Olivier Choron
In the world of social media, staying on top and being the best are the main aims I’m sure you all have. Easier said than done, right? In an ever changing arena, with the likes of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn regularly updating and adding new features to their networks, keeping up to date with these changes can be a little tricky to say the least. And that’s not even taking into account the thousands of best practices released every day.
So instead of providing you with a best practice, I thought I’d try something slightly different and share a social media checklist. See how this compares to your current efforts. And when you’re done with that I would suggest completing this social media survey to see for yourself how you compare against competitors. Let’s begin…
✔ I have a personal social media account – check
Why it’s important: I’ve started with an easy one here, but to really stay on top of the ever changing social media space, I would highly recommend signing up to the social networks which specifically are appropriate to your industry. Not only will this ensure you are always monitoring the latest changes, but it also means you can examine what works and what doesn’t. There’s no better way to learn than to try it yourself.
Also if you are sharing industry content, by having your own account you can become a recognised thought leader, and you honestly will be surprised with the amount of interest you will receive.
✔ I share content at certain times – check
Why it’s important: I’m not going to start suggesting appropriate times, days or even how many times you should share your content, because it all depends on your industry. But what I will say is ‘post the least to LinkedIn and the most to Twitter’ (posts are easily lost on Twitter). My best advice for you is to test when the best time is for you. Only then will you know what works and what doesn’t.
✔ Social selling is implemented into my organisation – check
Why it’s important: If you’re not already doing this, well it’s about time you started. It’s a trend many brands have radically benefited from. Whether that be because your sales team can be accountable for the leads they generate through social media or because you have dramatically increased your reach.
There are numerous ways to achieve this, but firstly you need to work on sharing relevant content your audience is going to be interested in. This will increase your potential reach and also drive brand awareness. Many organisations such as Westcon have taken this one step further, and are promoting their offerings through their partners, generating 63,000 clicks on social media. This is through using a social media collaboration software, socialondemand® to share their content. This has allowed their message to remain consistent and also simplifies the task for their partners.
I would highly recommend investing in a social selling program to ensure this transition process is configured in the best possible way. Still not convinced? Register for this webinar to learn the real ROI from social selling, plus tips on how to successfully set this up.
✔ Employee advocacy is encouraged – check
Why it’s important: This is another fantastic way to increase your potential reach. Just have a think about it for a second… nearly all of your employees I am sure will have their own social media account right? Depending on the network, they will probably have a mixture of both personal and professional relationships with their connections.
Just think if your message could be shared with all of these, your content would resonate so much further. This is exactly what another one of our clients F5 successfully implemented. Their posts now reach 2.4 million connections every day. This is just from the simple act of sharing content through employees. Unbelievable, I know!
It’s all very well and good sharing content to your employees, but it’s not as easy as that I can assure you. Training and incentives are pivotal to allow successful adoption to occur.
✔ I localise all my content – check
Why it’s important: If you’re planning to attract consumers in geographical locations other than your own, I would highly recommend you translate all of your content, as well as schedule social media posts to appeal to their time zone. Yes it may be expensive translating all of your content, but it is unlikely they will truly engage with your brand if you don’t. Consumers are also more drawn to companies in the same country as them. It makes them feel more secure with their purchase. If you want to compete in this market and are expecting great results this is just something you will have to do.
So are you up to speed with the latest social media gems, or has this list outlined areas to improve your efforts? There is no better way to really determine how well you are doing against your competitors, than by completing a survey, where the results will be sent to you. Ta dah! Enjoy! Complete now.
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