Social Media Interview: Josephine Hardy, Marketing Manager- DataRank

A short description of how and why you got started in social media.

I first started using social media when I was working for a film review blog, where we publicized our latest reviews on Twitter and Facebook.

What do you believe are the benefits of using social media?

The biggest benefit is that it gives all users the same opportunity, regardless of their background or purpose on social media. That’s what makes it popular; we’re all on an equal footing, engaging with each other on all networks.

What are the common mistakes business owners make when managing social media for business?

The easiest mistake to make is to talk about yourself online, we tend to forget the basic rules of social engagement!

I read an article recently about people who hate brands when they circus too much on social media, this is the easiest mistake to make. In the real world, we wouldn’t talk about ourselves, we forget the basic rules of social engagement and start projecting rather than listening.

What qualities do you think social media managers should have?

A good social media manager responds very quickly, they’re aware of the different time zones for optimal engagement.

How do business owners know if their social media campaign is working?

I think it depends on the goals you set when you start your social media campaign, if you wanted to increase the engagement, you would track retweets, comments and sharing. If you’re looking to increase the number of influencers for the brand, you should correct the conversation of the campaign with a tool that can identify people who mention the brand.

How do you see social media evolving over the next 5 years?

I think online shopping will be part of the social media conversation, we’re seeing more advertising on Instagram and Pinterest. And I really hope to see voice control devices integrated in social media, so people can use social media more interactively.

If you could share one best practice for using social media, what would it be?

I think one of the most important things is not ignoring a negative comment or question, letting someone fester in their own anger is the worst response a social media manager could have. It’s important to be sympathetic and professional,

What are your favourite social media platforms?

I work for a B2B company, my favourite platforms are LinkedIn and Twitter for targeted engagement. It's great for sharing content and quickly engaging with customers. I recently started using Instagram to show off our company culture, where you can share images you wouldn't normally on professional platforms.

What tools do you recommend for managing social media platforms? What are the limitations of these tools?

Different tools offer a unique set of features for managing social content. Scheduling messages can be very tedious so tools can save marketers many hours.

How do you adapt your social media marketing to your industry?

We spend a lot of time on content marketing, in our industry, it can be complex to understand and challenging to find the right social media channel to share our content. It’s better to do a great job on a couple of social media channels than do a mediocre job on all of them.