A common concern from businesses new to social media is the time commitment involved. Social media doesn’t have to take up your whole day. In fact, we can show you how to spend only 10 minutes a day on Twitter.
Your plan of attack consists of two weapons: Hootsuite and Twitter Lists.
1. Set Up Your Hootsuite account.
Hootsuite is a free social media dashboard. Once you’ve linked your Twitter to Hootsuite, you can add streams, social networks and tabs. Add these streams to your first tab: Scheduled Tweets, Sent Tweets, Mentions, Direct Messages and My Tweets, Retweeted. Simply click “Add Stream” and follow the prompts.
2. Create Twitter Lists
Go to Twitter and click lists, create list. You can thencreate public and private lists to organize the type of content you want to see by topic, user, hashtag, etc. Organize your lists by theme, and choose specific Twitter users to fill each one.
Be sure to create one secret “Important Connections” list that will hold all the smart people you wish to network with on a daily basis. Other list ideas include “Clients,” “Super Fans,” “Industry Leaders,” “Favorite Blogs,” “Social Media Superstars,” “Chefs I love” and the like. Get specific here.
3. Add Twitter Lists to Hootsuite
Create a new tab on your Hootsuite dashboard by clicking the black plus sign. Label it “Important.” This tab will be your second stop in your new Twitter routine. In this tab, click “Add Stream,” then “Lists.” From your lists, choose a few of your most pressing streams, including your “Important Connections” feed.
Create a few new tabs and organize your remaining Twitter lists by topic. Four streams fit in each tab comfortably, but you can add up to ten.
4. Begin Your 10 Minutes A Day on Twitter
Log in to Hootsuite and check your first tab, which includes any mentions or tweets you’ve received. Respond to these first. Now check your “Important” tab. Like, respond to, or retweet anything that interests you from your important connections or your brand’s super fans.
If you have time left over, browse your other streams for fun. The more you practice this routine, the faster you’ll get. If you use relevant hashtags, tweet interesting content, respond to tweets and retweet others, you’ll gain a following with only 10 minutes a day on Twitter in no time.