Social Media Marketing Against The Clock

I was talking with someone earlier today who was almost in despair about Twitter!  They were seriously thinking of giving up on social media because they weren’t seeing the new business they had been led to expect. They were spending an immense amount of time on the various social media sites and achieving very little.

They asked the question, which many people ask.  How can you engage with your followers or fans, establish your brand and generate new business without letting social media take over your life?

Like so many things the key is developing a set of habits that you repeat over and over, without needing to stop and think about it, every time you log onto your social media sites.

If you have a small business to run you need a plan that allows you to get on with doing that and which makes social media easier don’t you? Let’s take a look at how you can make engaging with your followers easy.

1. Check Your @replies, @mentions and Direct Messages Twice Daily

Rather than checking everytime you go near the computer and allowing them to distract you check your @replies, your @mentions and your DMs once in the morning and once in the evening. If you can schedule to do it more often great but use those scheduled times only to respond to anyone who’s talking to you or talking about you.

Once you have done that then don’t check them again until your next scheduled check time. However tempted you might be!

You shouldn’t make the mistake of checking throughout the day. Not only does this suck up time, but it takes you away from other work.

If you check your direct communication twice daily that’s enough to ensure that you get back to people in a timely manner, but without distracting you from the business of running your business!

2. Say Good Morning

When you log on first thing the morning, remember to say “hello.” In this way you are letting people know you’re online and it will help to get those who are active users interacting with you.

3. Schedule Some Posts and Do Some Live

Try to do a mix of live posting and scheduled posting.

If you only do scheduled posting, then your tweets can look a little too clinical. They don’t have the spontaneous feel that encourages others to engage with you.

However, if you just do live posting then it can get incredibly distracting. You will find yourself constantly having to log into Twitter, which will keep you from doing other things in your business.

The best approach is to have a mix of both scheduled tweets and live posting. My favourite tool for scheduling is Sprout Social – but make sure to look for the $9 per month option!

3. Message Your Engaged Followers Directly

Make sure that you get into the habit of messaging your most supportive followers directly.

If you don’t reach out and start to build a personal relationship with the people who are following you, then they could start to lose interest in you.

However by taking the to send them a “Thank You” message directly or by acknowledging them publicly with an @reply, they will become even more engaged with you.

Always be aware of your active and engaged followers and reach out.

4. Look for Ways to Systematise

As a small business owner you will want to try to find ways to systematize whenever possible. If you find yourself doing something routine again and again, look for a way to automate it.

So for instance if you find that you are checking your Twitter stats at the end of the day every day, why not sign up for a tool that will help you with that like Sprout Social which I must admit I use extensively!  Make sure to look for the $9 (about £6 at the time of writing) option.

Interacting and engaging with your followers doesn’t need to be hard or too time consuming. So take the pressure off yourself and take the stress out of managing your social media marketing.