The 30-Minute Social Media Workout for Every Marketer

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Any sportsman will tell you that short but regular training is much more effective than one huge effort every two weeks. The same applies to social media – devoting half an hour to it every day will benefit you more than three hours once a week.

We’ve come up with a fast, 30-minute social media workout that would help any marketer grow and engage their audience, and gain influence in their relevant niche. But don’t worry, we’ve prepared some gear for you—we’ve made sure you are fully equipped with the best (and preferably free) tools!

WARMING UP – Study your audience and define social platforms you should have a presence on

define best social media platforms
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Define your audience before starting any social media activity, and ask yourself these very basic questions: What audience do I want to target? Where do they hang out? How can I reach them?

Here are some tips that might help you to find answers:

  • Study your audience

Make sure your audience on social media matches the audience that visits your site and converts. The best tool to check this is Google Analytics. Go to the Audience report and filter by demographics, gender and location. These three parameters are enough to start; however, if you feel that you need more data, dig deeper and filter by specific cities, pages your target audience likes most, and more.

  • Define the best social platforms for your brand

In Google Analytics, select Acquisition -> Channels -> Social, and check which social networks bring you the most traffic. Most likely, your top three networks are the ones you should look at more closely.

A note about Instagram: it might be not one of the most traffic-generating platforms, as you can only place links on your profile. But if you feel that Instagram is one of your primary channels, don’t neglect it!

BuzzSumo is another tool that can help you find the best social platforms for your particular niche. Pick one of your most popular keywords and click “Search.” You’ll see a list of the most popular articles and social signals from these top five social networks: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest. Take a look at the number of social shares on each of the five platforms. If the posts have tenfold more shares on Facebook, than on Twitter (that’s a likely case if, for example, you market to Japan) the solution is obvious – create a Facebook profile and start growing your presence there!

BuzzSumo
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BuzzSumo report

One more tip for international social media: if you market to Germany, head over directly to Xing without even looking at the acquisition reports!

Now that we’re finished warming up, let’s turn to the workout part.

The 30-minute social meida schedule
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EXERCISES:

  1. Research – 10 min

Begin your daily social media workout by finding out what’s going on in your industry. You can divide this whole process into three tasks:

  • Follow industry updates

Social media is a very dynamic industry, so you need to stay current if you don’t want to be left behind! That’s why it is absolutely essential to monitor news and trends daily in your niche. To make sure that you didn’t miss anything important, search by relevant hashtags and keywords.

An indispensable tool for discovering industry-specific content is Feedly. It allows you to add relevant blogs and news portals to your account, keeping them all in one place and making it easy to follow industry trends. Feedly is also a great tool for content curation, you can share any post right away and integrate it with SocialPilotBuffer and other tools.

  • Keep an eye on the competition

Apart from tracking general industry news, it is essential to keep abreast of what your competitors are doing. Check their updates and study what they are saying, how they are saying it and how it resonates with their audience. Note which types of content drive the highest engagement. Then you can figure out what’s a hit with your target audience.

To find out how your competitors implement their social media management and to compare your strategy with theirs, you can use the SEMrush Social Media Tool. It allows you to compare your social media accounts with competitors’ by these key metrics: Audience, Activity, Engagement and Engagement Rate. What’s more, with this tool you can get a detailed list of all of your competitors’ social media activities.

SEMrush Social Media tool
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SEMrush Social Media tool Overview report

  • Monitor brand mentions

This is a great way to discover what your audience actually says about you, to start on-brand conversations and respond to critics in a timely manner, turning the conversation around. Sometimes those who discuss your company will tag you in their post, and these mentions are very easy to track.

Use Mention to reveal more brand mentions on Twitter and Facebook. Moreover, you can set the language in which you want to track mentions, which is very handy for local brands operating in non-English-speaking markets. To find brand mentions in Twitter, take the advantage of the Advanced Search feature. 

  1. Publish – 10 min
  • Devote some time to content curation. You might not always have time to create content yourself, but there are others who share content that is valuable and interesting for your audience. Mix original and curated content. Content curation can help both you discover incredible pieces that you can immediately share with your audience and use to generate new ideas for original posts. With tools like ContentGems and Curata, this process becomes very simple. Use Evernote to write down ideas for your future posts.
  • Schedule your posts in advance. How often should you post on social media? Every business has its optimal posting frequency, which depends on many factors, but start with the following advice. Post at least five times a day on Twitter. If you have more content to post and time to schedule it, increase your tweeting to once every 30 minutes. The lifespan of a tweet is very short and it moves down in the newsfeed quickly. The best frequency for Facebook and Google+ is up to three to four posts per day. When it comes to LinkedIn, one post per day during the work week will be enough.

Tools to use: Buffer or SocialPilot These are the two most popular tools for scheduling your social media updates, both have free versions with limited functionality. Once you register, make sure to check their Chrome extensions, which will help you share a post from any website right away.

