Time-strapped businesses are constantly looking for ways to save time and create more of it for other projects, and one of the areas that they often focus on are their internet marketing efforts.  How can they reduce the time they spend online?  Are there any tools they can use that can expedite any of the processes they currently perform?

One of the frequent things that business owners look at are their blogging and social media efforts.  Let’s face it; if you do your own blogging and social media upkeep, you’re spending a good couple of hours a day MINIMUM on these projects.  It’s no wonder that blogging and social media are usually one of the first places where business owners then look to cut corners and save a bit of time.  So which one is more worth your while and which one can you cut back on?

The answer I have probably isn’t one that you want to hear. Why?  Because you shouldn’t cut back on either one of them, and here’s why.

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There’s No I In Team

Blogs and social media networks are a team. These two work together to give your business the best results and the most well-rounded inbound marketing campaign possible.  Think about what you are (or should be) doing now with your blogs and social media: you write up an awesome blog with the intention of drawing people to your site.  Chances are you then hit up Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and your other social media sites, and then advertise your blog in the most enticing and attention-nabbing way possible.

Now imagine what would happen if you didn’t advertise your blog on social media sites.  Who would come?  Yes, you may get some organic traffic trickling through from the search engines, which is great, but you won’t get nearly as much attention as if you advertise on the various social media platforms.  Remember, social media allows you access to hundreds of millions of people per post too, so you’re getting a ton of free advertising that way.

Having a social media account without a blog also means that you’ll be missing out on a ton of business.  Remember that blog and social media tools are not so much about your business as it is about your people.  When you have a social media account and only post links back to your impersonal business page or some landing page that’s trying to get them to sign up or buy something, people will get annoyed and most likely block out your business.  Social media is a fun and personal tool, and the best thing to lead them to from this fun and personal tool is to ANOTHER fun and personal tool, like a blog.  Going from a social media site to a blog and vice versa keeps things personal and keeps the communication lines open.

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Where Does the Time Go?

So now you may be thinking to yourself, “Where the heck am I supposed to find the time?”  I don’t have a blanket answer for everyone out there, but the one thing I can tell people to do is to invest the most time in whatever they think will have the biggest impact.  The best way to do this is to break out your analytical tools, and look at what it was that brought in traffic, leads, and sales.  Correlate these factors to your different inbound marketing strategies. This will help you put some sort of value on each marketing effort that you are making.  You may even be able to place an approximate dollar value on every tweet, Facebook post, or even direct mail flier that you hand out at a tradeshow (to cut back on the time you spend on Facebook and make it more efficient, take a look at our free eBook about Facebook here).

Key Takeaways

  • Blogging and social media go hand-in-hand and should both be kept right up to date and work together in order to give you the best internet marketing campaign.
  • You should invest equal amount of time into both blogging and social media.
  • Look at each marketing endeavor and, going by measured results, determine which are more valuable to your company and focus more time on those marketing strategies than others.
  • To keep up with your blogging and social media accounts, consider creating a sort of “editorial calendar” to keep yourself on track.

Need Help?

If blogging or social media networking is something you are interested in but are having trouble getting started, contact us today to schedule your free marketing analysis!