The 80-20 principle proposed by Pareto seems to apply to many areas in business including social media marketing. If you remember, the Pareto’s principle, it states that 80 percent of the effects come from 20 percent of the causes. When it comes to social media, the Pareto principle holds good regarding the ratio of time spent on listening and saying. This becomes debatable as there are people that believe spending just a few minutes for listening would be ample. However, there are a lot of researchers who have approved of the social media 80-20 rule.
Social media is an essential part of any successful business and if you want the right results, your efforts should be balanced. Though you can spend eight hours a day on social media, spending just one resourceful hour on social media and otherwise doing non-impactful efforts can be of no help to you and your business. It is high time you commit yourself to dedicate ample time to social media.
Have a healthy social media strategy:
Social media is not just about creating brand awareness or reaching out to as many people as you can. Rather it is about mingling with people and having conversations. Pick people whom you think can turn out to be your customers or maybe even resellers. Do not try to know about everyone in your circle. Choose few impactful people who are worth having conversations with. Try and listen to them as much as possible and exchange a message or two. These relationships can prove fruitful down your business line.
Create a social media calendar:
Most marketers have calendars for their email marketing and other marketing channels but they forget that social media is a crucial channel which need to be done effectively and consistently. Do not treat it just like another marketing channel. Remember that spending an hour a day and seven hours a week is not the same.
You cannot have conversations, build relationships with fans and followers and stay connected in a day. You have to do it every day. You need to have a perfect calendar and have a daily schedule. If you have other marketing needs popping up, do not skip social media just adjust your schedules in such a way that you do not miss out on social media at the end of the day.
Make the best out of it:
Do not treat social media as just another responsibility you need to do to get through the day. When you are able to use such interesting social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, you should find it interesting and enjoy doing it. Rather take it as a daily routine, take it as a new tool that can help you build on many things for your growth and business growth.
Lastly, remember that social media is an important tool for business that cannot be ignored. However, you need to learn tactics that won’t take much time but give you great returns. You cannot write or speak about something unless and until you are listening to what is happening around. So even if you are spending an hour a day, spend 80 percent of it to read conversations and 20 percent to speak.