Social media platforms have quickly taken over as one of the key ways people communicate in the business world. The responsibility of managing a company’s or an executive’s multiple accounts often falls on PAs, but it’s no easy task. Here, Getting Smart’s marketing and communications manager Catherine Wedgwood gives her top tips for keeping it simple.
Be realistic
The internet is a 24/7 world, but you’re a human being who needs downtime and sleep. Luckily, businesses understand social media better than they used to and the idea that you have to respond to everything within seconds is out dated.
There are also brilliant tools available to step in while you’re taking a break. Programmes such as Hootsuite allow you to schedule Tweets, Facebook posts and LinkedIn updates to go online automatically so you can set them up during work hours and leave technology to do the rest. However, it’s important to consider whether sending out posts every hour of every day. Even considering multiple time zones, will your audience be checking your pages in the middle of the night? Use analytics tools to learn how your audience interacts on social media.
Be strategic
This goes hand-in-hand with being realistic. Dig deeper in your analytics to find out what works for your brand. If the majority of your audience spends time on Twitter, focus your efforts on growing there and less time on platforms with smaller numbers of followers. That being said, it’s important that if you have a presence on multiple platforms you don’t abandon one in favour of another. Keep up to date on all of them.
Be informed
Watch out for trends, but be careful which ones you buy into. New social media tools pop up all the time, but not all of them stick around for long. Research each new tool and see how others are using it, then discuss with your boss whether it’s worth having a presence and what you can do with it. Sign up for social media updates that will allow you to stay in the loop, such as the Social Media Examiner.
Be collaborative
Chances are your entire team is on social media in their personal lives, so it’s important to get them on your side. Their friends and family are a new audience and your colleagues have a better chance of reaching them. If they’re looking out for opportunities to re-share loved ones’ posts, it’ll make your results grow with little effort on your part.
It doesn’t stop with your colleagues either. Seek out educational professionals, thought leaders and social media gurus and share their insights with your audience. Eventually people will catch on to the fact that you’re sharing knowledge and your followers will grow.
Be authentic
Avoid silliness on social media, but have professional fun with your company’s voice. People enjoy reading posts that are informative yet simple and don’t sound stiff and formal. Use that to your advantage, unless of course your company does have a serious voice. It’s important to understand your brand’s voice so you can structure posts to properly engage with your audience.
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