Your company didn’t embrace social media years ago when you asked them about it because they didn’t see a need for it. Two years later, they instruct someone to get it started, without your input. You soon find out that now you’re asked to manage the vertical marketing campaigns.
So you research the best software for managing accounts and decide on one, but then hit a roadblock – you don’t have any logins and passwords. You talk with others to obtain this information to find out that you don’t need any log-ins – use your personal accounts.
Didn’t they get the memo? Despite being an employee, you’re unsettled as you believe the company should be represented by a leader such as the CEO or President.
You suggest that the “face for the company” should be someone on the senior management team. Then you ask yourself… how did I get into this role again? You used to be the admin, then you started writing proposals, then performing demos and now you are on all the sales team… and all without a dime of commission.
Anyway, back to the social media conundrum. If someone should be putting themselves “out there” for the company, you think it should be someone with industry visibility and you tell it to the C-level.
After a week of struggles through the chain of command, you are being blamed for second-guessing the company’s marketing efforts.
So where does that leave you? You make a few suggestions as a form of compromise, but it’s really just a band-aid as you know their efforts are destined for failure.
Don’t be another social media mistake. Follow these steps to get started with your social media campaign:
- Clearly define goals and objectives
- Determine the company message
- Create a company policy for social media use by employees
- Devise a checklist for your marketing team when posting content
- Determine a schedule for regular messages and blog postings
- Decide on the appropriate channel(s) for your message
- Research and review software for social media management
- Put a system in place for tracking interactions and assign specific personnel to be responsive to engagement
- Coordinate the efforts as a company rather than relying on one person to control messages and interactivity
- Focus on offering value through existing relationships
- Be consistent, be consistent, and be consistent
- Consider hiring a Social Media Manager
