10 Questions to Ask When Hiring A Social Media Consultant

Today, more than ever, people are leaving in-house marketing jobs, choosing instead to begin their own consulting business. Even I did it. After 12 years in corporate America, working in-house as a Senior Marketing Manager, I chose to break off on my own and open my own consulting company.

There are both pros and cons for small businesses looking to hire a consultant. The pro is that you can find people with years of experience and can hire them as consultants. Not bringing them in-house means you save money on their insurance, bonuses and at times, even equity. The cons come in when you realize there is a lower barrier to entry now; anyone with a personal Facebook page and a large number of Twitter followers can offer their services to you. While they might be more affordable, it is sometimes hard to discern if they have experience building brands, or if they’re simply good at promoting themselves.

Once you decide it is time to outsource, you will want to strongly vet potential consultants and/or agencies. Here are 10 things I recommend you ask or consider:

1.      Can they show you a proven track record? Ask what brands the person or agency has worked with and is currently working with (to ensure they are not working with a competing brand). Don’t be shy about asking for references. Ask about a brand they worked with where something did not work out – how did they handle that? Were they able to quickly adapt and change course? Do they have the necessary experience in your industry to properly advance your business? The more they know about your industry, the less of a learning curve there will be, and the more resources they will bring to your brand. What are their first steps when taking on new clients?

2.      Where can I find current and past examples of your work? Anyone with experience will be readily able to show you a portfolio of work as well as links to initiatives they have run or been involved in creating. Look for campaigns that have been repeated. You know things are working when you keep doing it! Have the campaigns led to brand exposure? Sales leads? Will this experience help your market?

3.      Who will be handling my account and what background does this person come from? The background of each person working on behalf of your brand is important. If you are looking for marketing, PR and/or social media help, you want people that have leveraged those skills working with prior companies. Do these people have knowledge and experience with trends in these areas, or have they recently realized how easy it is to call themselves a consultant and pitch for your business?

4.      How will we track ROI? We know that not everything will have immediately ROI that is trackable when it comes to social media, but most is. You want to know that this consultant or agency isn’t simply looking to add likes, followers or fans, but is actually able to analyze conversion rates. Brands that hire an outside agency will want to know that the agency or consultant is consistently monitoring results, and is being held accountable. You will want to know there is a standard monitoring and reporting process in place that works for both you and the agency or consultant.

5.      What is their process for reporting? How often will you meet with them? How often will you be provided status updates or check-ins? If the agency doesn’t have a method to suggest immediately to you on how they will communicate, it might be a red flag that the agency isn’t as connected with their clients as you will want to be, or that they haven’t even thought of this yet.

6.      What will you do if something goes wrong? How would you handle a social media crisis? Marketing campaigns that look great on paper can go wrong in application, no matter how seasoned the consultant is.  How will they react? How do they respond to negative reviews? Tweets? Negative Facebook comments?

7.      How do they come up with strategic plans? How much does writing content figure into their experience and plan for your business? A good consultant will have a workflow that works for them and you. They will know how to integrate social media with PR and traditional media. They will want to talk to your sales team and find out what plans they have and will know how to integrate them into all they are doing.

8.      How will content be developed? And, will you have to approve all of the content written on behalf of your brand? Will it all have to be planned, or will you trust this person or agency to create on-the-fly content for you? Does this person have the experience necessary to understand the nuances of writing content specific for each platform? Content developed for your brand needs to be likeable and shareable. A consultant or agency should be able to show you examples of previously created content for other clients, as well as their content calendar, or what their content creation process looks like.

9.      What does success look like, and how will we measure it? Brands that are investing in consultants and agencies must have clear goals in mind when starting this process. An agency should be able to help you achieve your KPIs. The consultant or agency you choose will help you establish these KPIs and will (with you) write strategies and tactics to hit those goals.

10.   What will this cost? Outside of the monthly retainer or fee you agree to with the consultant or agency, you want to know that your budget is being kept in mind in all they are doing. Are there going to be additional costs in monitoring brand mentions? What is the process for getting additional budget approved, before this consultant agrees to something? Do they have a plan for ads on Facebook and Twitter? What will that cost?

By no means is this an exhaustive list. Choosing a consultant or agency is a big decision for every brand. You are entrusting your baby to someone outside the “inner circle.” You want to know what influencers they are friends with and for how long, what their personal social media profiles look like, how they conduct their networking…What other questions would YOU ask? Are there any questions you wish you’d asked prior to hiring a previous agency or consultant?

 

 

Tis The Season

Many businesses realize that affiliating themselves with charities are not only a great opportunity to get involved in giving back, but it is also a powerful marketing tactic. The business gets to develop a larger network and it helps others at the same time. Consumers like to associate themselves with businesses that support causes – while they may not have the means to donate regularly to a charity (even if they wanted to) it makes people feel good that they are giving back while purchasing something they need.

This idea is nothing new – the idea of companies “giving back” goes by many different names and uses a variety of marketing slogans: Social Corporate Responsibility (CSR) and “Voting With Your Dollars” are the two I tend to hear most often. Simply put, CSR refers to the idea of participating in initiatives that benefit others.

As a marketing or brand manager, it can be confusing and overwhelming to decide what charity to align with. Once you have done your research and found charities that are worthwhile, transparent with where the donations they receive go and have similar views and visions, how do you pick one? When I do this with clients, I tend to choose charities that I am personally drawn to, and also ones that seem to be close to my consumers’ hearts. It is more important that the chosen charity would be one that my current and target consumers would support, than if I would support it with my own money.

The next criteria to choosing a charity from a brand standpoint, is one that gives the brand a broader reach than they would get on their own, and brings a meaningful and engaged community to your brand. This is a win-win for both you and your charity. Charities, like brands, are interested in building their membership base. Partnering with a charity not only brings their community to you, but it also allows the charity to get their message out to all the people your brand interacts with, with the goal being to bring new members to support them, as well as your brand. Cause marketing is actually no different than any other partnership you might form between your brand a for-profit business. You are looking for another like-minded company, where by coming together, you both will have the opportunity to amplify your messaging with a shared voice.

As you build up the relationship between your brand and the charity you have aligned with, you will want to get in front of the employees that work with the charity and explain your product or services to them. Most charities also have people that follow the charity or support the charity in some way. These people are all target consumers by indirect association. As the relationship deepens, you can look to these people to become brand ambassadors, as their charity will also benefit from your brands success. Perhaps you are donating a specific portion of your brand’s sales to the charity- you can invite the charity to help get the message out that they will be the beneficiaries of sales during a specified time period.

While you are working on a charity marketing initiative, it is important to keep your motives clear. I would suggest that the end goal is always helping people, making a difference.

Building an Authentic Brand

The more time you spend on social media, especially in Twitter chats, the more you’ve heard the term “authenticity” being thrown around. It is often discussed, and we as marketers, are always told that building an authentic brand is the only way for companies to survive in these digital times, but how often do you actually hear people talking about building a strategy around authenticity? I hear people say that to be authentic you have to be honest, but it goes much deeper than that.

Authenticity is a vital component for any brand. It relates to how you are perceived, and how much trust you garner from both potential and existing consumers. What does “being an authentic brand” mean to you? To me, an authentic brand is one that is relatable, doesn’t seem like a large corporate entity but does business on a personal level, and is one that I feel comfortable spending money on because I feel I can trust in the company and the people that make up the company.

 

I know that these days, there are many people and companies that feel you can “learn on the fly” – especially because social media and “new marketing” is ever changing and evolving, but I am a big proponent of putting plans to paper, with goals, strategies, tactics and firm ways of measuring where I (my brand) is at any given time. When I consult with my clients on building an authentic brand, here are a few strategies I suggest starting with:

1.      LISTEN! The only way to connect authentically with your community is to find out what is important to them, who they are, what they value, what they’re looking for. I am a firm believer that if you are truly listening to people, really actively listening (as opposed to listening while thinking of what you’re going to say next) people will tell you everything you need to know. Getting to know people as your brand is no different than getting to know new friends. It is a give and take relationship. How many friends would you keep around you that only talked about themselves, and never asked about YOU or cared what YOU had to say?



Allow people a peek inside!

2.      Don’t Be Afraid to Show Your Brand’s Personality Without the people making up the brand, there is no brand. Consumers are savvy enough to understand that there is someone (or a group of “someones”) behind the corporate handle on social media platforms talking with them and sharing with them. Let people get to know those people “behind the brand.” You have hired them and put them into the position of leading your social media for a reason, and I’m willing to bet it’s because there was something about each of those employees that drew you to them. Let your communities be drawn in by them as well.

 

3.      Use Images Images help people see what it’s like to be a part of your brand. If you post a picture of you in your office, people will be able to have an image in their minds of who they are chatting with each time they see you in their social media streams. People connect easily with images and if you show behind the scene images that instantly helps your brand come off as more authentic, over another brand that hides what is going on behind the curtain.

