The term social media management refers to the process of creating, branding, posting to, promoting, and providing reputation management, by monitoring a social network account or group of accounts. You may currently already manage a personal account on one or more of the major social networks – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn, and you probably have a Google account for email and a YouTube account for viewing entertainment!
While your personal accounts require little in the way of management, as you may only post when you have important news to share, imagine the needs of a small business or major corporation in relation to social media management. A business needs to make relevant posts daily. While some businesses only use one or two social networks, many have accounts across the spectrum of platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and others to promote their services. They typically use Google Analytics to track and monitor their posts to determine which perform the best.
Many businesses quickly learn how time-consuming and difficult creating relevant posts becomes. In this case, they hire a social media specialist to help conceive, design, and implement their digital strategy. The specialist often works at an advertising agency, like Bake More Pies, that specializes in this area.
Social Media Management Tools
A Social Media Specialist makes their client’s work easier by using social media management tools like Zoho Social, Buffer Pro, Hootsuite, Google Ad Words, and Analytics. They also create graphics with programs like Canva and Adobe Photoshop. Many teams may collaborate with their video department where they use high-end video production programs like Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects to create videos for their clients and businesses.
What Does a Digital Strategy Entail?
A social media specialist authors a strategy and plans for social networks that resemble a marketing plan, a key component of a business plan. This plan includes goals for the business’s social network accounts in terms of likes, comments, followers, website visits, and sales. The ultimate goal of any branded social network account is to make sales. Each post should somehow encourage the reader to visit the business’s website or shop, typically by including a link to its blog or sales catalog.
The social media plan includes profile design, content, and interaction plans. Each of these serves a different purpose and requires different activities.
Profile Designs
Each social network uses its own page layout. Some allow for a landscape, cover photo, or graphic at the top of the profile. Some use a round profile photo, and some use a square one. Some networks let the user add videos to the large background photo while others do not. This requires customization of each piece of graphic design collateral. For example, Facebook allows a landscape–oriented background photo at the top of the profile but displays the graphic in a different size than other social media platforms, and the graphic must measure different dimensions.
Most small businesses do not have graphic design capabilities or the time to create these graphics or photos and tailor them to the network. At Bake More Pies, we can easily create these collateral items, though, and customize them to each social network.
A business’s profiles must match and require an eye-catching design. They require the same talented graphic designs as a website would. While the business may already have a logo, the marketing agency will re-size it for each media in a lossless manner. Every profile that allows background or landscape photos will use the same image but customized to fit. All biography or profile descriptions will match. This is what creates branding.
Content Creation
Another area where businesses rarely have the time to appropriately establish themselves is post and blog creation. Not every person can easily write about their own business, create graphics, or author scripts. And very rarely can most individuals properly film and direct a video. Each task requires an expert – and Bake More Pies is the perfect agency to work with!
Each business or brand requires social network text posts, graphics, photos, videos, and blogs. Creating these properly is a job all by itself. It requires research into relevant topics, hashtags, keywords, and competition analysis. Once created, the collateral must get scheduled, posted, promoted, and monitored.
Interaction Plans
Each post that receives interactions – comments especially – needs interaction in response. For example, social media specialists spend time “liking“ positive comments on a post. They would report to the social network inappropriate comments such as those containing profanity or other inappropriate and or offensive language. This helps to build the brand and its following by encouraging those who publicly support it through re-posting, likes, and positive comments to continue to do so. It also benefits the business or brand by providing positive public relations since all others on the individual influencers’ accounts see the company or brand’s also public response. This reflects well on the brand.
Essentially, this means when one account leaves you a positive comment, you engage with it. You like their comment on your post or you like their post about your company or brand.
The specialist authors a plan component for this activity. It relates to each type of interaction possible. The plan also addresses how to handle negative posts. You should not ignore a negative comment. If it relates to a product or service, it is best to respond to it after researching the problem so you can address the issue. You should sympathize and apologize if the service or product was faulty, late, etc. Next, a suggestion would be to offer a discount or coupon to reduce the cost of the customer providing you with a second chance.
Each day, your social media manager or specialist should search for your brand or company name on each appropriate social platform. This lets them interact with customers, followers, and influencers. It provides you with daily touchpoints with your customer base. These interactions absolve you from needing to post original items daily. A recommended best practice is to post at once per week.
Advertising to Build a Following
The specialist also devotes a portion of the plan getting your social platform accounts started. Brands and businesses cannot take the long road to build a following. Unlike personal social network accounts, you should not have only followers you know personally. Your business or brand needs to grow and that requires getting your accounts in front of your target audience. Bake More Pies often uses display advertising to do this. We might purchase display ad impressions on Facebook or Instagram ads. These options and other similar ad methods can help quickly grow your account with relevant followers.
Contact Bake More Pies
Your business or brand needs social media accounts on the networks your customers use. Companies grow their accounts by providing relevant posts and addressing the needs of their customers by interacting with those interested in your brand or business on a daily basis. The social platforms need to match for brand consistency, and your profile should link to your business’s website where users can reach your website, hopefully becoming leads and customers for your product or service.
Contact Bake More Pies for assistance with your social needs today! We have a team of innovative members who will construct the best strategy for your unique brand. Based on your business’s goals and individual needs, we’ll help you develop your social networking plan, accounts, and relevant content, to ultimately increase the number of customers moving through your sales funnel. Let us help you begin growing your business by calling us today!
