How to reach out to Max Branstetter:

With social media becoming so widespread among the general population, digital marketers have begun appreciating its potential value as a marketing tool for businesses.

Max Branstetter, host of the Wild Business Growth Podcast at Hippo Direct, believes social media can be a powerful marketing tool if businesses understand how to utilize it properly. An expert in social media marketing, Max has developed his own archetypal social media networking strategy, dubbed the 1-Hour Social Media Strategy.

Social Media Networking Strategy:

Social media networking as a practice may have emerged years ago when ambitious marketers came across early online platforms, but strategists continue to refine it for efficiency and effectiveness. Max was inspired to look into the practice when digital strategist Gary V. began sharing his formula for successful social media networking.

This plan outlined a systematic method for marketers looking to grow an Instagram following and enhance their brand’s reputation. Gary V. encouraged marketers to reach out and leave their “2 cents” in the form of a comment to the top nine posts for ten separate hashtags throughout the day. According to Max, this type of social media networking can take up to three hours every day.

Although this structured method to networking may work well with the Instagram algorithm, most marketers do not have nearly enough time to dedicate to following it each day. To combat the time-consuming nature of Gary V.’s social media networking strategy, Max began thinking of ways he could improve its efficiency and reach.

Max’s 1-Hour Social Media Networking Strategy

Max realized that a strategy can only be successful if it is also simple enough to carry out. In developing his 1-Hour Social Media Strategy, Max set out to create a plan that the average marketer could implement for effortless, meaningful results with no monetary cost or investment.

The strategy aims broadly to grow a following, enable business networking, encourage engagement from other social media users--including industry influencers--, and ultimately, impact sales conversions.

Max’s social media networking strategy splits across three primary platforms: Instagram, Twitter, and FaceBook. For each platform, Max suggests allotting a certain amount of time to social media networking tasks, adding up to a total of one hour each day.

1. 30 Minutes of Instagram Social Media Networking

To kick off with social media networking, consider spending about 30 minutes each day on Instagram. In his 1-hour model, Max suggests reserving the largest chunk of time for Instagram networking because engaging effectively through the platform requires more time and effort than other sites. While using Instagram, marketers should consider the following rules:

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Follow Individuals and Businesses Relevant to Your Business

It matters who you follow on Instagram. For greater social media networking success, consider following profiles of those you aspire to be like professionally, those you hope to partner with in the future, and those with like-minded messaging to their followers.

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