4.      Keep Scheduled Posts to a Minimum this is a hot button topic in social media these days. I am not a fan of scheduling or automating posts at all, unless it’s for A/B testing. While it might seem more convenient to schedule your posts, so you can get more done, authenticity comes from posting in real time, in my opinion. I believe that if you’ve got the time to talk with people about the posts you’re putting out (and isn’t that the point? Why post something if you don’t want any engagement on that post?) then you’ve got the time to post it, and then respond when people respond to your post.

5.      Be Available Nothing builds authenticity faster than being available for conversations when your community wants to have them. Social media allows you to have honest 1:1 conversations with people, take advantage of that! Even if you only find one person each day to chat with, people will see that you are a brand that cares about people and your community, and perhaps something you say to someone else will make them want to speak with you the next day.



6.      Admit When You’re Wrong There is nothing worse than watching a brand deleting negative comments or avoiding talking about a mistake that was caught by the public. Brands can establish authenticity on social media by immediately taking responsibility for mistakes, being public and open with their apologies and not hiding or becoming overly defensive about their wrongdoing. Depending on the error, you might lose fans or consumers, but I believe you might GAIN fans or consumers by how well people see you owning up to your mistakes and promising to do better moving forward.



7.      Tell (true) Stories Stories help create an emotional connection between your brand and your consumers/community. People trust people, so let your stories not only be about how your company began, but about the people that make up your company. Tell stories that help people relate to your brand, so that they can see how your brand slides effortlessly into their daily lives. The goal is for people to feel that your brand is just like them, has similar values and goals, and makes them feel better about themselves for being a part of your brand story.

A truly authentic brand isn’t born in a day. It takes time, and you will need to be patient and allow yourself the time to create authenticity and trust. The more you understand your consumers and the communities they are a part of, the easier it will become to align your content, messaging and marketing activities to fit with their needs in a relevant way. Embracing authenticity is a long term strategy for brands. Whatever time it takes will be worth it, as you build loyal consumers that want to do business with you for years to come.

Children are great examples of living authentically

10 Ways Brands Are #DoingItWrong On Social Media

There’s a big difference between “being on social media” and “being social on social media.” Just because you are on social media as a brand, doesn’t mean that you can’t still be yourself, and still be social. In fact, I would venture to say that as a brand, it’s even MORE important to be your authentic self, despite being “behind the logo.”

In today’s digital world, social media is often the first experience potential consumers have with your brand. More often than not, they are going to your social media profiles first, before even visiting your website. Knowing how to use your profiles is of utmost importance in getting consumers to get an affinity with your brand. You can build trust through social, and trust leads to lasting, loyal consumers. Unfortunately, many brands are still missing out on this opportunity.

Done right, social media can be a game changer for your business. It can be the difference between a consumer choosing your brand over another similar product. It can be effective in finding your audience, engaging with them, and winning them over. Unless you’re making some very common mistakes.

If you are currently struggling, all is not lost! Let’s look at some common mistakes I see brands making on social media:

1.      Jumping in without a plan: If you are going to do anything ever, you think about it first, right? You want to do something, you have to have a “why” you want to do it, goals on what you’d like to accomplish by doing said idea, and at least some thoughts on how to get there. Without a plan, with realistic achievable goals, how will you know if you’ve done it?

2.      Auto-DMs on Twitter: Don’t. Just don’t do it. Never ever. Send a personal message or don’t send out anything at all.

3.      Thinking “It’s not you, it’s me”: No. It IS you. The collective you. Social media isn’t about you broadcasting your message or talking about yourself 24/7. All your content should be focused on your community, your audience, your consumers, your end users. Think about who you want to reach by using social media and tailor every message to that person. Yes, person – as in, I believe your content should speak to people as individuals, not throwing out words and blogs and tweets and posts en masse. Everything you send out or post should be addressing someone’s needs.

4.      Posting the same message to all social networks: Do all of your friends offline hang out in the same spot all the time? Do you have certain friends you see at some places and other friends you see in completely different places? Social networks are no different – you have different communities on each platform. People like Twitter over Facebook or Facebook over Instagram for various reasons, so you’ll need to tailor your content to each platform. Twitter only allows you 140 characters, but LinkedIn and Facebook don’t set that limit. So why post the same abbreviated content when you don’t have to? If you post the same message everywhere, you’re missing the opportunity to connect with people that don’t respond to certain platforms nuances. Also, why should I follow you on more than one network if I’m just going to see the same message everywhere?

