If you decide to take your company online you’re joining a community of teachers, learners, explorers, and open-minded people who are trying new marketing communications tools that are changing every day. Just this week alone I received numerous emails about my analytics on Facebook changing… yet again. The most frustrating change Facebook Analytics did was remove the Social Reach reference when monitoring Facebook Ads, in the Full Report mode ! Working around this new development, I was still able to find the necessary metrics I needed, in a less efficient way… a needless to say, a tad more stressful! This got me wondering on how any of us can keep up with our work while the platforms we work on everyday change so often!
Don’t get we wrong, I totally accept that being in social media, it’s what we signed up for, this diverse, ever-changing, community of social people. But how do we keep it up when there are so many other priorities in the day-to-day business of doing? Rather than depending on email updates or announcements, there are a few ways we can deal with the ever evolving ground of social media. Based on your brand’s vision and more importantly, goals that you establish, here are a few alternatives in how you can manage your social media initiatives. Picking the right one for your business will make the difference between how well you navigate the many transitions that are sure to come!
Hire someone: Hiring a designated person to handle your company’s social media specifically regardless of company size is that you can maintain a steady, unwavering pulse on social media and all the changes that happen so often. You can start off my hiring a part-time full-time person. This will allow the person to get a read on the business culture and brand voice so that they can communicate effectively.
Outsource: Like everything else in business, if you outsource to your social media initiatives to the right partner, your social media becomes their priority…and seeing that they are in the business of social media, they not only have a pulse on the changes, but they are the at the forefront of the changes and their potential impact on your business’ social initiatives. More care would have to be taken to ensure that the business culture and voice is portrayed consistently.
DIY: . I’m not saying not to do it yourself! You can be successful if you immerse yourself. You just have to know that you need to be involved with the image and online brand being shared all over the world every minute of every day. If your company is small, it can be fun and exciting to do it yourself because you can see your fan base and community build…in real time! You have to ask yourself though… is the time you are taking to do it yourself, taking you away from “your real job”…and thus short-changing the business goals?
Don’t get involved: Let’s face it, there’s always those who jump in with both feet…that would be the early adopters. And then there are those that really take a long time to get on board…and that would be the slow movers. In some cases, there are those that don’t ever get on board! I ‘m not sure if that’s even an option in today’s marketing and business landscape. After all, social media isn’t just Facebook…it’s LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, MosiacHub, Reddit,Social Media Today and GuestBlog…to name a few.
If you are reading this right now you are already apart of the social media community where we all learn from each other. If there is a problem, challenge or question, online communicators… we social communicators don’t have to go very far for answers. Social Media has made us pioneers of sorts and we are all part of the same community, constantly learning and reaching out…and in fact keeping up with social media!
