Most organizations use social media in some way to connect with their communities. Rightfully so. 50% of consumers surveyed by PwC are using social media more now than before social distancing practices were put into place. This is a great opportunity to put your brand in front of consumers, just be thoughtful about where you do it.
It is really easy to set-up a new social media account. It's so easy that it is misleading for the amount of actual time you need to dedicate to a social media account in order to keep it engaging and meeting your goals.
So please, before you start a new social media account for your organization, take these 3 steps:
1. Do your research - It's common to get caught up in wanting to get involved in the newest social media craze. Before you do, put in some research to find out if the people you are targeting are actually using that social media platform. And write down your goal for the social media channel. Are you using it to drive leads? Are you using it to tell your brand story? Use that information to determine where you focus your social media. For a company trying to generate new leads from business professionals, LinkedIn makes sense. 690 million professionals are on the platform and it was rated the #1 social network for lead generation.
2. Create your content ahead of time - It takes time to develop engaging content to share in social media. People are drawn to images, videos, and posts that will help them learn something. Before you open a new account, I urge you to create a month's worth of content for the platform. It is a good way to ensure you have enough to say and share. And it will help you understand how much time you will need to carve out to maintain it once you are live.
3. Dedicate resources - To point #2, running a social media account is a team effort. It helps to have one person as the point person for managing the social media account who brings people in to help. You will need people to cover the following roles: coming up with ideas for what to share, creating the graphics and written content you share, actively managing the community and replying to your followers, reviewing your analytics to make sure what you're doing is helping you reach your goals.
Social media is a valuable channel for most organizations to use. It's to your advantage to be smart about how you use social media and to plan ahead so that you're setting up yourself up for success.