5.      You aren’t responding quickly: When someone takes the time to contact you, whether it be for a positive or negative comment, respond to them. And FAST. I like to keep myself to under an hour as a response time. Social media gives us the idea that someone is monitoring profiles every hour of every day. While that’s not always the case, I’d recommend having part of your plan include a way of monitoring and listening to what people are saying, and developing a way to respond to them in as timely a manner as you possibly can.

6.      You are inconsistent: Consistency relates to quality and trust. Think of your friends – do you have one that you would call “flaky?” Someone that cancels plans at the last minute, doesn’t call or text you back as soon as you’d like them to, or someone you have a great night out with and then don’t hear from for a month? Don’t be that guy on social media. Let your community and consumers know they can rely on you.



This WAS a pretty great snack...

7.      Brands are forgetting to show personality: People respond to people. People are what makes up companies, and people are who is at their laptop or on their phone posting to social media sites. So why do some companies sound robotic? By offering opinions and taking part in conversations, you are able to emotionally connect with people and that will draw them in so they want to do business with you. Post things about yourself, add value to people’s lives. Help them. Answer questions. Be interesting and interested in other people – I promise, they will then be interested in you. This doesn’t mean you should share pictures of your breakfast every morning, but if you have a spectacular pancake, bacon sandwich or green smoothie to share, post it!

8.      Sell! Sell! Sell! No. Don’t. If you walked up to me at a concert I was at, said hello and introduced yourself, that might be enough for us to begin a relationship of some sort. I would realize that we shared common interests, and a simply “Hi! How are you?” would show me you were interested. If you walked up to me at the same concert and introduced yourself, then immediately tried to sell me concert shirts, I’d be pretty turned off. It’s not any different online. Social media isn’t an advertising platform, nor is it a commercial. It’s a…ready for it? SOCIAL NETWORK.

9.      You are expecting overnight success: Does it happen? Sure. But for most of us, building, growing and nurturing communities takes time. Allow yourself that time. I’m willing to bet that your best friends took time to get to know, right? Again, no difference online. Invest the time it takes, it will be worth it.

10.   You tell me! I get all my inspiration from my social media communities – I’d like YOU to tell ME what #10 should be! Tweet me @lucyrk78 and let me know?

7 Simple Ways To Build Trust For Your Brand Using Social Media

Every day on social media you see people talking about the importance of brands learning how to engage with their consumers, be more “human” and above all, be honest and transparent. Think about your life – how long would you stay friends with someone you didn’t trust? Would you continue to keep working on building that relationship? The same goes for brands. In order to grow their consumer base, they must build relationships. And those relationships must be based on trust.

Social media has leveled the playing field, opening up the opportunity for small brands to have the same chance of reaching as wide an audience as larger, more established brands. Trust goes a long way in cutting through some of the “noise” on social media, helping even start-ups gain attention and interest of existing and potential consumers.

Here are 7 ways brands can begin to build trust with their consumers using social media:

1.      Quick and Responsive Communication: If I am happy with a company or a meal or customer service I’ve received, I am more likely to go straight to Twitter with my comment. I am less likely to fill out a comment card. I have my phone with me at all times, so it’s much more convenience to simply pull it out and type out a quick message to the company. Studies show that if someone has a bad experience, they will take to social media first to communicate their complaint. If brands receive a complaint via one of their social media channels, that is a great opportunity to quickly address the consumer, take ownership of the complaint and see what they can do to remedy the situation. I believe that most issues can be resolved and less consumers will be lost if brands do this in less than 5 hours from the time they received the message. This also shows on a larger scale to more people that the brand is listening and concerned with what people are saying. If handled correctly, a well handled complaint can often turn into a great testimonial for the brand.

2.      People Buy From People: People often talk about being the same online as they are offline. In my opinion, that’s the only way to be. You are only one person, and if you are the face behind a brand, you are trusted to be for a reason. There is nothing I can think of that would make a good case for making a different persona online. If you want people to trust your brand as they would a friend, you have to speak with them as if they were your friend. Being yourself on social media also helps in keeping a consistent voice. If you are friendly and engaging one day and the next day you are simply selling your product with every message, people are going to be confused by your messaging and confusion leads to mistrust.

3.      Create More Often Than You Curate: People who are looked at to be thought leaders have many people that trust them. While sharing posts on social media that you have not written is very common, if that is all you are doing, you are essentially showing that your brand has no original ideas of its own. You become more of an echo than someone to be looked to for answers your consumers are seeking. If you aim to truly gain respect and trust, you will need to show you can post timely original content that is relevant to your audience.

