The new year always offers a nice clean slate to start anew. Whether it’s that new marketing strategy you are going to implement, or that new person you want to hire – there is something that I love about the new year.
Many of you have chatted with me casually or professionally about your social media strategy – and where you want to take it in 2014.
I want to share with you a few of my tips as you prepare to ring in 2014. Here are a few things to think about as you think about your social media plan for 2014.
- The past does not equal the future. Regardless of what your social media presence was last year, the past does not equal the future. One of the best parts about social media, in my book, is that it doesn’t take much to turn things around. No, there is no magic pill but there are a lot of common mistakes that a lot of people miss – little things that can make a huge difference – like the importance of using a content grid or the importance of having contact information easy to find on all of your social profiles.
- Hire the right people to help. Too many companies try to find the right person at their company to lead social media. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn’t. Hiring for social media is a really unique skill set – it’s finding someone who loves social media, who really understands that it’s not a 9 to 5 job and who understands the balance between appeasing upper management and creating a conversation and an affinity with your customers and clients.
- Stop hiring the youngest person in the room to run social. Just because someone is 19 and on Instagram does not mean they understand what it takes to run a corporate social media campaign. Sure, many 19 year olds are doing an amazing job on social but so are many Baby Boomers. My point here is don’t just assume someone will or won’t be good at social media at your company based on their age – it’s one of the last stereotypes and I hope 2014 we see it fade away!
- Have a plan but know it’s subject to change. You have to have a plan – for some of you that means an outline, others it means a detailed editorial calendar – either way you have to have a plan and make sure it is integrated with your other marketing and/or PR efforts. It can’t exist in a silo. Have a “why” and a reason behind being on social media. How are you going to measure it? Pick a few metrics and stick to them. But remember, part of social media is ‘being in the moment’ – not everything can be planned out – and that is ok.
- Pick two or three platforms and really nail those. I don’t care what anyone says, it is really, really challenging for a small or large company to nail multiple social media platforms if there is only one or two people managing social media. And when I mean “nail” I don’t just mean posting content every day – I mean posting content daily that is relevant to each audience and network as well as engaging and building relationships. Take a hard look at your social networks – where are your customers at? Don’t know – ask them! Use a free tool like Survey Monkey to see where your customers are spending the most time and be there.
If you haven’t downloaded my FREE content grid, click here to download >>
What are your thoughts about your social media strategy as we head into 2014? I’d love to hear from you and would love to know what areas you would love to hear from me on. Leave me a comment below or you can always find me on Facebook or Twitter.
Have a wonderful New Years – cheers!
