Social media is really not that new anymore and the concept of being a social business is now a reality for many. There are many advantages of being a social business and your entire organisation can help communicate your message on behalf of your company and brand. Communication is not only part of the marketing department anymore, but a part of the whole organisation.
It’s a fact that your clients, customers, and prospects expect that they can communicate with your brand on the social web. It’s not a nice to have anymore, but a must have. How do you get started with getting everyone on board in your company to help you with your social media strategy and be transformed it into a social business?
Get top management involved
To adopt social media across your organisation is really not something that can be achieved without the buy in from your stakeholders. This can range from having an agreement with all the various departments management that needs to agree on the real value on how social media will meet their business needs or having sign off from your executive team.
To make this easier for you, illustriate how your competitors are already using social media within their organisation. Show them how social media can be used for external communication like finding new prospects, recruitment, sharing product insights, and keeping your customers informed. You can also demonstrate social media monitoring and highlight all the missed opportunities on the social web. Another great way to showcase social media is to display how conversations can drive thought leadership throughout the company.
Structure a social media team
One of the biggest challenges for companies transforming into a social business is figuring out how to organize all the social media activity when it moves beyond an individual or a team. Most of the time it’s chaos figuring this out as everyone wants to be part of it, but think of it in a structured way. How are you going to turn the chaos in a structure that is coordinated?
Decide who is going to be active on social media and who will be the leaders in managing all the social media activity per department. Who will be expected to engage on the social web on a regular basis and at which level can they engage. Establish goals for each social team and set a couple of milestones to measure their success. You can also outline all the levels of communication that is part of the overall strategy and a plan for your responses.
Social media training
The proper ways and overall etiquette to engage on the social web may change over time. Make sure to have your team equipped with guidance on using the social web, the channels you are using, the best ways to communicate with your target audience, and any insights in the industry can help them both for your network and your company.
How are you going to communicate with your target audience on the social web? Does the teams involved with social media know this? Guide the team on the proper ways to talk to your customers, the tone you are using, and how they should respond.
Do they know what you want to achieve with your social media strategy? The way your HR department uses social media will be different to your marketing team. Have proper training sessions with your staff and explain what is required of them and their role with your campaign.
Don’t stop your campaign halfway
If you are already busy with a social media campaign in your marketing strategy, you most likely know that your team will need ongoing guidance on your plans throughout the campaign. Think of ways you can provide them with guidance on a regular basis to help the overall campaign and strategy you are running.
Provide them with ongoing training on the best ways to use social media and the channels you are using. Create a communication editorial calendar so that they always know what themes you are currently busy with. Also, using a WIKI such as IBM can also help where you publish articles and resources on the latest social media trends, news, how to’s, and resources.
With proper guidance, planning, and organisation, transforming your business into a social business can help you reach your goals and also provide better user experiences to your target audience.
Hi Anton,
I like the part where Top management should play a role in one’s social media
marketing initiatives. As these people will without a doubt be the people that
carries the most information regarding the type of business you are in and
history concerning the brand you are building online via social media marketing
and communication, not to mention being the authoritative person’s that can
take action to quickly and seamlessly as possible resolve social media complaints
queries.
So true Byron. It’s important to get the buy in from the stakeholders.