4.      Be Transparent: This does not mean you should reveal company secrets, but the more you show you have nothing to hide, the easier it will be for people to trust your brand. A good example would be, if someone posts a complaint on your brand’s Facebook wall, do not simply delete it. Address it, and leave it up on the timeline to show that you have nothing to hide and no matter what, you will listen to what people are saying and will address it.

5.      Be Accountable: We all make mistakes. You may have forgotten to send something out on a certain date, making a shipment arrive late, or you may have tweeted something that perhaps offended people. Don’t ignore or make excuses for these occurrences. Acknowledge that you understand what you have done wrong, and do what you are able to, to right the wrong as quickly as possible.

6.      Be Helpful: Remember, this is not about YOU. This is all about your consumer. By being a member of the community, and using social listening, you will find out what your consumers are seeking to find out, or what questions they may have. This is what should drive your content. Being someone’

7.      Do Not Auto-DM on Twitter: Just don’t do it. No. Matter. What.

These are just a few of many ways brands can build trust on social media. Remember that without your consumers, you don’t have a brand! Focusing on gaining the trust of your community as well as expressing gratitude for that trust will help you develop and deepen relationships, ensuring your business continues to grow.

 

Brands & The Art of Storytelling

 

Brands telling stories is nothing new; what is new is the focus on the concept, with the rise of content marketing and social media. 17 years ago when I first started in marketing and branding, we knew that what we were doing was telling stories, but I’d never seen the term in a marketing plan or strategic document. Today, I hear and see it all the time.

We are more accustomed to seeing brands tell short stories through the use of print, radio and television advertising. There would be a short plot somehow tied to the product (albeit at times a bit too loosely) and the brands would hope we’d quickly connect to the idea or story presented in the ad and remember their product. If the brands were a product that could easily be demonstrated, we would get a bit more robust story of the brand via in person appearances, if the brands were lucky enough to catch our attention as we passed them in say, a grocery aisle.

Storytelling is as old as humankind. Perhaps the first glimpse of it is seen in ancient hieroglyphics, stories depicted as pictures on walls. Fast forward – what would a campfire be without friends sitting around telling stories? We like stories because we can relate to them. We can see ourselves or people we know in them. It shows us that we aren’t all as different as we may appear.

All brands, just like all people, have many different stories to tell. Without those stories, products and brands are just that, but with stories, they become human, living and breathing. Brand stories are often what makes us choose one brand over another with a similar product. If I can see myself using a product, or hear a brand story that shows me how that brand will make my life easier or better, and much more importantly – when a brand reaches out to me and continues a conversation with me, I am much happier choosing them over a competitor. Even if I’ve used another brand for years.

Traditional marketers always needed to rely on their creativity, but didn’t often have to have much in the way of writing skills. That has all changed for today’s marketers. In today’s “new marketing world,” brands often have people with job titles like “Brand Storyteller” or “Creative Content Director.” Does that mean that only those with an MBA in journalism or fiction writing are getting marketing jobs these days? Not at all. Many strong marketers have long realized the necessity of being able to tell a good story (in the true, honest sense) and possess those capabilities. The marketers in highest demand today are those that can find a way to reach consumers through emotional and relatable stories, getting people more involved in the brand through the use of content marketing and social media, as well as finding ways to be involved in the “right” events i.e. right place right time to offer consumers an experience with the brand.  



So many stories to be told!

Are these skills marketers can learn? I believe they are. I think there are certain intrinsic qualities that draw people to the field that most with marketing jobs possess, but I also believe that the right marketer can grow and develop people to find their own strengths in the industry. At the same time, I also fully believe there are certain intrinsic qualities that will prevent certain people from excelling at branding, content marketing and storytelling. If you don’t have the inner knowledge of yourself and ability to be honest, open and at times vulnerable within your community and with your audience, I think you’ll have a hard time connecting with consumers. Brand storytelling is no longer a static ad, it’s a real person standing in front of you, or also sitting in front of their computer engaging with you in real time. If that is hard for you to with people in general, it’s going to be even harder to get people to relate to you and your brand online. That’s not to say you need to be a comedian or constantly “on” with people. It just means that you are going to need to be able to find emotions that live within you that your consumers can relate to.

Is all content marketing storytelling? No, and I believe this is a big misconception some brands are sadly operating under. Sometimes content is there to provide proof, numbers, hard data. That’s not storytelling. There is nothing I can emotionally relate to when just handed numbers. Storytelling on the other hand, is all about emotion, evoking feelings in your community, consumers and potential consumers. Storytelling is both inspirational and aspirational. It is the art of getting someone to want to join your brand’s journey.

