A short description of how and why you got started in social media
I’ve always been a huge fan of social media and I knew it could help us amplify our content distribution. When we began to focus on inbound marketing efforts, we also ramped up our social media presence.
What do you believe are the benefits of using social media for business?
Using social media allows businesses to have two-way communication with customers and prospects. It’s a great place to share content and collect feedback to get a sense of what your audience likes and dislikes.
What do you think are common mistakes business owners make when building brand awareness on social media?
Not having a plan before they start. Some businesses feel that as long as they have a presence on the major social channels that they are covered. Maybe they’ll share content every now and then, but they don’t take the time to use social media to its full potential. When you don’t have a plan in place, your page often lacks consistency.
What qualities do you think social media managers should have?
Curiosity and the ability to think on their feet. New social platforms pop up all the time, and updates and algorithm tweaks change how existing platforms work. A good social media manager stays up-to-date on the changes and likes to try new things. Sometimes things that worked in the past no longer work today. The manager needs to find out why it no longer works, and what they can do instead.
They also need to be able to think on their feet. When news breaks or you have an angry individual blasting you on social media, timing is everything. He or she needs to be prepared to leverage newsworthy events and quickly diffuse social media crises.
How do Business owners know if their social media campaign is working?
It depends on their objective and KPIs. Defining these goals and objectives upfront allows you to track and measure from the beginning to see what is working and what isn’t. One metric we like to measure for ourselves and our clients is engagement.
How do you see social media evolving over the next 5 years …what do you hope to see?
I see social media becoming even more important to businesses from a customer service standpoint. Companies will utilize what their customers are saying about them on social media to identify successes and areas of improvement in their business models. This information will then be used to help drive future business objectives and marketing messages.
If you could share one best practice about using social media to grow a business, what would it be?
Start with a plan. Define your target audience, determine your objectives, develop your editorial calendar, etc. Having a clearly defined plan in place helps streamline the process and helps you maintain consistency.
What are your favourite platforms for social media marketing?
LinkedIn for B2B and Facebook for B2C. They both allow you to fine-tune your target audience selection so you don’t waste budget advertising to the wrong people.
What tools do you use to manage these platforms? – What are the limitations for these tools?
We’ve used many different tools at our agency over the years, but currently we are using Hootsuite and Hubspot. We use Hubspot for managing our DMN3 social channels because it is also our CRM platform. It’s nice to have everything feed into one system and report. It’s not as good for collaborating or managing multiple accounts as some of the other options are. We use Hootsuite for our clients’ accounts.
Name 5 tools that you can’t live without.
1. Social media publishing tool (Hubspot or Hootsuite)
2. Topsy – for social media insights
3. Facebook’s Power Editor
4. BuzzSumo – for insights on trends
5. Google Analytics
Describe one of your social media campaigns that went really well.
A couple of years back we ran a Meals on Wheels campaign for one of our Medicare Advantage clients. We got a lot of great response and were able to grow their Facebook following and engagement while at the same time helping out a great cause.
How is your social media strategy adapted to your industry?
It’s important to understand your audience and tailor your social media strategy to their needs. Regardless of the industry, you need to change your strategy to meet the needs of those you are trying to reach.
