Companies today are faced with a variety of social media platforms that they need to manage with engaging content about their brand and products. For many executives, this means bringing on a team of SEO, social media and marketing experts. Below you'll find 4 tips for developing and executing your social media marketing plan with a large team.
Start with Long-Term Goals and Work Backwards
This may sound obvious, but many social media teams are so excited to get into the posting stage that they forget to make sure each post is part of a broader strategy with a clearly defined target. Meet with your team and discuss your strategic goals. Are you looking to grow your social media presence, hype a new product, get feedback from happy customers, or all of the above?
View each post and each day's work through the lense of your broader strategy.
Run Ongoing Analytics
Okay, sure, everyone that's serious about their online presence knows how crucial analytics are. However, many teams forget to check their analytics daily. Look for the effect of last week's work. Each brand, product and project is unique. Your customers are unique. Finding a strategy that fits with the way your potential customers like to interact with social media is important. By keeping the entire team focused on real-time analysis of past efforts, future efforts will be significantly more effective.
Streamline Communication
Project management software is critical for making sure your team is working together to achieve your company's goals. Emails and phone calls are a good start, but a solid communications system allows your team to unlock their full potential. Get everyone reading off the same sheet of music by sharing resources between departments. This not only allows the team to understand what's being worked on, but also the value of what's being done by other members.
There's nothing worse than a particular member of your team feeling that they're working harder than everyone else, especially if they aren't being recognized for their efforts. The use of project management software gives everyone visibility on what work is being completed; even saving your team from duplicating the efforts of others.
Observe the Competition
While meetings to discuss strategy are important, if your team is too busy looking in to see what's happening outside the company, you'll miss opportunities. Your competition is investing time, money and resources to generate a presence online. Look at what they're doing. Observe the strategies that generate the most likes and engagements for them (likes, shares and favorites are oftentimes publicly viewable).
Incorporate this information into your entire team's strategy. By combining outside information with your own internal tools, you'll have a better chance of getting one step ahead of the competition. As always, two heads are better than one. Use your project management software to create an easily accessible database of shared information.
Observe, communicate, plan and execute with your company's end-goal in mind. If you have additional tips, tricks or strategies, please share in the comments section below!