One of the questions I’m often asked is, “How do I manage the time it takes to engage in social media?” I’ve run across a couple of resources lately that address that issue, stating that you can do it in as little as 30 minutes per day.

30-Minute Social Media Marketing book

The first resource is a book published in 2010 entitled 30-Minute Social Media Marketing: Step-by-step Techniques to Spread the Word About Your Business, by Susan Gunelius, published by McGraw-Hill.

What brought the book to my attention was an article at OpenForum – 30 Minute Social Media Marketing – by Steven Strauss. In it, he lists Gunelius’ approach to social media marketing management as entailing four pillars: Research, Content Creation, Sharing and Discussing/community-building.

My own approach resembles this, though I’ve yet to get it down to the 30-minute time frame. I believe you need a content creation strategy, a content syndication strategy and a conversation strategy.

And, just to make sure I give credit where credit is due, I first heard that from Matt Fagioli, a new media marketing consultant based in Atlanta, then adopted it for my own use as well as for use with clients.

For me, content creation starts with my blog, which I syndicate to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn via a little tool called dlvr.it. That takes care of what I refer to as the “play by play” (using a sports broadcasting analogy). With that out of the way, I can spend more time doing the “color” commentary with real-time interaction in those and other channels. I also spend time doing ample research as well, though I had not heretofore considered it a pillar.

And let me say that, while I believe that some aspects of social media engagement can and should be automated, certainly you can’t put it all on autopilot. There is still a need for personal, human interaction.

Social Media Marketing on 30 Minutes a Day blog post

Another spin on this 30-minute idea comes from Mark Hayward, a blogger who focuses on small business blogging and social media.

Mark’s approach is quite a bit different than Susan’s. In his post – Channel Your Inner Zen Habits: 30 Minutes a Day Small Business Social Media Strategy – he suggests, rather than following the same routine daily, that you dedicate a day to a given task.

For example, Mark recommends that you use Sunday as your blog post day. Monday should be set aside for interaction on Facebook, Twitter, and review sites, he says, while Tuesday is niche forum day, and so forth.

I think there are benefits to either approach, though I tend to favor Susan’s. The point is, you can manage your social media engagement activities within a reasonable time frame, even if it takes a little longer than 30-minutes per day.

If you have questions about social media management or need someone who assist your organization with that, please contact me. I would be more than happy to discuss the matter with you.