Image courtesy of Milos Milosevic’s photostream
This is not a time to be bashful if you are uncertain or confused about social media. What is it? Who does it? And why it is even done? These are the three most important questions no one wants to ask but everyone should.
Here are three basics to help you feel at ease.
1. What is it?
The discipline of social marketing is pretty black and white. Every action on a social channel should connect to your company’s key goals. There is no need for grey-area fluff because the content or engagements you provide should be in line with what you are trying to achieve – brand recognition, promoting a product, selling your company’s culture to potential hires, etc. Whether through original, curated or sponsored content, your social media activities should help drive communications to specific goals.
Take it to the next level tip: Why not consider what these specific goals would look like if achieved, and measure yourself against that. For example, if you want to improve the “fit” of interview candidates filtering through the hiring process, could you change your content to help job seekers choose your company?
2. Who Does It?
Everyone should!
That’s the short of it. Whether you have different employees managing various social accounts, or a central community manager, the content that is shared is reflective of the company and should be consistent. Keeping track of your social media is just as important as planning it out because it helps your audience build a clear picture of who you are and why that matters to them.
Take it to the next level tip: Why not draft out the goal or plan of individual social channels to make sure that each stays true to its purpose but still fits within the bigger-picture?
3. Why do it?
Organic audience growth and cross-promotion are the key benefits of engaging in social media. So is being competitive and relevant. In a realm where consumers communicate freely with organizations (including your competitors), offering clear and simple social media communications or advertising pays off. Set some ground rules to help you balance your content calendar between selling/self-promotion, industry information and research, or other desired content focus. This will go a long way in managing social media efforts.
Take it to the next level tip: Why not kick your content calendar up a notch by setting goals for the type of content you want to push or promote? Also, take a lunch break and analyze what is working/failing for competitors.
Source: If You’re Confused about Social Media Marketing – 3 Questions to Ask
