Social Media Management: There's More Involved Than Simply Posting

When it comes to social media -- like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, what do you think about? The first thing that comes to mind is probably posting updates, pictures, and videos. However, with social media growing, there is a lot more to it than just simply posting. This is particularly true if you want to see results from the business aspect of it all.

As a Social Media Manager, if you are only posting to social media, then you need to realize that there are a number of things that you can be doing to help your company. In fact, here are 10 different things that you need to add to your social media to-do list right now if they aren't currently on it:

#1. Come Up with a Strategy.

Prior to doing anything on social media, it is imperative that you develop a detailed strategy for social media. This strategy needs to outline your goals that you want to achieve, including increased sales, increased website traffic, more brand awareness, etc. In addition, the strategy needs to outline what needs to be done in order to achieve these goals.

#2. Give Your Branding an Update.

Take a look at your existing branding. Has it been this way for years? Does it still work? Is it clear and consistent, especially across all marketing platforms and social media channels? Make sure that your company's logo is used as profile pictures and that your cover images display your business unique selling point, or USP.

#3. Add Structure with a Calendar.

Things can quickly get out of control if you don't have a lid on things. So, to help add structure to your social media posts, try to keep track of this and that and when and where by having a monthly calendar. This calendar will help make sure that you keep your posts consistent across all social media channels and you can double-check, and even triple-check, for mistakes before you actually post.

#4. Consider Scheduling in Advance.

While it would be nice to be able to manually post all of your posts when they needed to be posted, this just isn't a feasible task. Sometimes you need to take the kids to soccer practice or you get caught in a meeting that you simply can't get out of. Whatever the case may be, you need to get a post made and you can't get to a computer to make it. Luckily, there is technology that allows you to schedule your posts in advance to post when you want them to (at a later time). This saves you time and ensures your social media is still being taken care of. For example, you can schedule the entire day's posts at 6 a.m. in the morning and not to have to worry about your social media account for the rest of the day, yet your followers will see posts being made at 10 a.m., 2 p.m., 4 p.m., etc.

#5. Always Respond to Customer Comments.

It may seem like a headache to take the time to talk to your followers, but you have to remember that they are your customer base. They are what keep you in business. Some of them are previous or current customers, and some of them are potential customers. Therefore, you need to do what you can to keep or make them happy. This includes responding to comments and messages as quickly and efficiently as possible. You can use sample responses saved in a spreadsheet to help make the process smoother and faster, but it is important that you personalize each response so that it doesn't appear that you don't care about your customers.

#6. Manage All of Your Followers.

When you have a decent amount of followers on your social media accounts, it can get pretty difficult trying to keep track of them all. However, Twitter makes it pretty easy to put them into categories with their lists. For example, you can make a list of customers, industry news, thought leaders, influential bloggers, etc. from the local vicinity. These lists can then be added to various tools like Hootsuite, which will allow you to easily and quickly monitor what's being posted so that you know when there is an opportunity for you to engage.

#7. Make Use of Advertising.

While you could make things easy on yourself and let people find your social media page naturally, you may want to consider making use of an advertising campaign to increase the chances of your page getting noticed. You will first need to determine a budget, define your target audience and then regularly monitor the adverts. Ultimately, though, the more that you put into this type of campaign, the more that you will end up getting out of it.

#8. Consider Running Some Competitions.

Competitions won't be suited for every single business out there, but it could be right for yours -- and they're extremely popular right now on social media. They can help you get a boost in the number of followers that you have, increase your overall engagement levels, and even help you build up your e-mail database. Before you get started with it, though, make sure that you read through the promotional guidelines.

#9. Develop Reports on a Monthly Basis.

Since you have developed a strategy and have been working toward achieving the goals that you defined, you want to make sure that your strategy is actually on track. To do this, you need to create reports on a regular basis. Usually, every month is a good timeframe for developing these reports. This provides you with ample opportunity to review what happened and to see where you can improve over the next month.

#10. Always Stay Abreast with Developments in Social Media.

Like all forms of technology, social media is always changing. Therefore, it is imperative that you stay current with all of the latest developments, including new features, tools, best practices, and search algorithm updates.

For more information on social media networking and how it can help your business be successful or to hand over the reins on social media management, contact us here at WebDetail.