Seven Steps to Get More from Your Social Media Efforts

Social Media - it's everywhere!

Both large and small organizations use social media. Large companies are most visible and usually use multiple channels, but small businesses are active as well – in fact, over 41% of small businesses use Facebook to support their marketing efforts.

And no wonder -- social media can be used for both outgoing and inbound communications. Organizations can listen and monitor for customer service and public relations feedback as well as communicate and engage their target market.

But you may have noticed that some organizations get more out  of their efforts than others. Their audience likes, shares and comments more often, resulting in greater awareness and better connections.
 
What are the keys to these successful social media programs?

 1) Specific Goals
First, these organizations are not just "doing" social media. They start with objectives that are aligned with organizational goals and values.  Social media is often used to support specific objectives, like growing awareness for a new offering, communicating brand and organizational values, or supporting recruitment. 
 
2) Audience Knowledge
The program is built on knowledge of the target customer and what interests them.

• Who they are – demographics, interests
• Where they gather information
• Who influences them

 Using this knowledge assists your social media program in creating content that offers your audience value, which leads us to #3.

3) Offers Value
Social media should include information and topics of interest to engage. Posting information that is entertaining, or that customers might not find elsewhere (like exclusive notices of sales or coupons), and encouraging interaction is key. These organizations think of social media as  a conversation with their followers rather than a sales announcement tool. With social media, you have to earn your following, so any sales messages have to be subtle and sprinkled through the other messages – less than 20% of the content. 
           
4) Prioritized Tactics
Successful social media programs take time and consistent effort to build a following. To maximize resources, efforts are focused on channels that appeal most to the target market and fit the organization’s content. They try to be where the potential market is, but don’t try to be everywhere!  Better to excel at two channels than have a scattered presence on five.

• For example, a business that generates visual content and markets to primarily female consumers (like a florist or wedding venue) might focus on Pinterest and Instagram as primary channels. They might also post their pictures on Facebook, as it is still a great way to communicate with consumers, but due to changes in the algorithms, it's challenging to grow a Facebook page without a budget for ads.

 
5) Team Effort and Coordination
Coordination helps get the best out of social media. For small business as well as larger ones, a designated team and coordinated calendar are essential. Planning consistent messaging across platforms, knowing in advance of events and other initiatives, leveraging the following on one channel to point to content on another, and having a reliable source of fresh content are benefits of a well-coordinated team.
 
 6) Clear Guidelines
Many industries have regulations and restrictions on what can be made public. In addition, it is a good idea to have ground rules that employees may refer to when posting or re-posting/retweeting information about the organization. 
 
7) Measurements, Analysis and Adjustments
Success social media efforts are tracked and measured so they can be continually improved.  Simple measures like shares, likes, retweets and comments can indicate engagement.  A growing number of followers can indicate awareness.  Depending on the goals, there are other measures as well:

• If you’re tweeting a link to a white paper or ebook, you can measure how many views to the landing page as in addition to the number of downloads. 
• If your organization is sponsoring an event and offers discount tickets or a special code on social media, a goal can be set for a number of link clicks and redemptions. 

Great social media programs have their finger on the pulse of the audience and stakeholders. Feedback collected from customers and employees is used to refine the content and can be valuable to marketing and business growth decisions.

Thanks for reading!  How does your organization run their social media programs?  What have you found that works best? 

If you have questions or would like to explore team-based social media marketing, please contact us. 
 
 Image credit:   John Atkinson's Cartoons

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