- Do you feel compelled to respond to Tweets, LinkedIn invitations and comments on your blog as soon as they land?
- Do you let a single day pass without engaging in some form of social media activity – whether for work or for play?
- Do you spend more time in the virtual – as opposed to the real world?
If the answer is yes, it reflects the evidence emerging that time spent on social media rocketed by almost 50 per cent in one year and that social networking now eats up twice as much of our online time as any other activity.
How much time should I invest in social media each week? is a question we at Quest are frequently asked by SMEs and MDs of owner managed businesses at our social media strategy seminar.
At Quest we plan and allocate a set number of hours – establishing key performance indicators and targets in much the same way as we plan and manage our clients social media campaigns. Most of which we fuse with traditional PR programmes to position them as thought leaders.
And, because social media can be so addictive, setting your plan – and sticking rigidly to your set hours – is crucial.
With planning, we find the following formula effective – and always take into account that everyone’s social media strategies may differ as they dovetail into the strategic plan and turbo-charge the marketing campaign.
Break your time into 3 chunks:
- 25 per cent for listening and intelligence gathering
- 50 per cent for commenting/communicating/crowd sourcing
- 25 per cent for creating great content
We’d love to hear how you allocate your time. In the meantime, happy planning!