How do you know what stories to tell? As with everything else with branding and social media, it will all come through listening to your community. They will tell you what they need, what they want – it’s all of our jobs as marketers to listen to them, and get to know what drives each one of them. This isn’t a one-time thing, you have to be constantly and consistently engaging as a member of those communities to learn as much as you can. Just like people evolve and change and grow and even as they change their minds or beliefs, so must your brand and your marketing and your stories. A good marketer will always be ready to pivot and shift tactics to keep your community and audience inspired and connected.

I’d love to hear what brands you are finding are doing really well with brand storytelling. Tweet me @lucyrk78 and let me know?

Creating A Content Marketing Strategy

No matter what stage in the lifecycle of your brand that you are currently in, you have undoubtedly heard of Content Marketing. You might even already be creating content. Or, you might have recognized the need to begin creating a Content Marketing Strategy, but aren’t quite sure where to start.

Content helps your community and your audience relate to you. The more helpful and relatable you are, the more people want to begin a relationship with you. Isn’t that how you began most of your friendships, whether they be online or off? By relating and finding things in common with people? Relationships deepen, you find you are able to be there when friends need you, they are there for you when you need them…The more you consistently put out great helpful content, the more people learn that you (your brand) are someone they can look to when they have questions, and that leads to trust. If you are a brand, trust is the most important goal I can think of – people buy from people they trust.

When I’m starting out to write, either for my own blog or on behalf of one of my brand clients, I always start out with 3 very specific questions to guide my words:

1.      Is this necessary?

2.      Is this needed?

3.      Is this helpful?

While it might first appear that Questions 1 & 2 are similar, they’re actually quite different. I look at Question 1 as – has what I’m thinking about writing or about to write filling a hole? Do I have the opportunity to help people find information on something I haven’t, myself, been able to find information on? While I look at Question 2 as – have I been listening and talking with my communities and have I found that they are asking for this information? If I can answer YES! to each of those three questions, I am more confident in sitting down to write. If I cannot answer yes to each of them, I remind myself that I’m not writing just for my own enjoyment (though I do, just to practice my writing), I’m writing for the people in the communities I keep myself in. When I am writing for a brand, I always try to keep top of mind – This isn’t about me. This is about my customers.

If I am aiming to create more of a Content Marketing “Strategy,” there are more things to consider, and it’s necessary to delve deeper. Before we begin any sort of plan, we need to ensure we know our goals and who we are creating content for.

1.      Have we defined our audience? Do we know who will be receiving the content we will be providing?

2.      Can we define characteristics of that audience? Do we know more about them past their buying triggers, so we can create a more comprehensive plan?

3.      What are our goals? What are our marketing objectives? How will our content marketing program help us get closer to achieving those goals?

4.      Have we spent enough time to begin to understand what content our audience is looking for? (While we will NEVER stop listening and talking with our community and our audience, we have to start somewhere)

5.      What format does our audience and community like to receive content marketing in? Is it infographics? Videos? Text? Blogs? Live Streams? Webinars?

6.      Where will we distribute our content – where is our community RIGHT NOW? Where is our audience? Where are the people we are not yet reaching but aim to?

7.      Do we currently have the staff, resources and budget for a true Content Marketing Plan to be effective? If not, where we will get these resources?

8.      How will we track and analyze metrics? How will we know we are getting closer to recognizing our goals?

The most important thing to remember is that although you have laid out a roadmap with your strategic plan, you always have to plan for the unplannable. You will need to be ok with the idea that your entire plan might need to be scrapped and rewritten at any time.

Do you have a Content Marketing Strategy? What have you found are the most important pieces in it? Do you feel that your strategy is allowing you to feel ready to begin creating content? Tweet me @lucyrk78 and share some of your content marketing ideas with me!

Always. Be. Testing.

You have built or become involved with a great brand. You have done research and social listening to find where your customers were, and built social networks to be able to have conversations around the clock with these customers. You’ve even written a robust social media marketing plan and your community is growing, so it’s working, right? You’re done! Sorry, no. Not so fast.

Remember yesterday, when videos didn’t automatically play on Twitter? Just one example of how fast social media changes. It is constantly evolving and adapting and you have to also, in order to stay competitive and to ensure what you originally planned still works.

When you set your social media goals, they included clear KPIs, yes? If you’re not currently testing against those, how well are you really doing? If you aren’t measuring if what you are doing works and is moving you closer to achieving your goals, how will you know when you get there? One way, is to take a bit of advice from Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross. Today’s “Always. Be. Testing,” is the new “Always. Be. Closing.”

