By Deanna Ferrari
Ask any social media “expert,” and they will tell you that listening is the first and most important thing to do when entering the world of online communications. Recently, public relations pro Sarah Evans wrote the blog post “Tips for building a small business social media strategy” with quotes from Chris Brogan, social media advisor and author, and Scott Monty, head of social media at Ford Motor Company. They both stressed the value of listening. But what if you’ve mastered the art of listening and have the context and conversation to execute – what’s next? The simple yet other critical component of social media: maintenance.
Imagine buying a beautiful, healthy plant. Now imagine not giving it adequate sunlight or water. What happens? It dies. A simple concept, yet so many “newbies” jumping into social media for their businesses fail to see the connection between a plant and say, a Twitter page. You set it up, you see where your audience is, you have a plan, then all of a sudden it’s six days later and you’ve only sent one tweet. Then you wonder why no one is engaging in dynamic dialogue with you and you haven’t gotten any sales leads.
One concept we stress with our clients at WordWrite is the importance of maintenance when it comes to social media. Step one is developing a weekly guide. This guide is essential in gaining success from a social media channel such as Facebook. The guide outlines how many times per day or per week you’d like to make updates, and includes a plan to reply to comments and tweets. That way, you develop a schedule and get into a routine that grows your social media profile. Another important component is keeping your content relevant. You may have done initial research, which is good, but ongoing research is key. Set aside a few hours per week to not only maintain your social media presence, but to also see what your audience is saying across all the channels in which you or your organization participate. You can use some of that time to research industry news and trends to post articles and add value to the conversation. Also, see what others are doing to gain valuable ideas of what works, what doesn’t, and what you might be able to do for your own network.
As Chris Brogan also says, now you’re ready to lay the framework down. And remember: Without maintenance, neither your plant nor your Twitter page will be able to grow.
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Deanna Ferrari is an account executive for WordWrite Communications