What to include in a social media post:

  1. Brainstorm catchy headlines. A good headline can boost your post, while a poor one can drive your audience away. So pay special attention to your headlines. The ideal length for a headline is 60-70 characters – it will be easy to read and perfect for search engines. Including numbers in your headline is proven to drive higher engagement, so do not hesitate to use them – “5 common mistakes”, “10 expert tips.” Also, use popular search queries as well – “How to…,” “Where to…,” etc. Here are some amazing headline generator tools to help you generate click worthy titles.
  2. Amplify your posts with images to make them more engaging and visually appealing. Even if you’re not a designer, you can create nice infographics or a catchy featured image with tools like Canva or SnappaIO, which will also help you adjust image size for different social platforms.
  3. Tag authors whose content you share and brands that you mention. This is a good tactic to show them respect and initiate communication. A tip for Twitter: if you want a mention to be visible not only to the person you’ve mentioned, but to all your audience, put a period before their username: e.g., “.@shoutmeloud.” 
  4. Communicate – 10 min
  • Grow your audience. Connect with 50-100 new people in your industry daily. Find and follow new people, identify and reach out to influencers in your niche. One of the best free tools I know is Crowdfire, which helps marketers grow their community on Twitter and Instagram.
  • Communicate with your audience directly. Social media is not only about broadcasting, it’s also about listening and responding. Take some time each day to have conversations with your followers. Check your notifications and reply to their comments and messages, share their posts and engage in discussions. Some of these small interactions may result in strong and mutually beneficial cooperation. 

COOLING DOWN – Analyze your results

Analyze results
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To understand whether you’re on the right track with your main goals, you need to constantly review and analyze your results. So after accomplishing your daily social media workout, finish out your day by checking out the key metrics for each of your updates –likes and shares, link clicks, audience demographics and whatever else you find useful. Use SumAll to track your progress; this free tool includes an awesome daily email that provides extensive information – and you don’t even have to leave your mailbox to get it.

By measuring and analyzing your results, you will gain a deeper understanding of which topics better resonate with your audience, which type of content drives more engagement. Analyzing statistics will help you determine your ideal posting frequency and the best time to make updates.

Have you developed your own social media workout program? Share your favorite tips in the comments!

Here are few hand-picked related articles for you:

Images created by the author in Canva.com and Snappa.io

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Authored By
Olga is the Head of Social Media at SEMrush. Olga specializes in conversion and relationship marketing and has increased SEMrush social engagement by 400% in one year together with her team.

54 thoughts on “The 30-Minute Social Media Workout for Every Marketer”

  1. Saurav Khare

    Thanks Olga. Very nice article about social media marketing. As I’m new to this field it is very helpfull for me.

    1. Olga Andrienko

      Saurav, thank you for the comment! I really hope my tips will help you supercharge your social media marketing! Do let me know about the results 🙂

  2. Bilal khan

    Hi Olga,
    i am Waste alot of Time on Social Media.and Now i have not Mange My Time.After Read your Post Get New Ideas.Very helpful tips,Thanks For it.

    1. Olga Andrienko

      Bilal, thank you so much for the feedback! appreciate it and I am very happy you found the post helpful 🙂

  3. Jude Simeons

    A great article i must say…
    Networking this way will be real fun as it doesn’t take much time.

    1. Olga Andrienko

      Jude, thank you for the comment! Happy you’ve enjoyed the post 🙂 Consistency and sincerety are the important components in social communications. If you spend even a few minutes to chat with someone on Twitter every day, it will pay off.

  4. Ravinder dande

    Hi Olga,

    I have been using social media for 4 to 5 hour but since i started blogging I’m using it 2 or 3 hour just for permoting my blogs.

    In your blogs today i learnt that how i can manage my social media uses.

    1. Olga Andrienko

      Ravinder, thank you for the comment! I’d say promoting is only one way you can use social media. Engaging and communicating with others is another very important part 🙂 If you’re using the right tools, you can do it effectively and actually spend less time on it. Would love to hear your feedback on how the tools I’ve mentioned helped you! 🙂

  5. rakhi

    @Olga Andrienko

    Exceptionally accommodating and successful article. I am taking after a few tips yet in the wake of perusing this article i know more about online networking workouts..

    regards
    rakhi

    1. Olga Andrienko

      Rakhi, thank you so much for the feedback! appreciate it and I am very happy you found the post helpful 🙂

  6. suraj salunkhe

    Hey Olga,

    What ever you have share is important to grow your social media marketing, but I disagree with time span you mentioned it . 30 min is not sufficient for writing article 10min no way it almost take 2-3 hrs and for communicating it will take half hour.
    Article is nice and informative.

