There is no way to automate some things while keeping them authentic and engaging. Brian G. Peters on his medium.com blog tells us what and why. Many social media and marketing strategies have a big, long-term impact, but they simply aren’t scaleable for a small social team or a team-of-one. But they help to create an engaged and loyal audience. One that will continue to grow over time through word-of-mouth. Here’s three of them.

One-on-one interactions.

One powerful way to grow and develop long-term, loyal customers who spread the word about your brand or product is through one-on-one interactions on social media. I.e., Reaching out to and personally saying hello to the folks who have invested their — time, money, effort — in you.

That takes of a ton of time. Responding to comments, asking questions, recording a quick video, and actively searching out people who may be interested in what you have to offer is a long-term play.

But the people that you take time to develop relationships with are the ones who will eventually do the marketing for you through word-of-mouth.

But in terms of time-efficiency, I’d put this one towards the bottom.

Video content.

Those of you who have dabbled in creating videos before know that this is one of those marketing strategies that takes time and resources (brainstorming, money, equipment, personnel, expertise, etc.)

Video has exploded on the social media scene over the last few years and many marketing leaders believe it will make up most of what we interact with on social media in the coming years.

The challenge is that if you don’t have a “video team” or the money to hire an outside video firm, you’re left with only one option…. You!

Something like 83% of marketers say that they want to create more video in 2016, but again, in terms of time-efficiency, video creation is a tough one to justify.

Content curation.

I’m a big believer in the fact that there’s great content out there to share for everyone. Whether you’re a brand with an stunning product that’s easily marketable or one with a “boring” product, if you look hard enough there’s always an angle.

Therein lies the trickiness. Finding the time to find that shareable content.

The beauty of curation done right is that it alleviates the necessity to constantly create incredible content on your own.

If you look at any big publisher like let’s say Fast Company or Inc. or Forbes, they’re masters of content curation. They’ve built their entire businesses on finding and curating the best content from writers around the world.

As marketers, we’re all mini curators.

“As marketers, we’re all mini curators. Always on the hunt for the best of the best.”

Always on the hunt for the best of the best.

And that takes time.

Thanks, Brian!