6 Steps To Help You Manage Your Daily Social Media Efforts


Social media is a perfect way to engage an audience, create evangelists, build brand awareness, and allow your consumers to be heard, which directly impacts your business. But it also can be vicious "time vortex" that can affect your overall productivity and bottom line. With so much noise, it's easy to get lost. You need to be aware of how far down the "rabbit hole" you are willing to go.

Here are 6 steps to help you manage your daily social media activities:

1. Make tangible goals.
What would you like to get out of social media? Are you looking to engage and convert a target market to paying customers? Would you like to give your consumers a chance to provide real-time feedback, so that you can improve your organization? Are you willing to invest your time developing and implementing a social media strategy? Be sure to write down your specific goals on paper, as this will help you create your social media roadmap.

2. What sites bring YOU value everyday?
I'll use myself as an example. I have chosen 5 blogs that I frequent often for trusted, reliable information on social media. These blogs have proven to be very valuable in my own business. With thousands of blogs out there, it's so easy to get distracted and pulled in every direction. So, by narrowing them down to your top five, you can help reduce the excess noise. Pick them, then stick with them.

3. Choose your tools wisely:
With all the social media sites and tools out there, you need to be selective as to which ones you use. For myself, I use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Wordpress and Blogger on a regular basis. When choosing, look for:

a. Traffic/growth of the site: How many users/visits does the site have
b. Predicted longevity: Is site in for the long haul, or a one hit wonder?
c. Quality of site content: Does it bring you value? Or is it too much of a distraction?
d. Does the site allow me to integrate/aggregate other social media sites, so that I can control my efforts
e. Is my desired target market on that social site?

4. Transparency
Social media has made the world less private. And in business, integrity is everything. Make sure that your online and offline presence are aligned, be who you say you are. Don't try to "fake" social media.

5. Personality:
Don't lose your personality when using social media sites. People want to know they're talking to a real person. This is where automation can be dangerous. If you use or intend to use RSS feeds, or message scheduling, be sure to be able to at least 30 - 60 mins after to respond to others. There is nothing worse than being overrun will automated links and ramblings.

6. Engage others:
This actually should be number one. People like to talk about themselves, so give them a chance to. Keep a healthy balance of how much you talk about yourself, and give others the chance to speak. Think of it as a real live face to face conversation. How many times have you wanted to fall asleep at a lecture? Or how often have you seen someone Tweet, only to not be there when you reply to them? Not cool.

I use a "question of the day" to engage others on Facebook. This gives them the chance to share their opinions, as well as learn a bit about me.

What do you think? Is there anything you would like to add?


No comments:

Post a Comment

6 Steps To Help You Manage Your Daily Social Media Efforts


Social media is a perfect way to engage an audience, create evangelists, build brand awareness, and allow your consumers to be heard, which directly impacts your business. But it also can be vicious "time vortex" that can affect your overall productivity and bottom line. With so much noise, it's easy to get lost. You need to be aware of how far down the "rabbit hole" you are willing to go.

Here are 6 steps to help you manage your daily social media activities:

1. Make tangible goals.
What would you like to get out of social media? Are you looking to engage and convert a target market to paying customers? Would you like to give your consumers a chance to provide real-time feedback, so that you can improve your organization? Are you willing to invest your time developing and implementing a social media strategy? Be sure to write down your specific goals on paper, as this will help you create your social media roadmap.

2. What sites bring YOU value everyday?
I'll use myself as an example. I have chosen 5 blogs that I frequent often for trusted, reliable information on social media. These blogs have proven to be very valuable in my own business. With thousands of blogs out there, it's so easy to get distracted and pulled in every direction. So, by narrowing them down to your top five, you can help reduce the excess noise. Pick them, then stick with them.

3. Choose your tools wisely:
With all the social media sites and tools out there, you need to be selective as to which ones you use. For myself, I use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Wordpress and Blogger on a regular basis. When choosing, look for:

a. Traffic/growth of the site: How many users/visits does the site have
b. Predicted longevity: Is site in for the long haul, or a one hit wonder?
c. Quality of site content: Does it bring you value? Or is it too much of a distraction?
d. Does the site allow me to integrate/aggregate other social media sites, so that I can control my efforts
e. Is my desired target market on that social site?

4. Transparency
Social media has made the world less private. And in business, integrity is everything. Make sure that your online and offline presence are aligned, be who you say you are. Don't try to "fake" social media.

5. Personality:
Don't lose your personality when using social media sites. People want to know they're talking to a real person. This is where automation can be dangerous. If you use or intend to use RSS feeds, or message scheduling, be sure to be able to at least 30 - 60 mins after to respond to others. There is nothing worse than being overrun will automated links and ramblings.

6. Engage others:
This actually should be number one. People like to talk about themselves, so give them a chance to. Keep a healthy balance of how much you talk about yourself, and give others the chance to speak. Think of it as a real live face to face conversation. How many times have you wanted to fall asleep at a lecture? Or how often have you seen someone Tweet, only to not be there when you reply to them? Not cool.

I use a "question of the day" to engage others on Facebook. This gives them the chance to share their opinions, as well as learn a bit about me.

What do you think? Is there anything you would like to add?


No comments:

Post a Comment