Do you find social media to be a huge time vampire, waiting to be invited in. Then pouncing, fangs bared and sucking all the hours from the day minute by minute?
Ok, perhaps a slight exaggeration there…
It is easy to get sucked into social media cleverly disguised as marketing and lose track of time. Before you know it, you’re catching up with a school mate you haven’t seen in years on Facebook or scrolling through the masses of delicious food pics on Pinterest! (Or is that just me?)
There’s so much to do each day when you’re running a business. Social media marketing is often left out or updates thrown on last minute enmass to annoy your followers. Neither option is marketing and neither option produces the results you are looking for.
Exact Target have put together this nifty infographic to get your social media marketing back in control and producing results in just 30 minutes a day.
Rock Your Social Media
Over to you…
How much time do you spend on your social media channels? Do you think social marketing for 30 minutes a day is possible?
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Hi Jan,
I do agree that setting time slots is helpful so as not to lose track on social media.
Looking at the graphic, I don’t really use twitter, nor pinterest or linkedin. I focus on blog and facebook, but would say that a limit of 6 minutes on facebook would just not be enough.
Do you think it’s best to concentrate on one social media channel and focus there, or spread yourself around?
cheers,
Gordon
The Great Gordino recently posted..Why I’m Getting Back On It, And Why I Was Off It!
The 2 minutes on G+ amused me – I’m not a huge G+ user, but simply having a quick scroll through the feed, or pop into the odd community to read questions takes more than 2 mins for me.
As for your question Gordon, it’s lovely to be everywhere but also incredibly overwhelming. You can cross post and automate many of your updates, but it is important to be human too. Go where your audience is, learn the platform and get established. Spreading yourself a little wider can come later.
Hey Jan,
arranging my day into slices wouldn’t work for me, as I generally take longer to do things than I’ve allowed for.
I especially think I spend too long on fb, which is a shame, since I like it. But in terms of benefiting my business I don’t think it does much. That’s probably mostly cos I don’t really understand much about fb advertising and how to use social media to ones own benefit.
Interesting post though, which I’ll aspire to one day
All the best Jan,
Paul
Paul Henderson recently posted..White Listing – And Why You Should Be Doing It
You need to get tough with yourself, Paul – or be realistic about the amount of time things take
I have that problem too, often think I can get something done in 15 mins and 2 hours later sitting growling at it lol
Thanks for popping in
I have a hard time getting my social media time down that low (except for google plus-I’m well within less than 2 minutes every month.). I tend to find lots of wonderful information and people and get distracted. Loved the infographic and think it will help my social media time be more productive. Thanks for sharing.
Emily recently posted..B is for Broken Link Checker Plugin
You’re welcome, Emily – and good luck with getting your social time down!
Jan,
I love the idea of setting time slots, otherwise I get sucked into catching up and spend way too much time on social media sites.
Thank you!
Glad you found the infographic useful, Cheryl. Thanks for popping in
Amazing infographic, already pined it and I’m going to print it so I can use it everyday, thanks so much for sharing! It’s great to know I can do all this in 30 minutes. Loved you headline too
lena recently posted..Wardrobe Essentials: How to Wear a Trench Coat
I’ll admit to stealing the headline from the Infographic, Lena! Glad you found it useful and pinning
I always find myself getting distracted, especially on Facebook! Setting limits would definitely be helpful, as long as I could be disciplined enough to stick to them!
Set an alarm clock – that’s what i do when I’m on a deadline
Thanks for popping in Tasha!
I highly doubt I could spend a mere 6 minutes on Facebook. Even if it is just responding to a comment or two. I write way too much to limit myself for 6 minutes!
I belong to far too many groups for this to become a normal habit. LOL
Bonnie Gean recently posted..Dressing for Success in the Home Office
I’m not in a huge number of groups on FB, thankfully. I do pop in and out throughout the day, probably adds up to far more than 6 minutes!
It’s an interesting Infographic Jan, but it doesn’t include blogging and that is part of social media.
I like the breakdown of suggested timing for each social network, but just reading and commenting on blogs can take me 15-30 minutes. And, building a community via blogging comments (as you know) is an important element in social media.
Thanks much. ~Debra
Debra Jason recently posted..Are You Making This Marketing Mistake? Part 1
Agreed, Debra. Social media encompasses far more than the networks. Like you, blog commenting takes up far more of my time.
I can usually pop in and pop out without getting taken down the rabbit hole. But I do spend a bit more time on Facebook than the other social media places. As to creating new content, and scheduling- need a lot more time!
Denys Kelley recently posted..Are you making this # 1 mistake with your Newsletter?
Creating new content – that’s something we all have time issues with I think, Denys! Thanks for popping in
Unfortunately there are so many stories in the media about time wasted on social media. I think a lot of people in business are a bit reluctant to get into it as a result.
It’s true that it can be very easy to get sidetracked. But if you retain focus you can share good information and connect meaningfully with lots of people in a short space of time. And doing so will bring benefits sooner or later.
You hit the nail on the head, Matt – focus! Thanks for popping in
Jan what is the benefit to a real business (a bricks and mortar business) of something uniquely online like pinterest?
jonathan recently posted..Could you throw money down the drain?
Hi Jonathan, like any social media network the benefit will depend on the business and where their ideal audience hangs out online. Pinterest is fabulous for retailers with an online presence. I also know designers and photographers use it as “idea boards” for their clients.
Again, like any social platform it’s not necessarily about direct sales but also traffic, mentions, links, basically the bigger picture too.
Yes, funnily enough I have just been masterminding with a colleague who is a speaker/seminar trainer and we stumbled on the idea of him developing a pinterest board – he has loads of pictures (of all odd sizes) of him shaking hands with the rich and famous – so shoving them on pinterest was a good way to use and recycle them we reckoned – so I suppose I have answered my own question…
jonathan recently posted..Ditch multitasking – It fails everytime
Yes you have
That’s one way to use those images!
Wow – I’d like to think I can do all that in 30 minutes.
Certainly something to aspire to – and great tips. Thanks
Joy
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You’re welcome, Joy! Thanks for popping in
Hi Jan, super info graphic! I love Hootsuite which is a tremendous tool to organize my 3 social media platforms I use for my coaching practice- LinkedIn, FB and Twitter. I actually do work on 30 minutes a day, I split 15 mins morning and 15 mins at the end of my workday to comment, like, share and tweet. On Sunday mornings I blog, do my Hootsuite and comment on everyone else’s blogs which I enjoy doing with my favorite cuppa.
Debra Moser recently posted..A Richard Branson Tribute: Things I Carry: Smart Phone? I Prefer a Brilliant Assistant
You’re very disciplined Debra! I do have mine split morning and evening, although I find myself leaving Twitter till late and popping in and out of Facebook far too often!