While you were busy managing the day to day operations of your small business, solving the most recent problem and handling the latest curve ball thrown at you, the rest of the world was getting more technologically savvy.

Here are some staggering numbers:

• 225 million people in the US use mobile devices. (Source: Business Insider)
• Facebook has 1.06 billion monthly active users. (Source CNET)
• There are 343 million Google+ users and more than 200 million active twitter users. (Source:Digital Marketing Ramblings)

Yet, the number of small businesses using social media continues to hover at about 47%. 

If those numbers aren’t enough to convince you that it is finally time to jump on the social media bandwagon, here are 4 more reasons:

1. Your customers are using social media. (See numbers above.)
2. It’s inexpensive.
3. It’s easy to use.
4. It doesn’t have to take a lot of time.

Those first three reasons require no action on your part. Your customers use social media whether you do or not. It’s inexpensive whether you do it or not. And, it’s easy to use, whether you do it or not.

That leaves the last reason, number 4: It doesn’t have to take a lot of time.

For many people, social media sites are a real time suck, but those people don’t manage their time very well.

You can do it with 15 – 30 minutes a day. You can break up that time throughout the day, too.  A few minutes in the morning while you’re having coffee, a few more minutes during your lunch break and maybe a few more at some point before you go to bed.

I know, I know! You are, at this very moment, shaking your head, thinking it just can’t be done! There aren’t that many free minutes left in your already too busy day!

But, here’s what I tell my clients when I hear that argument.

Done correctly, that 15-30 minutes will be the most productive business minutes of your day.

Honestly, where else could you spend so little time to interact with so many people, tell them about your products, services and weekly specials, provide customer support, build community and create loyalty, with so little overhead cost to you?

I’ll concede that learning how to handle your social media marketing is like learning any other new application; initially it is a time consuming and daunting task, but, it gets much easier once you have learned the skills.

Hiring a social media management company to set up your social media accounts and then teaching you how to effectively market your brand yourself is an inexpensive, less labor intensive way to get started. And, it is what I recommend to people that manage their time well, understand their marketing needs and are willing to allot a minimum time each day to their social media marketing.

Another relatively inexpensive alternative is to outsource all of your social media management needs. The company you hire sets up your accounts and markets your brand on your behalf.

Regardless of which method you chose to get started, consulting with a social media management company will save you time and money by helping you define your marketing goals and choosing which social media communities are best suited to meet your needs.