is pretty much a must, and features will dictate which one is best for you.

If you are going to be sharing passwords with multiple users or clients, and want to do so securely, I would recommend Passpack. You may have to shell out for the premium version if you have several people to share with, but it is cheap enough that it shouldn’t be a problem.

For a simple database with a master key, try KeePass. It is super bare bones, but a well maintained encryption password manager that is also open source. We should all be supporting open source projects whenever we can.

To get passwords, auto login, and device syncing, go with LastPass. It lets you quickly sign into any account, including multiple accounts on the same platform, and it is super easy to use.

Have The Right Platform For Keeping Track

If you are on a smaller budget, or you are paying for it out-of-pocket, you need an alternative. I would personally recommend Cyfe, which is a free all in one dashboard that allows you to create widgets for different purposes.

One of those is social media interaction and marketing. If you want more features, just pay for their premium, which costs just $19 per month ($14, if you pay for a year).

There are also a few social media managers that support multiple accounts. Here’s a good comparison of major players. There are also a few Firefox plugins I am using (Yes, I am still on Firefox!)

Never Try To Monitor Several Pages At Once

You may be thinking that you just have to carve out a period of time during your day to work on all social media profiles. So you will jump from one to another, making updates and speaking to followers, giving a little time to each. This is a big mistake, and one I – like many others – have learned the hard way.

It is really easy to accidentally post to the wrong account. Sometimes that is a minor issue, and one you catch quickly without anyone really noticing or caring. Other times it can be a PR disaster. For example, US Airways once had a marketer on their Twitter account post a pornographic image. They almost immediately deleted it, but the damage was done. It has become one of the most notorious mistakes in Twitter history.

Schedule specific blocks of time to work on each account, and give yourself a small break between those blocks to allow for you to get into the voice of each persona. It will help you match the tone of the brand better, and also reduce humiliating mistakes. DirJournal has a great guide on managing your time effectively for more organized social media marketing.

Consider What Network Is Really Important, and Prioritize It

Not every platform you market on is going to be that beneficial. For instance, one of my brand’s I work for has a Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, and Instagram account. Guess how many of those have ever successfully drawn in engagement? One… Twitter is the only one that is active, and the others have struggles for any results regardless of the campaigns myself and other marketers before me have tried.

Instead of managing all on the same level, I put 75% of my time and energy into Twitter. That is where their audience is, so that is where I go. I still manage the others, but I split the remaining 25% of effort among them, in order of use. Google+ and Pinterest get next to no love, so most of that remaining time is spent on Facebook and Instagram.

Don’t be afraid to let some pages fall to the wayside.