How To: Build Your Best Social Media Team Ever
Listen to Podcast Episode here!
It has been a while since I have shared any marketing or entrepreneur advice, so this month I am sharing with you how to build your best social media team EVER! I have combined professional advice that I have given to three different organizations into one master plan for you. We will go over content planning as well as the main roles that I believe are important to a well run social media team. I have also put together a presentation on this topic, which you can purchase here.
First, I believe that with any good content plan it is best to focus on creating original content whenever possible. The main types of original content to focus on are articles, videos, and graphics. You might think this sounds incredibly difficult, but we really have some awesome tools right at our fingertips that can help make this task surprisingly easy. For articles, almost any website can handle a blog feed that you can use on a regular basis to connect with your followers. For videos, most of you have phones in your pocket right now that are capable of capturing and posting great video. For graphics, I highly suggest using Canva. Canva has templates and elements already in place for you to customize, download, and post!
Posts should be well structured, timely, and relevant. You read that right. No, I didn't just repeat myself. There is a difference between being timely and relevant. It's important to be both on social media. By timely, I mean striking while the iron is hot. I mean posting about a specific topic that is trending right now. By relevant, I mean by making sure the topic you are posting on is actually relevant to your brand and your audience. Doing one and not the other has led to some of the biggest marketing fails ever (just ask Pepsi how their ad with Kendall Jenner went over).
Before each post have your marketing team ask themselves: "Is this post useful? Is this post usable? Is this post understandable?" Again, I didn't accidentally repeat myself. The content you are posting should be useful, but also usable. I am a big fan of providing some kind of tool for your followers that compliments your brand or product.
Let's talk video for just a moment. Social media is especially video driven at the moment. Your videos can be live or pre-recorded, whatever you are most comfortable with. Be mindful of your lighting, sound, and stability when recording. I am a big fan of the Square Jellyfish line of products to help with making videos. When it comes to making videos, keep in mind that the average American attention span is currently 8 seconds. So, you have a very small window to actually grab attention and convince someone to watch the rest of your video. Don't waste your first 8 seconds!
Next, I want to talk about Calls To Action (or CTAs). Traditional CTAs are big buttons on your website. In the social media era, you often have to include your CTA in your post copy or video script. It sounds simple, but so much goes in to making a CTA that actually calls a person to take action. The best piece of advice I was ever given on CTAs is to remember to actually CALL your call to action. There are so many times that I see compelling posts or videos, with no closing call to action. Don't leave your followers wondering, "okay, now what?"
So you've crafted a stellar social media plan, what will it take to actually make it happen? It will take a team. Gone are the days that navigating social media on behalf of an entire organization can be a one person job. I have been on many teams and the roles below are the bare minimum of roles that I believe are needed to be an effective social media team. It's feasible for one person to share a couple roles, but only a couple!
Community Managers: Primarily focuses on groups (members and discussions)
Content Creators: Primarily focuses on scheduling, curating, and creating posts
Subject Matter Experts: Primarily focuses on answering messages and/or detailed questions submitted
Campaign Manager: Primarily focuses on advertising efforts
Social Strategist: Primarily focuses on reporting analytics and overall marketing strategy
Now here are some tips for each role (more tips in the presentation linked above):
Community Managers: Utilize Facebook groups as a way of building a community around your cause.
Content Creators: Start with content already in place and then get creative. Also, try to plan a series of posts vs individual posts.
Subject Matter Experts: Be ready, but wait for your team to ask for your help.
Campaign Manager: Place ads with concrete results (likes, clicks, visits).
Social Strategist: Check your analytics at least once a month and look at at least a month’s worth of data at a time.
For my challenge this month, I want you to tell me your biggest hang up when it comes to social media. Whether you are using it for work, personally, or both. What's your biggest challenge or burning question? Comment below or catch me on Facebook or Instagram, @themamamarketer!
XO - Olivia