Social Media in 15 Minutes a Day

30
Oct 2012

The number one reason I hear business owners give for not participating in social media is that it takes too much time. They feel as if they can’t possibly add one more thing to their to-do lists – and social media seems like a huge time commitment. And it can be. But social media is an incredibly effective way to communicate with potential clients and customers – and not having time isn’t a good enough excuse to avoid it.

While there is no magic formula for how much time you should be spending on social media for your business, I’ve come up with a schedule that works well for many of our clients.

This schedule is intended to cover The Big 4… Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. Not everyone has (or needs) all of those channels, so you’ll need to adjust your plan accordingly.

I’ve organized everything in 15 minute blocks, because we all know that if you spend any longer than that on social media, you’re going to get sucked in. (Yes, it happens to me, too.)

Disclaimer: Sometimes, more really is better. As you get a larger, more engaged following on some of your channels, it may make sense to spend more time interacting there. This is designed to be a plan for getting started with social media – enough to be effective, but not overwhelming.

 

DAILY: MORNING

  • Post new content on Facebook & Twitter
  • Respond to any comments

(You should have received email notifications – respond to anyone who mentions or reaches out to you. Also a good place to say thanks for retweets and shares.)

  • Interact with other people’s content

(If you want people to engage with you, you have to engage with them! Visit other pages, make comments, share their content with your fan base.)

 

DAILY: AFTERNOON

  • Find/Plan new content

(Chances are, you will come across articles or information during the day that you want to share. Keep them in a file folder so you have them ready. All the videos and blog posts you create count here too.)

  • Post content on Facebook & Twitter
  • Respond to any new comments since this morning

 

WEEKLY:

  • Post new content on your LinkedIn profile & company page

(People don’t visit LinkedIn as often as Facebook & Twitter, so you can get away with adding content 1-2x week.)

  • Connect with new people

(I collect the business cards of people I meet during the week, and connect with them on LinkedIn all at once. This is also a good time to find new people to follow on Twitter, and new pages to ‘like’ on Facebook.)

  • Categorize all new connections

(The more organized you are, the easier it is to build relationships. Tag connections on LinkedIn, create Twitter lists etc.)

  • Participate in LinkedIn Groups & Scan the Answers section
  • Search for prospects

(Used the advanced search capabilities of LinkedIn and Twitter to target people you want to meet.)

  • Upload a new video to YouTube

 

MONTHLY:

  • Brainstorm topics for content

(Decide what you will write blog posts and make videos about in advance.)

  • Shoot 4 videos

(Social media videos should be short. Have your topics ready, shoot 4 at once, and have your YouTube content ready for the whole month.)

  • Study your analytics

(Is your fan base representative of your target audience? Study the numbers –stats on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and website analytics – and find out.)

 

There you have it. A simple plan for keeping your social media channels current and consistent – and not letting it consume your life. So, set a timer. Spend 15 minutes of targeted marketing time for your company (no browsing vacation or new baby photos – this is business.) Then, get back to work!

 

BTW, if you want to learn more about running any of the Big 4 channels, join us for our next Social Media Bootcamp!

 

 

 

 

 

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