Tip Tuesday: An Hour a Day – 5 Easy Steps to Maximize Your Social Media Strategy
One of the topics people ask me frequently about is social media – and specifically they ask me for how to make the best use of their time. Anyone who has dived into social media knows that it is not “free” – it takes time and a thoughtful effort to make it work your time.
If you are like me, and seem to be “always connected” – whether it’s Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc – it’s a great reminder that you need to be smart with your time. If you’re not careful, social media can be a time suck!
So how can you be more smart with your time?
Plan social media into your schedule for 1 hour a day: 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes late in the day.
The key here is multi-task, move fast, don’t get distracted.
If I was a real estate agent – this is how I would do it:
AM: 1st thing after or before you check your email
1. Turn on your computer. Open 7 windows: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, your web site, your blog, your favorite news website (i.e. Inman News 
), and your favorite ‘drip marketing’ social media site (my fave is Hootsuite). Move fast, don’t get distracted.
2. Facebook: Scroll through the page – make 3 comments on other people’s posts. Post what you are up to that day. Respond to anyone who has commented on your or left you a message. Move fast, don’t get distracted.
3. Twitter. Click your @ button (i.e. – @katielance). Anyone who has mentioned you – thank them publicly. Respond to DM’s. Scroll through your home page and re-tweet 3 things of interest. Move fast, don’t get distracted.
4. LinkedIn: Post your status update – have it feed to Twitter (check the ‘Twitter’ box to do so – so easy!) Respond to any messages in your inbox. Check your groups. Not in a group? Join a group and comment on 1 discussion a day. Move fast, don’t get distracted.
5. Close these 3 windows: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. Keep Hootsuite.com open and your web site, blog, and your favorite news site. Pick 6-8 links to share that day in Twitter. One can be a listing. The rest must be good content or newsworthy. Pick 3 links to share for Facebook. Twitter moves faster than Facebook which is why you need to post more often. Plug your posts and links into Hootsuite. Space them 1-2 hours apart. If something is a hot topic you can schedule it to go out more than once. Move fast, don’t get distracted.
PM: Repeat!
Next day: Repeat!
Do this everyday 5-6 days a week. If you follow this schedule it will become a habit. Also don’t underestimate the power of commenting and interacting – this is probably MORE important than posting your own content and links. Social media is just that – social!
BONUS TIP: Plan into your schedule an additional 2-3 hours a week if you are a blogger. Also plan one time a week to search for new friends, fans, and followers.
Looking for more info? Stay tuned… I have something exciting in the works that will be revealed in a few weeks.
I would love to hear how you formulate a schedule for social media – what works and doesn’t work for you. Please leave me your thoughts in the comments below. Thanks!
Written by: Katie Lance, Marketing Manager, Inman News
24 Comment(s)
4 Trackback(s)
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Joshua Dorkin | Mar 2, 2010 | Reply
Fantastic post, Katie! Unfortunately, while this plan is incredible, it will prove to be a challenge to most. Keeping up with a social media regimen can be quite challenging, particularly as we find ourselves getting caught at each and every one of the sites that you mention. That said, I do think that at least attempting to keep up with this on a daily basis would be extremely helpful for anyone trying to improve their web/social presence.
Mark Madsen | Mar 3, 2010 | Reply
Katie – I agree that having a social media “strategy” is a great start, but you didn’t mention anything about what the purpose or expected outcome would be with this particular social networking activity schedule.
I think an agent’s time (5-6 hours a week) would be better spent by simply marketing strategic properties online in the direct path of their target audience.
Or, maybe investing the 5-6 hours a week writing blog articles on high traffic platforms for the purpose of building perpetual equity in an online presence that the agent actually owns.
For example, I’m confident that there would be more value taking a simple 2 hours a week to produce one well written post on Joshua’s blog vs chasing comments and friend requests on FB and Twitter. The link juice alone could be worth several thousand online leads a year as a result of higher search engine placement.
However, I believe your LinkedIn strategy for joining groups and answering questions is right on.
Silicon Beach Training | Mar 3, 2010 | Reply
Excellent and succinct step by step guide Katie!
I just posted my own example schedule for managing Social Media activity, but it’s a bit more general – http://www.siliconbeachtraining.co.uk/free-resources/manage-social-media-schedule/
It’d be great to know what you think.
