Get Your Social Media Efforts Back on Track

When the social media boom hit, businesses small and large flocked to the many popular networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. However, unsure how to navigate this new form of media, many businesses let their pages go stagnant and soon fell off their consumers’ radars.

It was easy to get caught up in the appeal of social networking. Social media includes a variety of free tools that put you in front of a large audience of users. However, many businesses didn’t consider the time and resources that would need to go into maintaining an active presence on these sites. Get your social media efforts back on track and start seeing real results by following these tips.

Make social media a priority. In today’s marketplace, social media can really set your brand apart from your competitors – if done right. If you are going to delve into this medium, you need to make social media a priority for your business. Sure, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter are free, but the time an employee spends logging on to update, monitor and cull an online community costs your business money. Don’t waste employee time or company dollars on shoddy results. If it makes sense, consider hiring someone solely for the purpose of cultivating your social media presence or hire an outside resource that specializes in building online brands.

Make a plan. If you’ve chosen the DIY route, make sure you are armed with a social media plan. This will help the person who is charged with monitoring your social media sites keep these efforts on track. Depending on what type of business you operate and how you want to utilize social media to your benefit, create a daily, weekly or monthly editorial calendar. This will give you predetermined prompts for posting and help spark ideas for future discussions.

Fine-tune your message. All of your social media sites should support the same brand and message. Before you log on, fine-tune the message you want to spread to your audience. And, while you are at it, be sure you settle on a target audience that you want to reach so you aren’t throwing darts in the air.

Measure your results. Create goals and devise measurement tactics to determine if your social media efforts are working. Keep tabs on the number of “likes” you get on a weekly basis, and monitor how many conversions your website gets from social media sites. These efforts will help determine if social media is worth your time and resources.