If you are beginning to dive into the world of social media for your business or organization, you will quickly become aware of the layers of responsibility it entails. Going professional on your pages in comparison to posting leisurely on your personal accounts opens a whole new door of leadership and authority. Those working on social media have to be consistently active on their platforms, meet deadlines, and understand online social interaction in order to grow the platforms. With these categories of tips, you will be well on your way to building your business or organization’s social platforms smoothly and effectively.

Become Equipped With The Right Tools

Being in tune with the most popular apps and programs for social media planning is essential. Nailing down the basics of design for social media and having a good overall mental color scheme and concept for your brand on social media is a primary trait any posting on social media should possess. Having your brand appear online in a clean and orderly fashion helps attract a crowd to your feed.

Using programs to organize and schedule posts are just as important. These programs help you and anyone else working with you behind the scenes. Google Calendar and Hootsuite are not only great to pre-schedule social media posts, but they are excellent to keep other members aware of what posts are to come.

How to find the right tools:

  • Research articles
  • Research successful social media pages similar to your brand
  • Turn on Google Alerts
  • Find a YouTube Channel or blog that gives latest updates in the marketing industry

All Eyes Are On You

On both personal and business accounts, make sure to think before you post. Since your job is social media planning, people will look to you as an example and role model, even on your personal pages; employers and other members in your industry will be checking those as well. Maintaining a good image is ideal–stay away from posting anything to your personal pages may be seen as controversial. Don’t worry if you happen to make the rare typo on a social post, even professionals tend to mess up here and there! However, keep in mind that anything you post on the internet is forever, even if you delete it. Knowing what you are posting and why you are posting is critical to avoid any misconceptions about you or your brand. It’s very easy for people to misconstrue what you’re trying to say.

I always try and think about 5 things before I post:

  • Does it align with my vision?
  • What is the motivation?
  • Will it offend somebody?
  • Will it elevate my brand?

Able To Adapt Independently

Those working on social media work directly with marketing managers, graphic designers, writers, and many other members of their own business and others they collaborate with. However, despite having the title of a “social” media, the job can become quite solitary. It is constantly interacting with individuals, but most decisions are handled on their own. However, even though you are working independently, make sure you are going through the right approval system. Anyone that is taking up a freelance job or taking a job in the industry needs to work as a team.

Being able to adapt, learn and grow as an individual in a constantly evolving social world is incredibly important. As time changes, consumers shift between favoring social platforms more than others. Current events, trends, and the economy all play into what is the best way to grab the attention of a consumer through the digital eye.

Constantly educate yourself by reading articles and blogs relating to the latest updates and tips on social media. Familiarize yourself with the algorithm. Being on top of the latest will fill you with wisdom to grow your audience.

Engage With Your Community

Make sure to react to the comments on your page. If someone leaves a question, make sure to answer! Social followers love seeing responses from their favorite brands. Interaction helps them follow you long term and be an overall more engaged customer.

If you are starting off and looking to grow a community of engaged followers, interacting with other brands in your social community is a great idea as well. Collaborating is an excellent tactic to help bring exposure to you and the other brand at the same time and will help reach a greater audience.

Using ads or purchasing shoutouts from similar accounts is also an excellent way to bring in new followers. However, if you are considering ever receiving a shoutout, make sure the account has real and engaged followers. Due to bots, there are accounts on platforms with hundreds of thousands of fake followers. A good way to check this is the like/follower ratio. For example, if a page with 3,500 followers is receiving an average of 800 likes on each post, that is 22% engagement, which is considered good. If an account with 100,000 followers is receiving 2,000 likes per post, that is 2% engagement, which is not considered good. The account with 100,000 followers likely purchased ghost followers.

Although growing organically on social media is a long process, it is not recommended to take the easy route and purchase followers. In fact, platforms like Instagram are updating their applications to sensor if fake followers or likes have been purchased. Because of this, many accounts that partake in this activity become blocked from posting for weeks and some may be even permanently suspended. Organic followers for the win!

Scooter Note: Being hired as a social media intern at Flying Scooter Productions with 2 years of experience as a Penn State marketing intern (now-turned job), I quickly learned that how you market and present your brand digitally varies based on the platform and time period. When working on social media, remember to remain on top of things; work always takes longer than you initially think. In the end, I have learned so many skills from my experience based on my research and practice in the social world. I am constantly growing and working to keep up with the ever-changing world of social media, and you can too!