Despite the growing use of social media in our day-to-day
life as a source for news and updates, many leaders have been slow on implementing and keeping up to date with social media in their personal and professional life.
A social media strategy will help you define what to post, when to post it, who will be in charge of posting, how to reply to comments and how to measure your engagement.
Here are some tips on how you can keep up to date, and implement effective social media in your life:
Time-saving tips
Social media can be very time consuming. Often, you can be on social media for hours without realising just how much time you’ve spent on it. There are many tips and tricks that you can follow, but once you start using social media, it is essential that you commit to regular updates. For instance:
Scheduling tools
Scheduling tools allow you to schedule your posts to be published when you choose, which means saving time. Social media tools such as TweetDeck and Hootsuite allow you to schedule posts straight to your profile page.
Develop a strategy
If you use social media without a purpose or a strategy you will waste a lot of time. This usually occurs when you spend hours looking through your social media accounts being unsure what to post or comment on.
Your strategy will help you define what to post, when to post it, who will be in charge of posting, how to reply to comments and how to measure your engagement.
Share! Share! Share!
When you’re next reading a news article online that might be interesting to your clients or stakeholders, look for the social media sharing buttons. If you’re already logged into your social media accounts, like LinkedIn, you can automatically share the article link with your connections, and even add a comment about why it’s interesting.
Drawing a line
This is about choosing what to post and what not to post through your social media channels.
As a business leader it usually pays to be more professional than not. You should pick your topics relating to your position or career and stick to them 80 per cent of the time as you don’t want to confuse your audience.
Avoid controversy
Touchy topics like religion and politics can trigger unwanted attention. Stay away unless it is part of your business.
The point of using social media is to get people on your side, not rallying against your views on the latest political disaster. Save your opinions for the dinner-table and off social media.
To follow or not to follow
It is important whom you associate yourself and your business with. On social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, users can easily find out who you are following.
You must carefully consider the ramifications before deciding to follow another user. Melania Trump recently faced criticism over the discovery that she only follows five people on Twitter, one of whom is Barack Obama. It is no surprise the First Lady has faced some criticism over the issue, which could have been easily avoided if she had considered how it looks to the public.
Following certain people or pages could waste your time by adding irrelevant posts in your feed. Try to think about how every small decision can impact you and your business.
Stay in your lane
Some businesses choose to get involved in issues that do not relate to their cause. It can be tempting to comment on topics that are popular in the media. Whilst it is important to stay relevant and post engaging content, you should steer away from controversy wherever possible.
There is no point in risking your reputation. There are times that call for your business’s stance on a particular topic, but until it comes up, you don’t need to comment. Focus your efforts on things that directly relate to your business. This will make your business more efficient, effective, and more prepared if a crisis hits.
Social media can seem like a daunting prospect to someone who has never been involved before. But if you do it correctly, the benefits will soon come rolling in for your business.
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Sydney Public Relations Agency, CP Communications provides specialist media, traditional and online PR strategies that get amazing results. Contact us today. For more great tips, visit our website www.cpcommunications.com.au.
