Social media, how much time can it really take? A post here and there to Facebook, a tweet a day. Easy peasy…right? We tell our clients that you get out of it what you put in it.
Let’s take Facebook for example. We recommend that you post once a day, which is not a lot. Consistency helps retain interest. If you’re a nonprofit you might consider less. You can handle that, right? It is also important to remember that people don’t respond to ‘push’ marketing. Why would they choose to engage if all you are going to talk about is yourself? We liken it to the new mom on Facebook that posts a kajillion photos a day of their child and let’s you know as soon as they have had a bowel movement…no one cares. No. One. What “just posting” does not take into consideration is monitoring, responding, interacting with other business/fans, networking, fact checking, creation of ads, events or offers. If you are putting content out there, you are doing so to inform and interact with an audience. Depending on what your business is, it won’t always be positive. Thought then needs to go into, how you or other page admins will respond. Do you have a strategy in place? Messaging? Complaining on social media happens to be the preferred method of whining these days as instead of reaching one person in customer service, you have just influenced the entire interweb! It’s no longer a secret.
How are you handling researching topics and content copywriting? Did you track all of those URL’s so you can figure out what people are reading and what they are not? What platform are you using for moderation of comments? Oh yeah, still more time must be spent interacting with other businesses, crafting creative messaging, developing contests, offers or events. You’re keeping track of all of this right?
Did it seem like I was just speaking a foreign language? I know, it’s more than you thought. That’s okay. So, how much time does it take?
Our answer: depends on how successful you want to be and what your goals are-yep, you need those too. We spend A LOT of time managing, creating, implementing and designing social media networks for our clients. Does that mean the client no longer participates at all? Heck no! You are your brand’s most authentic voice. Your participation is critical, but you should also be handling more things around the office I’m guessing than just your Facebook and Twitter streams. When our clients see how easy it is for us, they frequently ask us to take it back. Easy peasy…right?
So are you managing your social media? Or is your social media managing you?
Need help? We heard you. We’ve got this.