    1. Olga Andrienko

      Suraj, thank you for the comment. I agree that 30 minutes is not sufficient for writing an article, that’s why I encouraged to share other people’s content. The content curation strategy can make wonders 🙂 Firstly, you hand pick the best posts that’s been shared and you also celebrate someone else’s work, which strenthens your relationship with other experts.
      I’ve shared tips only about social media posts and it doesn’t really take a lot of time to come up with a tweet. I definitely agree that producing content takes a lot more time and is nowhere near 30 minutes a day 🙂

  7. Sam

    Thanks for sharing these wonderful tips.30 Mins a day will give many an achievable target to aim at :). Helpful !

    1. Olga Andrienko

      Sam, happy you liked the post! and thank you for leaving your feedback, appreciate it! 🙂

  8. Mahesh Dandyala

    Very helpful tips, Nice article #Olga.

    1. Olga Andrienko

      Manesh, glad you liked the article! thank you for your comment! 🙂

  9. Naman dwivedi

    Hey Olga,
    i am going to try all these methods from my end. superb post i can say.thanks

    1. Olga Andrienko

      Naman, thanks for the feedback! 🙂 happy you’ve found the post useful.

  10. Tanuj

    This is just amazing.What a great schedule for success! Thanks this is going to help me a lot during my exams. Keep it up! Really good 🙂

    1. Olga Andrienko

      Tanuj, great to hear! thank you for the comment! 🙂

  11. Clint Paul

    Wow, amazing post I would say!!
    I didn’t know free marketing tools that you have mentioned here exists.
    🙂
    Thank you so much, I am gonna pocket this one for sure.

    1. Olga Andrienko

      Clint, happy you’ve found the post useful! Thank you for the comment 🙂

  12. Anant Patel

    Hey Olga,

    Happy to see you on shoutmeloud as guest author!! What ever you have share is extremely important to grow your social media marketing. I would like to add one more tips which is time duration of your post. Shedual post through buffer on different time then analyize at which time you will get maximum clicks or response from your followers. Once you are aware of time frame of your visitors and followers you may be get more traffic.

    Thanks for sharing such a valuable information!!

    1. Olga Andrienko

      Anant, thank you! 🙂 Great comment – yes, it’s extremely important to analyse the engagement on your posts and adjust the posting times accordingly 🙂

  13. Deepika Banker

    Hi OLGA,

    First of all thanks for such nice post. I use nearly 1 hour daily for social media promotion of my site. But i guess using above mentioned tools, i can surely reduce it. Thanks a lot for saving time and money 🙂

  14. Rajendra

    Hello Olga,
    This is very helpful things, Thank you very much for sharing this awesome information..

    1. Olga Andrienko

      Rajendra, thank you for the comment! Happy you liked the post 🙂

  15. Gurmeet Singh

    @OLGA ANDRIENKO, Indeed a very Useful Article. Come to know that you have increased social media engagement by 400% in one year along with your team 🙂 May the tips you have listed in this article also helps me to do the same. Thank You very much for sharing such great posts.

  16. CHEN

    Hi olga, Thank You for the Wonderful information. I’am a newbie in SEO but Now I feel much better to work.

  17. vikas

    Hi OLGA,

    It is always helpful to use social media for1 hour or 30 minutes everyday, instead of spending 4-5 hours in a week. Thanks for mentioning some of the most popular social media management tool. I am already using all of these tools, except Crowdfire. But, in near future I will also try Crowdfire in order to get more benefit.

    1. Olga Andrienko

      Vikas, thank you so much for the comment! Crowdfire is the easiest tool with some very cool free features. It helps you grow Twitter and Instagram audience easily and quite fast 🙂 Are there any free tools you use that I have missed?

      1. Mark Middlebrook

        Sorry to point this out but your mini infographic spells Media as Meida.

        1. Olga Andrienko

          Mark, thank you so much for pointing it out! Will notify the editor and send the correct graphic asap!

  18. Aakash patel

    Very helpful and effective article. I am following some tips but after reading this article i know more about social media workouts
    Thanks olga andrienko

    1. Olga Andrienko

      Aakash, thank you so much for the feedback! 🙂 Happy you’ve found the post useful!

  19. Nikhil

    Hi Olga,

    This is the finest article on social media strategy that I read till now. It’s a practical approach that you acquired in the article. Yo represented the steps graphically that help in learning the complete procedure. I going to share it on Facebook. I would love to have more articles from your side. I am confident that by including this strategy I will b able to increase the social media following for my blog.

    Thank you Harsh for publishing this great post.

    1. Olga Andrienko

      Nikhil, thank you so much for the kind words! Glad you enjoyed the post and hope it will help you grow your community and increase engagement! In case you have any questions related to social media, tweet me and I’ll do my best to help 🙂

  20. siddharth

    Well you share a such a great thing it will save a lot of time. Time saving secret trick you share. Thanks will surely try this.

    1. Olga Andrienko

      Siddharth, thank you for the comment! I am so happy to hear the tips I have shared will help you save time! 🙂

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