You’ve been toying with the idea of launching social media accounts for your organization, but haven’t gotten around to it

OR…

You have at least one social media account, but it’s not actively managed, and you’re not sure what to do with it

AND…

Now that the coronavirus has forced many organizations and individuals to work remotely and shelter within their homes, you know it’s time to dedicate the effort to establishing your social media brand and create a plan for how to effectively use it to meet your goals.

BUT…

You have no idea where to begin. I’m here to help you out this 10-step process to getting started on social media basics:

Step 1: Determine who your target audience is

Who is your ideal customer? If you haven’t already used the data you have on your existing or desired customers to create an audience persona, now would be the time to do so. Important characteristics to include are age, race, location, income, interests, etc. Use any data you have available to flesh out as full of a profile as possible.

Step 2: Establish goals for what you hope to accomplish by using social media

In today’s world, it’s vital to have an online presence. But you need to go further than a general, “we should be on social media” or you’ll have no way of knowing how to measure the success of your efforts. Items to consider:

• Do you want to bring in new customers or communicate to and with existing connections?

• Are you interested in positioning your organization as a thought leader?

• Do you want social media to drive sales directly or are you more interested in enhancing your brand?

• What have organizations similar to yours done in the social media space and did you view that as a positive or negative?

Step 3: Use the audience persona and goals you created to figure out the social media platform(s) your desired audience is most likely to use

Here’s a handy snapshot of the 2020 demographics of popular platforms from Sprout Social (Note: does not include TikTok). Determine which platforms your ideal customer is likely to be on, and which of those will provide you with the best opportunity to reach your goals.

Step 4: Select one or two of the social media platforms to participate in

Effective social media takes both time and effort. Don’t stretch yourself too thin, especially when you’re just getting started. It is better to have an active, curated presence on a limited number of channels as compared to stagnant accounts on multiple platforms.

Step 5: Dedicate an individual to be the “owner” of the social media accounts

Social media is not a one-way street, where you send out messages into the void without interaction. Someone needs to be in charge of posting content, responding and interacting with the public, monitoring activity, and tracking metrics. This may or may not be the same individual(s) you have working on creating content, although they should clearly work closely together. It should also be an individual whose judgement you trust. While interns can be valuable in providing insight into younger audiences and newer social media channels, please don’t have them be the owner of your accounts.

Step 6: Decide on an organizational social media voice

How do you want to be perceived by your audience? Create a list of three to five adjectives that you would like your organization to be described as, and then design your social media content to reflect that.

Step 7: Craft a posting schedule that realistically reflects the time, finances, and effort your organization can dedicate to social media

There are SO MANY articles online about the ideal social media posting frequency, but the reality is every brand and every audience is different. What’s most important when you’re starting out on social media is consistency. If your organization has been following these steps, you’re already decided what platform to focus on, and now you need to determine what posting frequency you can support and maintain.

Step 8: Create a content calendar

No content, no social media presence. Don’t put yourself in a position to be scrambling for content right off the bat. Take the time to brainstorm topics, create evergreen posts, and pull together existing content that can be repurposed. If your organization is larger, engage employees from multiple departments in the content creation. Not only will this get you more varied content, but it will also help increase employee buy-in. While social media is dynamic, and your calendar will need to be updated, I recommend having at least a month of content before you launch your social media presence.

Your content should reflect the social media platform you have chosen to use. Visuals and video can help drive engagement on all social media platforms, but are essential for some platforms.

Step 9: Evaluate the analytics, and adapt

If you’ve opted to use a social media management system (the majority of which offer free trials), you will likely have access to a more robust set of analytics. However, if you’re just starting out, you may have opted not to invest in a system yet. Not to worry – you can still pull data from individual social media platforms. Make a plan to do so on a regular basis, track changes, and evaluate what is working for your specific audience. Then, adapt and measure again.

Step 10: Explore whether it makes sense for your organization to use paid opportunities

Once you have a baseline of how your social media content is doing organically, it’s time to evaluate whether paid opportunities make sense for your organization. Base this decision on your organization’s goals, specific audience, and available budget. Start small, and test different approaches before committing to a full campaign.

Have money, but not time? Want someone to help walk you through the process? Hire a consultant (shameless self-promotion!) that can help launch, improve, or manage your social media brand and ensure that it enhances and complements your broader communication efforts.