Natasha
SBT
Joshua Dorkin | Mar 3, 2010 | Reply
Thanks, Mark. I appreciate your comment and the referral over to our blog.
That said, after thinking about it for a sec, you’re right about the “strategy” posted here. While I’d say the post illustrates a great way to get yourself out there, everyone should establish their own strategy for their own needs and wants.
Guest blogging on large blogs once or more times a week could certainly be a much more valuable use of your time than spending an hour on a few touches on some other SM sites.
Great thoughts!
Michael Sosnowski | Mar 3, 2010 | Reply
When it comes to social media you can be overwhelmed with all the options. To go along with this great post I would suggest – try to focus on a limited number of things and do them well. Personally I think blogging is the best – work hard to develop a following and create a persona on several national sites. You can get lost in Twitter, FB and some of the others – which personally I don’t think are really the best avenues for business development.
Marc | Mar 3, 2010 | Reply
Mmm. I’m not as bullish as my peers above and feel this post lacks real substantive advice for emerging social mediaphiles. With due respect, it reads more like a shotgun maintenance program for beginners rather than steps to maximize strategy. Feels more like a “5 least things you can do to keep your pages from looking dead” list.
Joshua, if you found these tips fabulous, you would be blown away by what you could really be doing to maximize your social media strategy and honestly, if this tips are too much for an agent, then those agents should not be using social media at all.
Social media is media. It’s your bullhorn to the world to market and brand yourself by virtue of what you post. It’s your news station to inform your followers of what’s happing in your world, what it means and why you think it’s important. And so on.
While a quick daily sweep of your various SM assets is prudent, along with posting a public thank you or a comment or two – these are not tips that will maximize anything. To maximize, you will need to create original content of some kind and at some point otherwise there will be no mentions of you Twitter and very little action on your facebook page.
Maximized strategies ought to include advice on how to stir the pot of conversation. How to provide valuable new content. Where to get that content. How to post it.
And to dedicate more time to having a conversation with people on SM not posting a quick missive and bolting off.
Kelli Davis | Mar 3, 2010 | Reply
Marc, I think you’re right- this article is more for beginners, those dipping their toe into the social media pool. But you must remember, probably 98% of folks out there are doing just that- starting out. It’s just us crazies out there who look obsessively for ways to create content and provide solutions for our target audience.
But, I do think that Kate’s done a great job at introducing a new tool. To manage all of your social media applications, HootSuite is great, TweetDeck is great. Both tools that beginners would not have known about before.
Good post, I think.
Alex | Mar 3, 2010 | Reply
Let’s try again. Comment accept!
Alex | Mar 3, 2010 | Reply
Okay it accepted. Great advice! Gonna try it today. Any tips to conquer burnout? I had the most popular RE blog in SF, theFrontSteps, but I’m burnt and on hiatus…..suggestions welcomed.
Katie Lance | Mar 3, 2010 | Reply
Testing
Katie Lance | Mar 3, 2010 | Reply
Hi everyone -
Thanks so much for your feedback. This post was written for beginners (a.k.a. agents who say “just tell me what to do!!”) as well as those of us knee deep in social media. Why? Because those of us so “knee deep” in it can easily waste away our time doing nothing but SM.
I feel passionately about this plan because it’s what I follow day in and day out. It is a shot gun approach which may not be for everyone.
I personally think agents need to devote 5-6 hours a week doing this. If they are no,t they are missing out on a whole generation of people and how they communicate. SM is not going away – but it is just one more tool to market yourself.
I agree that to really make the most out of these channels you should be blogging 2-3 times a week. But sometimes we have to talk baby steps – get familiar with the new technologies and then add in the “secret sauce” (blogging)
Natasha – I will check out your link – thanks for posting it!
Alex – burnt out – good question. I think burnt out usually comes from not committing to a schedule, feeling like you are always on the computer and not “in the real world”. Take a break for a day or two – reconnect w/ some people face to face and then jump back online. That’s my advice!
Thanks again everyone. I love hearing your feedback!
Katie
Home Mortgage Kansas | Mar 3, 2010 | Reply
It is amazing how even things like Social Media can get put on the back burner. Once you fall behind, it is like anything else, you have to start playing catch up. I think that this is a nice easy outline to staying more than connected.
tony | Mar 4, 2010 | Reply
The tips provided are a good regimen, so to speak, for the beginner to get accustomed to social media. I agree that it can seem awkward at first to post comments, update your status, etc. The more you do it, the easier it will get.
