While giant companies have more resources to invest in their social media programs, mid- and small-businesses often struggle to find their way on social media. They know they need a presence, but what to post, how often to post and who should manage the care and feeding of the social engines can be a mysterious black box.
These Top 7 Tips can help you refine your social strategy, and if you need help with yours, just let us know. We can do a social media assessment and help you refine your program.
1. Start with a strategy
Even if you have an intern or a recent college graduate managing your social media program, they need to have a high-level strategy to help serve as a guide. Considering the cadence, type of posts, voice of the organization and response tone are critical factors to clarify for the team.
2. Plan for crises
How you plan to handle crisis needs to be understood as well. The person managing your social media engines likely will be one of the first to know a crisis is brewing as negative comments and reviews likely will show up in their Inbox first. Knowing how you will comment, sanitize and alert the chain of command are important to know before there is an actual crisis to manage.
3. Be consistent
Social media can be like getting a free puppy. If you don’t feed and care for it, it dies or makes you inadvertently look “dead.” Thriving organizations show up consistently in their network feeds and have lively engagement. However, spacing posts can be helpful versus having a dozen posts one day then nothing for a week or two. Using a social media management software can help you maintain the consistent drip feed.
4. Include pictures and videos of REAL people
While showcasing products and leadership expertise can be an excellent way to get started, eventually you will need to show REAL people benefiting from your product and services. If you are a healthcare provider, you may need to secure a signed HIPAA authorization form, but the extra effort will be well worth it as you use your social media to attract more people to you.
5. Be creative
In a social media feed, you are competing for their time, so including a novel picture, concept or a tip list that’s quick to read can help grab attention for just a few more precious seconds. If you don’t have access to any cute babies, puppies or grandmas, consider graphics that have a little quirkiness to them or are bolder that can stand out.
6. Run a contest
People LOVE winning prizes, and the adage “what you pay for grows” holds true here too. If you need more submissions from your team, hold a contest. If you need more followers, hold a contest. The prize doesn’t have to be big either. A $10 coffee shop gift card can suffice, and then you get the added bonus of posting the winner receiving their prize to generate a second round of engaging activity.
7. Encourage employee engagement
Your employees can be your biggest champions, so encouraging them to post a review or follow your social media feeds and interact can be your lowest hanging engagement fruit. If you have a regular team call or meeting, pointing to a recent social post that everyone should follow and like or share can be the gentle nudge needed to encourage engagement.
Hopefully, these tips will help you make your social media program more social, but if you find yourself a little overwhelmed, contact us to help you assess, refine and put a more effective social media program in place today.
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