I wanted to share with you all the thoughts I normally get from others when they find out I’m in social media.
6. “You work in social media? That must be a fun job posting fun things!”
Yes, it is fun. But you don’t see the strategy, numbers and hours behind my every move. Repeat after me: Posting pretty and fun things without any thought or link back to what your brand stands for is a complete no-no.
5. “You’re so bubbly and social! No wonder why you’re good at social media.”
It helps, but if those two things were all I had then even I wouldn’t hire myself.
4. “X competitor has way more 'followers' and 'likes' than us. We need to be like them.”
If the number of 'followers' and 'likes' are all you know (and care) about, you need a 101 in social media and reassess what your actual goals are for each channel. It’s good to watch your competitors, but that’s not how you stand out.
3. "We want to work with the hottest social influencers.”
Sure, but would they still love your brand and be a potential customer if you took money and free things out of the equation? Influencers come in all forms these days and whilst some do have influential power and credibility, your main focus should always be your customers.
2. “There are other areas in our business that we need to invest in. I’m sure you can come up with the usual social tactics that won’t cost a thing.”
I’m sorry, what year are we in? Even if we're not talking about paid ads, you still need to invest in quality content, analytics and dashboards. Talk to me when you’ve crawled out of your cave.
1. “Why aren’t we getting more people engaging with us?”
A lot of businesses talk about creating conversations, and what they usually mean is that they want people to talk about them in a good way without requiring anything from the brand itself. Have you ever had a so-called conversation that sounds like that in reality? This deserves another article on its own, which spans into why social media and customer experience go hand-in-hand, but here’s one simple takeaway: You’ve got to give love to get it.
About Karen: I'm a Freelance Consultant who helps brands and businesses grow with social media marketing & content strategy. See how I can help you with social media here.