Do you have the time for social media?
Every corner I turn, this phrase raises it head, so I thought I would give you some guidelines on how to manage your time with social media, and at what point you should consider outsourcing or recruiting someone to manage it for you.
How much time should I spend on each platform?
(Photo credit: ToniVC)
We allocate a minimum of half an hour, per platform for each of our clients. For example, we spend half an hour on Twitter, then another half an hour on Facebook, LinkedIn etc. If you have a set of instructions of things to do when you are on these platforms then you get an awful lot done in this time. At Green Umbrella we have our “5 a day” on each platform. This is a list of 5 things that you need to achieve. To give you an example, here is a link to the 5 a day that we do for LinkedIn. (We have a similar process for Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest).
If you have Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter then you need to allocate a minimum of 1.5hrs a day to have any impact with your social media strategy.
In addition to this we write a minimum of 3 blogs a week for the Green Umbrella page, which takes me about an hour to write each article, optimize for SEO and schedule. I tend to do this on a Sunday morning when I am in a quiet frame of mind.
How do we actually manage the time?
We have two magic formulas to ensure that we do not get distracted and to keep us on track with our social media.
The first one : Anti Social 
I have already mentioned this in a previous blog, but it is worth mentioning again. We use some dedicated software called “Anti Social”. When I have completed my “5 a day” for all platforms I then switch over to my “anti-social” software and click 120 minutes.
This way I know that for the next 2 hours:-
a) I will not be tempted to “check out Facebook”
b) I will not be distracted by notifications from Hootsuite or any other social media platform.
The second one is a simple timer:
As we all use Macs in our office we utilize an Apple application called “Big Ben Tea Timer”. This is a simple timer that you set at the beginning of your first 30 minutes and when your half an hour is up a picture of Big Ben appears in the middle of the screen and goes “ding dong” – Time to make the tea!
Some of my social mediators do not have an apple mac, so they tend to use a small alarm clock that is next to their computer, that does the same thing.
My point is that it is too easy to spend hours on your social media without knowing it, so implementing some of these simple tactics, until they become habit is an essential part of making sure that your online marketing is successful.
Remember, if it is important, then people will pick up the phone or email you!
At what point should you consider outsourcing or recruiting?
In my opinion, if you have time to respond to an email within 3 hours, then you have time to manage your social media. If it takes you longer than this then I would say that this is the point in which you should consider recruiting a part time person to manage your activity for you, or you should look at outsourcing to a very reputable agency (I know a good one called Green Umbrella!).
If you are considering outsourcing your social media then please give Green Umbrella a call. Our seedling package starts at just £150 a month.
Related articles
- Social Media Strategy for Small Business 2013: A Totally Honest Look at Social Networks (amsterdamprinting.com)
- Do you suffer from distraction at work? (green-umbrella.biz)
- Bring your social media up to speed! (79.170.40.240)
- How to follow your competitors on Twitter, without them knowing! (green-umbrella.biz)
- My vision and goals for Green Umbrella in 2013 (green-umbrella.biz)
I am a total social media and digital marketing junkie! My focus is on making a difference to SME's and also independent recruitment agencies. Giving them those all important lightbulb moments that will really enhance their business. I am a total Apple geek. In my spare time I am a camping and geocaching nerd!