But wait. Didn’t we go into marketing, so we wouldn’t have to ever do math? Now we have to look at analytics and extrapolate data from them? I was terrified of people that would mention A/B testing and data analytics. Just like I was scared to ride a bike, until I started to ride. Most things in life seem scarier when we think about them, than they are once we start them, aren’t they? Testing on social media was just like that for me. For a while, I got away with not testing. I was growing my brand’s social media presence, I was having amazing conversations and meeting some great people online, and sales were up! On the surface, everything was great. But it could have been BETTER. And why settle? My excuse (to mask my fear of the unknown, or my fear that I was too old to learn new things like testing) was “I work with startups! We just don’t have the budget for fancy tools.”

Good news. You don’t have to have a budget to begin testing. You can actually begin right this second to measure and monitor your social media presence and hopefully bring you closer to realizing your goals.

1.      Time of Day

When you post, is almost equally important as what you post. If you are posting life changing content and no one is online to see it, did it really happen? It certainly won’t achieve the results you are hoping for. Every industry and community is different, so there is no magic answer as to what time is best to post on what social network. It would be easy to say “Don’t post in the middle of the night, everyone is sleeping.” But some brands do a majority of their work in different time zones from where their marketing team resides, so the middle of the night for some, might be lunchtime to others.

My suggestion: Post the same message at different times of the day, then look at which of those posts is receiving the most engagement. What post are people responding to? Marking as a favorite? Retweeting? If you do this for at least two weeks (you want a large source of data, you can’t make a determination if you only test once) on every day of the week, you will find what times during each day are the “best times to post on social media” for YOU.

2.      Text Content vs Visual Content

Do your community members and consumers respond better to posts with photos? Videos? Straight text? Write a post and test! Once you’ve determined what the best time to post is on Tuesdays, for example, release this post the first week with no photo or video. The next week, release it again, but this time add a photo or video and less or no text. Which got more likes? Retweets? Comments? Try this again on different days of the week for a couple of weeks, and that will help you determine what your community likes to see from you.

3.      Posting Frequency

Is there any correlation to how often you post, and how quickly your engagement rates are growing? This is another test you run by simply trying it. On specific days (for example every Monday and Tuesday) try posting quality, relevant content to a specific social network (you can repeat this with each one, but let’s start with Twitter) twice during the hour that you’ve already found is your personal “best time to post on Twitter.” The next week, on the same days at the same time, try posting 4 times during the hour. Did you receive more engagement on those posts the first week or second week?

There are also a great many free tools you can use to help measure and monitor the work you are doing on social media, but the networks themselves offer great information, if you know where to look. Two of my most used are on Facebook and Twitter. (there are also free analytic tools available for LinkedIn – both for business pages and individuals, Pinterest and Google+)

Part II will discuss how you can use Facebook Insights and Twitter Analytics.

5 Steps Towards Getting Started in Social Media

I love social media. That comes as a surprise to no one, I’m sure! I have met some of my closest friends through social media – some that I have never even met in person….yet.  I have also brought brands to acquisition by building up their social media networks and taking that marketing offline. There are so many ways to use social media daily both in your life and your business, you really are cheating yourself out of some truly amazing relationships and experiences if you’re not invested in it.

If I were to tell you to go learn how to play guitar, you’d know how to do it. You have seen people play guitar, you know what a guitar looks like, and you have the ultimate goal already decided: play guitar. You know you could find people that already play that you admire or are friends with that you could ask, “What kind of guitar do you suggest I get?” or “Do you have any teachers in this area that you’d recommend I start taking classes from?” You could even get onto YouTube or find another source of How to Videos, and start immediately. You wouldn’t overthink it, and though it might seem overwhelming at first, you’d just start.

I believe you look at getting started in social media much the same way. You have seen people do it, you know plenty of people that do it and do it well that you can ask for advice, and though it seems overwhelming, you are ready to just start. The hardest part about starting something new, is that you don’t know what you don’t know, so you don’t always know what to ask people, or how to ask for help. Luckily, social media is one of the biggest topics these days, and you can Google and read articles and advice ad infinitum on how to start, and how to create your first social media plan. Overthinking it is natural, and while you will tell yourself many times to simplify your thinking on it, it still creeps up, even years down the road. That’s ok!

Though you didn’t quite ask for MY advice, you’re still reading this blog, so I’m more than happy to share how I would recommend you get started. While this is in no means an exhaustive list, I hope it is a great jumping off point to get you started on an amazing adventure!

