Making Time for Social Media

Updated: May 21, 2010

Many business people are either afraid of social media or feel that they don't have the time to devote to it. It is true that a certain amount of time needs to be dedicated to social media if you want it to benefit your business. In the case with social media, the benefits far outweigh the effort that you will need to put forth.

How much time should be devoted to social media?

It doesn't actually take as much time as you think to get social media to work well for your business. You certainly don't need to be connected 24/7. Consistency is critical when it comes to your social media strategy. You need to pick a schedule and stick to it. Initially, you don't need to be connected to more than a few social media platforms. Over time, you can build up your list with appropriate social media sites that work for you and your business most effectively.

When it comes to working with social media, you need to make sure that you have a definitive strategy, which takes into account how much time you are able to realistically dedicate to your online marketing efforts (at a frequency of your choosing). If you plan and organize your online activities properly, using time-saving tools and making certain that your return on investment (ROI) expectations are reasonable, your online marketing strategy will succeed.

How much time will it take until you see results?

Social media is an absolutely amazing tool. It is the most innovative marketing development that has come along in a very long time. One thing that is important to keep in mind is that it takes some time (6 months or more) for you to see the fruits of your labor when it comes to social media. However, there are some positive changes that you will notice along the way because of social media that contribute to the overall picture of increased success for your business.

As you start to share large amounts of content, you will notice an increase in traffic to your website almost right away. If you have a blog, you will see that other people are making comments on your blog postings and more and more content will be generated that way also.

Once people start to notice that there is value in your content, they will be inclined to want to share it with others. This will lead to your acquiring more fans, followers and connections. All of these positive changes are contributing factors to building your online communities and acquiring loyal fans who will be partial to your brand. The ultimate result of that is that your loyal fans will share your content with other people without asking for anything in return; they will share your content because they believe in it and in you.

Persistence, persistence, persistence

A large part of your success in business through social media will be due to your willingness to be persistent. If you continue to work at social media marketing for your business, you will undoubtedly achieve success. The simple fact is that in order for you to get more leads for your business from your website, you need to attract more people to your website. The more leads you get, the more business you will get.

Inbound marketing, which is a marketing technique that brings your customers to you instead of you having to go after your customers, is very effective at generating leads and thus generating more business. Inbound marketing works and there is minimal cost involved for your business to become successful when using that method.

Content generation

The most essential part of guaranteeing the success of your business through social media is content generation. The more content you generate, the more people will pay attention to you. The more people pay attention to you, the more they will be interested in learning more and more about you, start to consider you a subject matter expert, become loyal to what you are offering and eventually, want to buy from you.