Too many businesses tick social media off their marketing ‘to do’ list, setting up snazzy-looking profiles and auto posting their latest blog post each week. But successful social media marketing is so much more than simply turning up and looking good. Social media marketing isn’t that different from going to a dinner party. Really. Tell me this. Would you go to a dinner party, sit down and expect everyone to come and talk to you? Of course you wouldn’t. The only person who gets to do that is your Gran (who can’t stand up for long). You would turn up when everyone else was going to be there. You would mingle and chat to other guests. You would respond when people talked to you. You would try to be interested and interesting. Successful social media marketing is no different. If you’re anything like me, you’ve already thought, “I have too many other priorities than hanging out on social media!” Well, this post is all about how you can skyrocket the engagement around your social media marketing in just 5 minutes a day.
Your 5-minute breakdown to social media superstardom
First, set a timer. Spend 1 minute finding an article your followers would be interested in or find value in. Your social media platforms aren’t simply a way to share your own content. When you become a content curator, sharing valuable and insightful articles from other businesses, you become the go-to page for need-to-know news and advice. You begin to demonstrate you’re a subject matter expert and thought leader. Two very good labels to have. If you find more than one article you want to share, using a tool like BufferApp makes it easy to schedule the content you find over the day or the week.
Spend 1 minute sharing that article across your social media pages, adding and formatting comments relevant to each platform and audience. Think about how you can generate conversation around the piece you’re sharing. Share your favourite insight from the article or ask readers if they agree (as just two examples). You’ve got a whole minute to think of something and it will be time well spent. Now you’ve spent two minutes making your pages a hub of fantastic content.
Spend 1 minute reading other social media posts and share at least one update. Keeping up to date with the people and businesses in your network will help you stay relevant in their lives. You might have a conversation starter, discover some more exceptional content to share or file away some points to discuss at your next networking event. When you share other people’s social media posts, they’re more likely to share yours!
Spend 2 minutes commenting on other posts and discussions. Allow 2 minutes for this part of your 5-minute breakdown as it’s the time that will potentially yield the greatest reward. There is no ‘trick’ to this.
If you want people to engage with you, engage with them first. Be generous with your comments and advice, help people where you can and generally be a good sport to be around. When you do, you will begin to see people making time to respond to your posts.
How to make this really work
I don’t know anyone who isn’t pushed for time. Be super strict with your timer. Only spend the allocated time on each task. Aim to find and share one article. Only read a few updates. Comment on one or two posts. If you catch yourself thinking, “I don’t have time today”, remember that spending just 5 minutes a day will accumulate to big results, like a snowball going downhill.
You’ll find more people visit your social media pages.
You’ll see more people liking, sharing and commenting on your posts.
But more than both of these things, you will begin to build a loyal tribe of fans around your business.
I think that’s worth just 5 minutes a day, don’t you? And if you’d like a bit more inspiration for your social media marketing in 2015, check back to my 50 tips you need to rock your social media.