However, I think the most important thing aspect about building your social media strategy is your content. How are you building your content? A blog post, a video? Once you have content, then pushing it to your various social media outlets is easy.
Mary Fletcher Jones | Mar 4, 2010 | Reply
I have this clock
Thanks for this great post. Interesting approach for managing your social media presence and I like how you broke it down into a system. My social media prescription http://bit.ly/social-media-Rx is less specific — think I’ll compare the two and tweak as needed!
herman | Mar 5, 2010 | Reply
i am a beginner in all this social media stuff. frankly i’m stuck in y2k (email, zip drives, ICQ!)but i can’t deny this is not just the wave of the future, its the wave of the present…which is a catchy way of saying professional and business opportunities are passing me by! ergo, in the past wk or so, i’ve tried to haul myself into this decade by doing real estate webisodes. content is king, or queen in my case. lmk what u all think!
http://www.habitatforhermanity.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/HabitatForHermanity
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Herman/239123039962
http://www.twitter.com/hermanity
http://www.myspace.com/hermanity
http://www.hermanchan.com
alex | Mar 7, 2010 | Reply
Katie,
I took a few months off and have the itch to blog again, but there are sooooo many people blogging about real estate in SF, it’s kind of old. I did start a new venture though and we’ll be live soon, so I’ll make sure to let you in on that when it goes live and I’ll certainly employ some of the tips above to master our “socializing”…
James | Mar 8, 2010 | Reply
Katie,
You have some good tips here. As one of the founders of the real estate-oriented social networking site, RealtyJoin, I can tell you that Marc’s suggestion holds true: members who write interesting blogs, answer questions, or otherwise try to be helpful and informative to others become hubs of activity and attention. On the other hand, members who just post a quick marketing blurb without thinking of their audience’s needs can get marginalized over time.
Another big way to benefit from social media is to become a featured member that all your potential clients & partners can see. RealtyJoin makes it easy for people to be featured.
RIc | Mar 9, 2010 | Reply
Hi Guys, well I’m not even a beginner in the social media area I joined Facebook because my wife was playing games there and discovered there was a network of ppl out there but they all talked about Cafe world and Farmville then I had a look a Twitter because every one was twittering about it and had to see for myself if there was opportunity to expand my networking in Realestate and now I am here which I have found interesting and informative, however I am one of those newbies that looks at all this and is totaly confused and dosen’t know where to start.
I can see enormous potential here but to be effective dont u need to be area specific rather than have a shotgun approach to everyone around the world?
It’s gr8 to share, listen to ppls idea’s from around the world and learn different approaches to marketing and all aspects of realestate but how does that help me get a buyer for the property I listed yesterday unless there are a multitude of ppl within a 20 k radius of me who r tuned in to Twitter, Facebook or any of the other social media sited that have been mentioned in other post’s Lol maybe I am like Herman but two decades behind instead of one, I will check out his webisodes to see if that can point me in the direction of the STARTING line before I get left completly behind.
If anyone would like to jump in and help point me in the right direction I would be happy to listen.
hawkinau@hotmail.com
Conner Goodman | Mar 11, 2010 | Reply
For any Realtor looking to expand their business and outreach the best investment I ever made was choosing to go with Realtime Referral (www.realtimereferral.com). It’s made my life easier and my business more profitable!
Bob Wood | Mar 12, 2010 | Reply
Sounds like a plan and a clearcut one that should help in getting anyone started in SM while also providing simple guidelines to help them avoid getting sucked dry by it at the expense of other activities needed to promote business.
Tony Robles | Mar 17, 2010 | Reply
Hello my name is Tony Robles I am the marketing manager at QuickSearchProperties.com. I have been working for QSP for about 7 months and have been using that strategy for some time now and let me tell you that is a very good way to increase more visitors and potential customers for quicksearchproperties.com.
Thank You
Tony Robles
Lynn Albro | May 17, 2010 | Reply
This may be the best plan that I have seen…Thanks!
Maggie Stone | May 17, 2010 | Reply
I think I really need to get up to speed with Twitter, I just don’t get it yet everyone talks about great results, any more techniques about twitter would help a lot.
Carolyn Perlow | May 19, 2010 | Reply
I just took a social media class at my KW Market Center and the instructor used this article to illustrate how to incorporate social media into a business plan. Very helpful post and great points.