Social Media Management

February 2, 2012

Some helpful hints for successful social media management

Businesses are getting on board the social media bandwagon. And good on them! It’s a quick and targeted way to approach customers and potential customers. However, asking the Gen-Y  work experience kid who is forever on their own personal Facebook or Twitter page to implement your business’ social media management activities, is not a good idea…

Social media is a proactive method for keeping top of mind with your target market, and, you want those thoughts to be “Oh they’re great!” and “They’ve got a deal on!” or “They’re the best for quality”. Not “Remember when they tweeted that…”

Cineplex Australia got on board the Twitter bandwagon, and unfortunately didn’t use a filter for tweets, which resulted in crass comments appearing on their website’s featured Twitter feed. They had completely the right idea – displaying public tweets about the movies they were showing at their cinemas, to create excitement and buzz – however no filter meant that anyone and anything could pop up on their website. Twitter is a public forum after all!

To manage your social media, we recommend you:

  1. Hire someone or a company that specialises in community/content management. Community managers oversee all interactions with potential or current customers, positively, and in an engaging way, and, in line with your business’ brand.
  2. Failing that, write a social media policy for your company. This should include who is responsible for social media communication; how often you ‘update’; type of content; what not to post; potential risks, and methodology for responding to crises. Remember what we said here – ask yourself: “What could my worst enemy do with this?” Put your negative pants on and explore all possibilities.
  3. If you’re low on ideas for content, draw up a calendar of public events – Australia Day, Valentine’s Day etc, and identify how your business can relate to each public event. Wild example: You’re a zoo and it’s Valentine’s Day? Post a fun photo of a monkey hugging one of the zookeepers with the heading “We love cuddles on Valentine’s Day!” Get creative!

Still nervous about the risks or what to post on social media? It’s okay. We can manage your social media for you. Get in touch!