Avoiding Social Media Overload
by Helen Rodriguez
As the power of social media continues to grow, more companies are acknowledging the many ways in which social media can help raise brand awareness and connect with key audiences.
But the social media landscape can be overwhelming when not approached strategically. New networks and applications are introduced daily and existing social networks are changing regularly. So, what can companies do to implement an effective social media campaign despite an overload of networks?
Establish Goals and Set a Trial Date
As with any good communications plan, the first step when entering the social media arena should be to identify objectives and goals. Does the organization want to raise awareness of a brand or product? Does it want to drive people to its website? Identifying these goals will help define which social media networks to use and how to use them.
A deadline should also be determined to evaluate efforts and see if they are meeting the established goals. As with traditional public relations and marketing, social media efforts should be making an impact and providing a good return on investment of time and resources. Track activity within each social network as a barometer of success. How many fans and followers have been accumulated? How many new connections have been made on LinkedIn? At the end of three months, evaluation of the social media programs should be conducted to see if they are paying off.
Finding Friends and Fans
In the United States alone, there are millions of people participating in social networks. Some estimates put the tally as high as 80 percent of the population. This raises the question of how to find customers and fans online without getting completely overwhelmed.
A good place to start recruiting is looking to established customers and fans. Companies can add a link to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts to their website’s homepage, add data collection fields for Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to their “Contact Us” form and include links to relevant social networks in all marketing materials. These are all easy ways to gain new friends and fans without having to spend time searching for them.
FlowTown is one of several emerging programs that allow users to enter an email address and get back a wealth of information including Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts associated with that email address. It may seem a bit cumbersome and time-consuming, but it is actually a quick and easy way to find out where customers and prospects are engaging in social media.
Social Media is a Party
The crux of most successful social media plans is conversation. Interacting with fans and prospects on social networks is similar to interacting with them at a cocktail party – one must listen, interact and entertain. Keeping up with the conversation can be a little daunting at times, but there are a multitude of third-party applications that help.
For Twitter, programs like HootSuite and Tweetdeck help monitor conversations, track results, schedule tweets and interact with followers. Twitter itself offers a comprehensive search function that allows users to view recent Tweets with specific search words.
If engaging over multiple social media platforms, a good way to save time is to combine all social media profiles using a third-party application like Seesmic or Atomkeep. These programs allow users to sync up all their social media profiles so they only have to sign in to one website to monitor and interact on all their networks.
When approached strategically and armed with the right tools, the large, ever-changing world of social media can become less daunting and easier to manage. A company can make the most of their social media presence, without getting overwhelmed, by setting goals and a timeline for the project, finding friends and fans by tapping existing networks and monitor the conversation using useful, user-friendly third party applications.