Spending time on social media is a must within our business. But what is the best way to get the most in return for your efforts without taking time away from other business-building activities?
On Thursday February 16th, Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate was proud to be the only real estate company to host an event at Social Media Week in New York. The event, titled “From House to Home: Social Media’s Impact on Buying, Designing and Selling a Home,” included Kim-Marie Mullen, social media expert and Business Development Manager at Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate Rand Realty.
I sat down with Kim-Marie after Social Media Week and asked her to share a few tips and tricks to managing social media as well as her favorite tools.
Creating Your Social Media Strategy
Q: How do you plan posts and tweets throughout the week?
Kim-Marie: I would encourage anyone dabbling in a few different social channels (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) to determine what their goals are for each one. Once you identify what you want to achieve, the next step is to create or curate interesting content. Schedule time into your calendar to find 2-3 articles to tweet per day and at least one post for Facebook. Then take a few minutes to interact within your social sphere. It’s important that your fans and friends know there is a real person behind that information.
Q: Do you use automation to send out regular social media updates?
Kim-Marie: Social media automation is a great way to save time, but it must be used in moderation. I will use tools like Hootsuite, and Sprout Social to manage my social sites and also to schedule a few tweets throughout the week. Since I’m on the go quite a bit, my favorite posting tool is my iPhone. It’s easy to scan through Twitter or Facebook and find articles that I want to share. The Hootsuite app for the iPhone allows me to schedule tweets in a matter of seconds!
Q: What is your communication strategy?
Kim-Marie: I take time each day to interact with my friends, followers and fans. Social media isn’t a one-way street. Schedule 10 minutes at the beginning and end of your day to read and comment on friends’ and followers’ tweets, posts and blogs. Participation is the key to a successful strategy. Scheduling time into your calendar like any other appointment will keep you on track.
Q: Are you tweeting, posting and commenting at all hours of the day?
Kim-Marie: You will find that I’m far less active on social media on the weekends. I believe that it’s important to unplug and unwind. During the workweek I’m very active, but like to step away from the social side of business and enjoy my evenings or weekends. Who said we have to be available all hours of the day and night? At some point you will burn out if you don’t step away and shut social media off entirely.
Q: Any final thoughts or suggestions?
Kim-Marie: The bottom line is this: If you take the time to plan, implement and stay consistent with your efforts, your social media strategy can and will pay off. The important thing to always keep in mind is that social media is only one pillar of your marketing strategy. Decide how much time and effort you can devote and then stick with it!
Follow Kim-Marie on Twitter or connect with her on Facebook!