Step 1: Examine Your Motivations & Set Goals

When I ‘want’ to do something, I always ask myself a bunch of questions before I start. Then, I use those answers to help me make a plan. At this point, you might want to ask yourself:

·        Why do you want to get into social media?

·        Do you want to use social media to stay in touch with people? (This is how I got started, I’d moved from Chicago to Los Angeles, and found social media was a great way to stay in touch with people from back home)

·        Are you going to use social media personally or for your business?

·        Do you want to be seen as an “influencer?” (I’d examine that motive, and suggest not going into it with that specific goal in mind)

·        Do I want to help people?

·        Do I have something to offer?

·        Am I introducing a new product to the market/creating brand awareness?

·        Would I like to create more loyal customers?

Then you will want to ensure you have the TIME and resources to put towards achieving your goals. If you are starting this for a business, you might need to hire people that have experience working in social media if you, yourself do not have the time to create meaningful relationships.

Step 2: Pick Your Platforms

Choose the platforms that best fit your goals. You don’t have to be everywhere, and in fact, you don’t WANT to be everywhere or spread yourself too thin. When choosing the ‘right’ social media networks for YOU, remember that it’s personal to each person. What works for me might never work for you.

The most important way to pick a platform, in my experience, has been the same whether I’m using social media personally or for business. Find where your people already are. If it’s for your personal use, what platforms are your friends using? Where can you find most of them? If this is a business account you are creating, where are your customers talking about your brand the most?

Step 3: Make a Profile on Your Social Networks

This is where the questions in Step 1 will come in handy. Once you have examined your motivations, only you know how clear they are. When you are filling out your profiles, I would suggest being as open, honest and transparent as possible. While that might not be for everyone, I find it works best FOR everyone. Would YOU want to interact with someone and begin developing a deep relationship, only to find out months down the road that they aren’t in any way who you thought they were?

I tend to naturally write like I speak, so I use language in my profiles that sound like the same ‘me’ you would meet if you were to pick up the phone and call me. I think that helps people relate and find similarities to me, and that (hopefully!) makes it easier to engage with me.

The best part about creating your profile? Once you hit “publish,” it doesn’t immediately get put into the Smithsonian. You are always able to adapt, pivot and change any part of your profiles at any time. As you change, your profiles and network will as well.

Step 4: Start Posting!

We can look at content strategy in another blog, but for now, as you are first starting out, it’s important to dive in. You will need to find your voice and what works best for you about what posts resonate with your community, what times they are online and able to see what you are posting, how many times each day you should post, etc. Have you ever tried to learn a new language? I’ll bet you didn’t do it simply by reading books about it – I’d be willing to bet that you learned the most once you just started trying to converse with people in that new language. Social Media, being online, isn’t as different as people make it sound from your life offline.

There are as many posts about what to post, when and where as there are people using social media. While some of that could be helpful, what is going to be MOST helpful I believe, is to hear this: Find what works for YOU.

Look at studies. Some will say visuals get more interactions than any others. Some will say use 11 hashtags on Instagram. Some will say never use visuals and don’t use more than 3 hashtags on Instagram. You get to choose what you will follow and you will learn what “to do” the more you use each platform.

What works for ME? I try to ask myself for each post:

·        Is this helpful?

·        Is this relevant?

·        Is this useful?

Then, I listen. A LOT. People on social media are some of the most honest when it comes to giving you’re their thoughts, feedback and advice. If you honestly listen, without judgment, you can find out whatever you need to know.

Step 5: Always Be Testing

You will hear a LOT about “A/B Testing,” to me, that means “Always Be Testing.” Remember when you set goals in Step 1? How will you ever know if you have achieved your goals, if you don’t analyze what you are doing?

There are free tools you can use to analyze each post and there are more in-depth paid resources out there. Again, find what works for YOU. I have start-up clients that don’t have the budget for fancy reporting tools, and we’ve been able to get just as much information out of the free options.

What analytics should you be looking at? Again, this depends on your goal. Some that you might want to look at are:

·        Shares, retweets, favorites, likes and comments

·        Do you get more interaction on posts when you use an image or when you don’t?

·        Does using a video in your post help get more engagement, than simply posting text?

·        What are the top 3 topics your community responds to most?

·        It this working? Are you getting closer to your original goals?

I’d love to hear how YOU got into Social Media, what works best for you, and what you would add to this list! Please tweet me @lucyrk78 or post a comment and let me know?