Social Media Best Practices

By Carmen Shirkey Collinsa.k.a. The Social Media Butterfly

Best Practice 1 LISTEN!

Comments included job inquiries, fun interactions and positive experiences

Unsolicited testimonials from fans look great and can b used as recruiting tools

Fun posts get fans engaged with the page and the brand.

The first step in any successful social media campaign is active LISTENING

1. Basics: Set up a Google alert (www.google.com/alerts)

2. Use Listening Tools

1. Use a social media platform (TweetDeck/HootSuite) and set up search terms

2. Purchase a low-cost listening platform – many options to chose from3. Purchase an enterprise (and more costly) listening platform

• Find out what your customers are talking about ALREADY!!!• It’s a perfect way to know what content to post to engage in conversation• Go where they are, find out what they’re saying• Listen even to your critics - Let them know you heard them! See if you can help in a constructive manner

Company Competitors IndustryProducts

Best Practice 2Engage and Be Relevant

Comments included job inquiries, fun interactions and positive experiences

Unsolicited testimonials from fans look great and can b used as recruiting tools

Fun posts get fans engaged with the page and the brand.

Post content that is relevant and engaging (it’s not about marketing or PR messages)

Posts are prioritized by Facebook Edgerank. Edgerank is an algorithm that determines relevancy; whether or not your posts should appear in your fans’ news feeds.

To increase your Edgerank, make your posts RELEVANT

Tips to post relevant content:• Post pictures, videos and links – things that make people take an action (thoughthese have the lowest values in Edgerank, they’re still important)

• Get people to “like” a post. The easiest way to get a like is to ask for it! Example: “Tonight it’s GLEE’s prom night! Click “like” if you remember your prom”

• The biggest value in Edgerank is a comment. To get comments, ask questions!Example: Do you remember your prom dress? Tell us all about it!

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Best Practice 3Be a Source

Unsolicited testimonials from fans look great and can b used as recruiting tools

Fun posts get fans engaged with the page and the brand.

• What is your business in the business of doing? Become the go-to source for information about that!

• Position yourself through content on blog posts, Facebook notes, etc. as THE placecustomers can come for information about your product, service or industry

• Remember, this isn’t about pushing a marketing message. This is about being a source for your customers.

Creating content is a great way to

drive engagement!

Best Practice 4Be Transparent

Comments included job inquiries, fun interactions and positive experiences

Unsolicited testimonials from fans look great and can b used as recruiting tools

Fun posts get fans engaged with the page and the brand.• When participating in, or maintaining a social media site on behalf of a company clearly state who you are, and your affiliation.

• Never hide your identity – be as transparent as possible

• If more than one person posts to the same account, suggest “sign on/off” Example: “TGIF! Who’s up for Friday? Me! ~Lynn (or use initials ^LS)

• When creating a social media channel, indicate that it is an official presence in the description

Never pretend to be something you aren’t!

Best Practice 5Be Present & Respond

Comments included job inquiries, fun interactions and positive experiences

• How often you should post depends on the channel and how much content you have

• Twitter users are used to more frequent updates• Facebook users get annoyed at more than 2-3 times per day.

• The best times of day to post is determined by testing different posts at different times, using analytics to see results

• Consider evenings, weekends

• It’s okay to use schedulers to post, however, social media is 24/7. If you post, expect responses. If you’re not there to respond, it diminishes your brand.

• Try and respond to ANY post in 24 hours.

Best Practice 6Create Super Users!

Comments included job inquiries, fun interactions and positive experiences

Unsolicited testimonials from fans look great and can b used as recruiting tools

Fun posts get fans engaged with the page and the brand.

Create super users – customers that do your viral marketing FOR you:

• Follow the first three best practices

• Listen – if you post what they want, they’ll share it• Engage – If someone posts something great about your company

• Share it! (ReTweet, Like the post on FB, etc.)• Make your customers feel special, they’ll think YOUR

COMPANY is special!• Be transparent/honest

• Social media customers are savvy• If you try to be something you’re not, social media can turn on

you quickly

•Disarm negative posters using the same techniques!

• Listen – an opinion is valid. Don’t argue. They want to know they’ve been heard.

• Engage – ask what you can do to make a situation right. How can you help?

• Be honest – did you make a mistake? Admit it. Be humble. • Have a plan for a crisis

Best Practice 7Archive

Comments included job inquiries, fun interactions and positive experiences

?????? What happens if Facebook crashes, and you lose all the comments you wanted to keep??

?????? What if a hacker usurps your Facebook page and posts spammy posts?

?????? What if a user sues over a post?

All these things can be managed if you archive your social media posts!

FACEBOOK

• Facebook allows you to download all info you share – posts, photos, videos, etc. --- Account – Account Settings – Download Your Information – Download

TWITTER

• There’s no official Twitter solution, but there are several third-party apps that archive•Backupify•Twistory

Thank you!

@socialmedbtrfly

http://www.facebook.com/thesocialmediabutterfly

http://thesocialmediabutterfly.blogspot.com/

Find more tips/tricks from The Social Media Butterfly here: