Social media is time-consuming. Marketing departments have so many other things going on; finding the time to define and implement a social media marketing strategy can be difficult. However, it's becoming more of a necessity, so what can you do?

1) Time. Put a daily time commitment in place for social media, so that it becomes part of your everyday routine. Whether this is 15, 30 or 60 minutes - depending on what you want to achieve. Block out the time, set a reminder, whatever you need to do to make sure you actually do it.

2) Simplify. Put a realistic plan in place of the key things you want to achieve through social media marketing. As you would any other marketing strategy, make this realistic. 

3) Tools. Some people's sole job is to monitor social media. As part of a wider marketing strategy, no one can expect you to do it all yourself. Maximise the time time you do have and implement tools that can help you save on time and use it efficiently. There's hundreds out there, so you can find the best one to suit you. 

Following these simple steps will put you on the right track for social media marketing. If anything, social media's importance in the marketing landscape is only going to grow, so make time for it now before it's too late.