3 Things to Keep in Mind For a Winning Social Media Team
Choosing the right person to run your businesses social media accounts is an important task. Some give the responsibility to younger employees who are social media savvy already to cut down on the learning curve; however, the reliance on inexperienced or junior staff adversely affects a company’s ability to attract and win new customers (as shown on this chart by Act-On Software). This is because important functions like lead generation and lead nurturing which require a deep understanding of buyer personas, compelling content, story-telling skills as well as a solid marketing background cannot be performed by junior staff in most cases.
Like many business decisions, there are a number of criteria to keep in mind when establishing a social media management team. Here are 3 key factors to keep in mind when doing so:
- Writing skills – First and foremost, the person who handles social media accounts needs to be a good writer. Whether they are writing full blog articles or sending tweets, it is important to have someone with excellent writing skills to ensure the correct tone for a business and prevent embarrassing gaffes. Additionally, all writing must be SEO and human friendly copy that will engage those who influence typical buyer personas.
- Clear understanding of the company – In order to most accurately represent a business, the employee or employees in charge of social media must accurately understand the company. They must know as much about the company as possible in order to answer questions, correctly comment on events and most importantly understand the customers and what makes them engage with the brand. Furthermore, they must be clear on the social media goals of the company and what the company is hoping to achieve from these interactions. This understanding must be passed down from the top level of the business in order to be fully realized by all employees.
- Legal/Common Sense – Social media accounts play many roles for a company. Not only are these additional platforms to reach customers with marketing, but many users and businesses use social media as a main form of customer service. With that in mind, it is crucial for the person or team behind a social media campaign to know the boundaries for what they can and can’t say. A big part of this is a company having social media policy in place, but it’s also important to choose someone who has the maturity to handle the job.
When choosing a team or an individual to run the accounts there are many more factors to consider besides age. By taking the time to choose a proper social media management team, businesses will have spare themselves the potential for a PR disaster down the road.
What are some other factors you think are necessary to manage social media campaigns? Let me know in the comments!
