How much time should you spend on Social Media?

How much time does it really take to actively participate in social media on a personal level? What about on a business level? Many businesses, groups and individuals set up accounts because it’s the thing to do. But does the person who sets up the account really know how much time needs to be put into managing social media for a positive return on investment?

Let’s dive in and try to find some answers. The first answer I can come up with is, time dedicated to social media varies depending on your experience, your organization, group or purpose for the account. It depends how active your community is, how many people are talking about your brand outside of your Facebook page or Twitter account and then how active you are engaging in other blogs, commenting on articles and various discussion boards surrounding your brand. It all takes time to implement, manage, create a plan and monitor the networks on a daily basis.

Chris Brogan, president of New Marketing Labs, breaks the time to spend on social media into four areas: Listening, Commenting, Communicating and Creating. He recommends spending at least 2 hours a day on social media or about 30 minutes in each area. It takes time to read, comment and search for articles that are relevant for you and your brand to join in the conversation. See the full article here.  I think he puts it best when he talks about the excuse not having the time but to remember, “Just realize that sacrifice in any area takes away from the balance of your opportunity to build a system that gets you results.”

Another presentation I looked at by Altitude Branding talked about how many people you need to manage a social media strategy. It’s often more than one individual monitoring, listening and contributing to the overall social strategy. This leads to more options, choices and the ability to bounce ideas off one another, which will hopefully lead to more value for your community.

There are many different ways to take a look and make a judgment call on how much time really is put into social media. In the long run, the more time you spend in the right areas with the right people and expertise the more valuable your social network will be to your company.