This was the year I didn't want to make any New Year's resolutions. I hate having things called "resolutions" that just taper off in the first few months, or end in gym-related guilt.
Instead of creating resolutions, I prefer to set goals for myself, and plan for what I'd like to get accomplished in the upcoming year. This year, my goals include focusing on social media.
In 2013-14 I worked in Copenhagen as a Social Media Manager for Falcon Social, and was deliriously happy to create content and grow the brand's online presence, but I didn't have much time to cultivate my own social networks. This year, I've relocated to Atlanta (so conveniently located for Social Shake-Up!), deep diving into content management for Falcon Social from a home office to continue to shape the brand and support our still-recent US launch.
This new role allows me the mental bandwidth to actively engage in my own social networks, while still having a foot firmly planted in the Enterprise Social Media Marketing world.
In 2015, all signs point to social channel use going more organic, with a demand for active involvement, true authenticity (and not just the appearance thereof), less automated messaging, and more engagement. I just wrote a short handbook on social selling, soon to be available on the Falcon Social Resources page-and even selling has taken a departure from the hard sell on social. Social salespeople are becoming industry advocates, curators, and expert advisors as we peel away interruption marketing in search of crisp dialogue with professionals who walk the talk.
To cut through the noise and open myself up to great connections, I'm putting a better structure in place, and working to be more actively engaged with my networks. For this, I'm borrowing the great German word, "ordnung" (order), while I put everything in neat order for maximum productivity and return. There are a few tools that I'm looking at to help me get this done, which I'm sharing here, in case you're looking at your social network organization as a 2015 goal as well:
Scheduling posts
If you don't have enterprise software like Falcon at your disposal, Buffer is a great free or low-cost tool for scheduling posts with a URL shortener for analytics and a nice, clean UX. They also provide solid blog content that I enjoy reading.
Managing networks
Another impressive free or low-cost tool, ManageFlitter sorts your followers/following lists, and has very useful search capabilities that can help you build your networks based on parameters like keywords and locations. This is how I use ManageFlitter, but there are additional good features, and more on the way.
Content organization
Feedly lets you keep all of your content resources organized on one page, with sharing options. You can group your favorite websites by themes, and it lets you mark what you've already read. Also free, with a paid version.
Images
If you're working on growing your networks and striving to support quality content, rich media, including gifs and video, will help your cause. To enhance your posts with customized images, I love Over and Aviary for mobile, and Canva for desktop.
Network integrity
Inflated follower lists are so 2010! You can use ManageFlitter to keep an eye on who follows you back and who's inactive, or a tool like Fake Follower Check to ensure your networks are tight and active.
Events to follow
I like live event coverage on social to get industry news, and find relevant and interesting new contacts. To see what's coming up and who's participating, I joined Conferize for some good pre-event buzz.
I'll also be keeping a list of my favorite Twitter chats, with days, times, and hashtags. I haven't taken a good look at Twubs yet, but it's on my to-do list.
Using these tools, I will be working consistently to:
up my engagement
make more real connections
grow my networks
contribute with thoughtful and useful content.
Wishing you the best for 2015, and I hope to meet you out there!