Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. LinkedIn. Pinterest. It seems that the list of social media is ever growing. It’s no secret that social media is a key aspect of a successful marketing strategy, but just how much time should a business be devoting to these platforms?

No one will argue that having your message tweeted or liked by followers can greatly improve your website rankings, not to mention general brand awareness.

However, with the dynamic platform of the Internet, content is consistently changing daily — sometimes even hourly! For your commercial real estate business to be successful, you must be consistently adding to the information to which potential clients are being exposed. If you are not frequently contributing to the vast vortex of the social media web, you will soon be left standing alone, while your competitors are running towards the finish line.

So, back to the original question. Just how much time should a business be spending on social media?

There is no clear cut answer. It all depends on your business goals. But generally, social media strategy boils down to five key components:

Creating original content (such as blog posts). Scheduling and sharing that content. Consistently monitoring various social media platforms for brand mentions, as well as to gain more insight about your target market. Interacting with your current community by answering and asking questions, and following up on conversations. Growing your reach by reaching out to potential clients, interacting in groups, forums and through comments, etc.

Let’s think about how this might look in a typical week. Pretend that you’ve already written your content. Your weekly social media schedule might look like this:

Monday – Friday: 8:30 – 9 a.m.: Schedule and share your original content, being sure to focus on the times when your ideal clients are online (2.5 hours per week).

Monday – Friday: Noon – 12:15 p.m. and 4:15– 4:30 p.m.

Communicate and post to primary social media platform (2.5 hours per week)

Monday – Friday: 3:30 – 4 p.m.

Engage in reach growing activities (2.5 hours)

Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 3 – 3:30 p.m. and Tuesday, Thursday: 9 – 9:15 p.m.

Review mentions and gain insight on your target market (2 hours per week).

Friday: 4 – 4:30 p.m.

Review your goals. Analyze what worked well and what didn’t. (30 minutes)

The above schedule takes about 10 hours a week to perform, minus the time for content creation. This is only a sample, and could vary greatly, depending on your particular marketing plan. The key point is that you must be spending time on social media everyday in order to leverage the various platforms in an effective manner.

If the above schedule sounds overwhelming, perhaps this is where a virtual assistant could help. Capable commercial real estate virtual assistants offer full service marketing services that specialize in social media strategy. Not only can they help you focus your social media efforts, but they can create and schedule content, monitor social media in your industry, as well as implement plans to grow your reach.

While social media has become a crucial part of the best marketing plans, it doesn’t necessarily have to be the most time-consuming. By clarifying your goals and seeking the help of social media experts, you can see growth in your business in less time than it takes to “Like” this post.