Resolve NOT to Set and Forget Your Social Media Channels This Year

  • January 22, 2014
  • Fran Stephenson
  • 2 min read

Do you see a lot of relatively inactive pages and channels in social media?  So many companies start with great enthusiasm, but before too long, they’ve abandoned their Facebook page or forgot their Twitter login or the person who set up the Instagram account has left and no one knows how to open it.  A client once told me: “I just want to build it and then let it run by itself.”

The challenge is that these channels are organic and they change rapidly. To really use social media to engage customers, volunteers, fans or other key stakeholders, you have to be there – preferably with enthusiasm and a plan.Avbandoned on Facebook

Batch Scheduling

Chances are you have other marketing programs in development, some months or even a year in advance.  Consider grouping your content related to those programs in batches to minimize your time commitment.  This works for thinks like changes in hours of operation, events and activities that happen regularly around the holidays and cyclical events like your Spring Clearance or an Easter sale.

Be a Dart Monitor

Set an alarm on your phone or a meeting notice on your desktop or revise the notifications on the channels where you have the most traffic and “dart” in to monitor, respond to comments and resolve issues.  This only works for small pages who are NOT doing their entire customer service outreach on social media channels.  By doing this 2-3 times per day, monitoring becomes part of your daily practice.

Take the Analytics Tonic

There are a LOT of analytics that come with social channels.  Set aside one hour each month to review the analytics, click through all the options and within 2-3 months, you will start to see trends and patterns emerge.  It might even set you on the road to measuring the progress of your social channels.

Find a New Flame

Is it time to add another voice or different thinking into your channel?  This is a sure way to breathe life into a stale FB page or static Pinterest account.

By creating content in batches, monitoring by “darting” into your channels, you won’t have to worry about “setting and forgetting” your social channels again.  If you also take time with analytics and new voices, you might even see your channels grow.

What tools can you share for keeping your social media efforts fresh?