Let’s be clear from the start: We’re talking about how much time you should spend making social media content, not simply digesting it. Although, there’s so much you can learn by exploring different social media accounts, and we’re definitely not discounting that. It’s called research, baby!
The deciding factor in how much time you should be spending creating content for your social media platforms is really going to be determined by your current goals. A great way to finetune your goals is to ask yourself the following questions:
- How active do you want to be online? What’s “routine” for your brand?
- Are you in the aggressive building phase of your social media presence?
- Are you more focused on sustaining your current followers?
Maybe you’re somewhere in the middle of the last two questions, and you’re hoping to convert more followers into actual clients. Wherever you are, you have to consider the factors of time and resources. Who, on your team, is available to produce the quality content you’re seeking?
BUILDING UP YOUR LOYAL FOLLOWING
We’d be lying if we said it wasn’t a little scary or a little hard when you first set up a social media account for your business. You’ll likely have moments of doubt, asking yourself, “Will this ever take off?” And we’re here to tell you that bouts of doubt are absolutely normal—in fact, it’d be weirder if you never had any “down” moments. But you took the plunge, so why look back? It’s time to get to work and spread the word about your brand.
In these early days and months, no doubt you’ll want to be churning out regular content at a pretty fast pace. Consider yourself in the “aggressive building” phase. People need to learn about you, and you need to give them engaging content that helps them do that.
We’ll focus on Instagram as our example—a really easy (and quick!) place for potential followers to use when they want to know more about you. Recent social media trends show that videos perform better than solely static content, but you definitely want to have a mix on your feed.
Our recommendation:
- Post 5 reels a week
- Share 1 static post (just an image or carousel of images) a day
- Put something on your story at least 4 days a week
- Pair your reels and static content with strategic hashtags
The more regularly you’re sharing this variety of content, the more you’re encouraging your followers (or even people who are just scrolling) to engage with you. Meaningful engagement is going to be the thing that makes viewers turn into followers, and followers into clients of your services.
Don’t be afraid to actively interact with your followers either! If they ask questions in your comments section, give them a response. This communication is great for your overall engagement, and it shows your followers that you actually want to connect with them. Give them a reason to stick around.
MAINTAINING YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE
After hustling for months—sometimes even years—you’ve found yourself at a place where you’re happy with the growth you’ve made and the followers and clients you’ve obtained. This is amazing, and you should fully take a moment to appreciate this. But how can you keep them around? What makes them loyal to you and your content?
The answer is how relevant you are. Your followers will quickly lose interest in your content if it doesn’t seem like it’s truly for them. As you cultivate your following, it’s necessary to track which content yields the highest engagement, most likes, most comments, and all that good stuff. These insights will let you know the type of content you should keep putting out.
Our recommendation:
- Post 1-2 reels a week
- Share 1 static post a day
- Put something on your story at least 3 times a week
- Pair your reels and static content with strategic hashtags
In this maintenance phase of your social media presence, you more than likely have gained your dream clients as followers. They’re the ones who are going to actively engage with your content—giving you likes, sending you direct messages, and asking questions in the comment section of your posts.
This is exactly what you want—and what they want is for you to interact with them. Respond to their DMs and comments, and toss them a like on their messages to you. All of these small actions have big benefits for boosting your overall engagement and keeping your followers loyal. The follow-up goal should always be improving the ways in which you can turn your loyal followers into clients.
WE CAN GUIDE YOUR CONTENT
It takes a lot of time, thoughtfulness, and energy to plan and post all your social media content. As a business owner, you know pretty dang well that time is beyond valuable. That’s why outsourcing some of your needs is essential. Hand off your social media strategy to the experts; it’s what we’re here for. Let us handle the images, the hashtags, the reels—all of it. We’ve got you.
When you work with us, we will refine, develop, schedule, and share all your content. We’ll work with you to determine what your overall growth goals are, and we’ll finetune a strategy that can meet those goals and even exceed them.
And don’t worry, we won’t get it twisted. This is your business, but we can work together to elevate your brand and build meaningful success.
