A lot of writing, research and education go into being a great social media manager. It is more than writing content, posting on social media and engaging with the audience. A great social media manager lives in a fluid situation, stays on top of trends and adapts to provide the best services to their client or employer. Being proactive instead of reactive is the name of the game when it comes to keeping up with all the changes in social media marketing. Follow these tips to transcend from a “good” social media manager – to a GREAT one!
Network: Find other social media managers and network with them. Share your war stories and pool your knowledge. Just like parenting, it takes a village sometimes to find out the best way to tame a social media platform. A colleague may have an answer for your social media challenge and vice versa. Having a vast network of confidants is key to keeping up with the fast changes in the world of social media marketing.
READ, READ, READ: Find informative blogs and read them. Brand24 put together a great list of blogs on all things social media:
Mashable
Social Media Examiner
CopyBlogger
Hubspot
Google – if you use Google Adwords/Analytics this is a must. Google is constantly changing.
Follow Informative Blogger’s Twitter: Using keywords creates a Twitter stream just for social media by following the blogs listed above. As you find more information blogs, add them to this stream. Utilizing Twitter is a great shortcut to quickly seeing various topics on social media changes that pertain to your business.
Set up Google Alerts: Google is an excellent tool for all social media management needs, and Google Alerts is one of them. Use the same keywords you did for your Twitter filter; set these same keywords in Google Alerts to receive alerts. You will receive a notification straight to your email. It may seem repetitive, but it will lower the chances of missing something vital. Think of it as having a second alarm clock across the room to make sure you get up in time to catch your early morning flight.
Utilize your Feedly Account: Again, set up the same keyword alerts in Feedly as you have on Google and Twitter. You should be using this platform daily to research content so having a keyword search already set up makes sense. The more research outlets you have with alerts, the less likely you will miss a significant update regarding social media marketing.
If your current social media manager is not doing these crucial steps to stay educated, it is a matter of time before your social media marketing begins to suffer. Being informed of changes is as important as content and analytics. Do yourself and your business a favor by having a full-time employee or outsourcing social media management services so your business can reach its full potential online. Social media is part of the marketing world we live in and to be relevant, your business needs to have a daily online presence.