social media roundup - 5 tricks of the trade: doing more with less

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Social Media Roundup 5 Tricks of the Trade: Doing More With Less Managing a social media program with limited resources

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In this week's Social Media Roundup we give five tricks of the trade that will help people manage a social media program with limited resources. One of the more common arguments made against starting and maintaining a social media program is the lack of manpower. Many people are tasked with running a social media program as an additional task, so resources and time are often limited. This roundup will examine ways that you can do more with less while still creating a successful social media program.

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Page 1: Social Media Roundup - 5 Tricks of the Trade: Doing More With Less

Social Media Roundup

5 Tricks of the Trade: Doing More With Less

Managing a social media program with limited resources

Page 2: Social Media Roundup - 5 Tricks of the Trade: Doing More With Less

Social Media Roundup

AgendaThis week’s Social Media Roundup lists 5 steps to executing a social media program with limited manpower and resources.

• Introduction• Step 1: Set the Stage• Step 2: Find Your Contacts• Step 3: Plan Ahead• Step 4: Use the Tools• Step 5: Evaluate and Adjust

Page 3: Social Media Roundup - 5 Tricks of the Trade: Doing More With Less

Social Media Roundup

It only takes one One of the more common

arguments made against starting and maintaining a social media program is the lack of manpower.

Many people are tasked with running a social media program as an additional task, so resources and time are often limited.

While it may seem daunting, operating a social media program can be done with only one person. Here are five tips that can help you succeed.

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Social Media Roundup

Step 1: Setting the Stage Jumping in and executing a social media program with no preparation is

unrealistic, especially if you’re on your own. It takes some planning. Setting goals, outlining a specific social media plan and drafting guidelines

before launching a social media program is critical. Proper pre-planning also saves you headaches down the road when you’re

entrenched in the day-to-day execution of the plan.

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Social Media Roundup

Step 1: Setting the Stage Before you get started on drafting a plan and social

media guidelines, it’s important to research social media guidance and regulations.

It’s important to know where you want to go and what you plan to achieve with social media. Only then can you analyze the available social media platforms and determine which will work best for your organization.

Know and understand the themes and messages of your organization. Make sure that “nesting” and placing these messages is one of your social media goals.

Once goals are set and you’ve built a list of social media objectives, you’re ready to draft your social media plan/strategy.

The Army has social media strategies for all the major platforms and they can be reviewed on the Army’s Slideshare site: http://www.slideshare.net/usarmysocialmedia

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Social Media Roundup

Step 1: Setting the Stage Before you establish and launch your

social media presences, it’s important to have guidelines in place for each platform.

For example, if you plan to allow people to submit photos for publication on a Flickr account, you should have submission guidelines. For Facebook, there should be posting guidelines in place.

Visitors to your social media sites should understand what they can and cannot do. This not only protects your organization, but it protects the individual user as well.

For an example of Facebook posting guidelines, check out the Army’s Facebook Page: http://on.fb.me/fxHNQz

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Social Media Roundup

Step 2: Find Your Contacts Social media is about communication, so why wouldn’t you do that before you

start your social media program? In a social media team with limited man-power, communication is key.

Social media managers can not be everywhere at once, but they are often expected to post around the clock when events come up.

Reach out to members of your organization and other organizations and make them aware of your organization’s social media program.

Connecting with these people beforehand and establishing relationships can help you generate content for social media sites down the road. The more people who know your name, the better off you are.

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Social Media Roundup

Step 3: Plan Ahead It’s important to draft a

posting strategy each week. This plan lays out everything that will be posted on social media assets during a given week.

A detailed social media posting plan saves time, keeps you organized and it identifies your organization’s focus areas.

This can also serve to allow your command or supervisor to approve proposals prior to posting.

Templates for both weekly and single event social media planning are available on the Army’s Slideshare site: http://www.slideshare.net/usarmysocialmedia

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Social Media Roundup

Step 3: Plan Ahead To produce an effective weekly social media strategy, you have to be aggressive in

searching for relevant and purposeful content. Reach out to subject matter experts in your unit, attend planning meetings, scan

calendars, watch other units and their social media assets and keep your eyes and ears open.

As a social media manager, it is often your job to be on top of everything that’s going on in your unit, so you need to be present when plans are made.

It’s important to show the value of social media. If you demonstrate the reach of social media and establish credibility, people will eventually come to you with content.

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Social Media Roundup

Step 4: Use the Tools If you’re expected to attend planning

meetings, cover unit activities, communicate with subject matter experts and draft social media plans, when are you going to find time to post content to your social media platforms?

It’s a good question, and even larger social media teams have trouble balancing everything, but there are resources that can help take the stress away from social media.

There are dozens of resources that can help you schedule Tweets, Facebook posts and blog posts so that they go up without requiring you to be tied to a computer.

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Social Media Roundup

Step 4: Use the Tools Social media dashboards

can be incredibly valuable. Resources like Hootsuite,

CoTweet and TweetDeckcan help you update, monitor, manage and maintain several social media platforms at once.

These resources can also help you schedule Tweets and posts in advance and also help you measure the success of your social media efforts.Above are screenshots of Hootsuite. This application and

several others like it allow you to track your social media feeds, track @mentions, develop lists, schedule tweets and posts while also tracking metrics and analytics.

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Social Media Roundup

Step 4: Use the Tools Posting and following the conversation is a big part of social media, but it’s also

important to stay up-to-date on the latest social media news. It’s valuable to set up a RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed. A RSS feed is used

to publish frequently updated works like blog entries and news headlines in a standardized format. RSS readers like Google Reader (lower left) can keep you up-to-date on the latest tech news. Other resources like Addict-o-matic (lower right) which allow you to create a custom search page for any topic of interest.

Staying on top of the latest tech news and news about your organization will keep you ahead of the game.

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Social Media Roundup

Step 5: Evaluate and Adjust Social media is a two-way street. It’s

important to listen to feedback and track metrics. This helps determine if your messages are resonating with the public.

Take advantage of organic metric tools to evaluate how successful you are in your social media efforts. Listen to the conversation and watch what’s being said in comment sections on your social media platforms.

By listening to the conversation and tracking metrics you can gain insight and discover ways to improve your social media efforts.

Social media is always evolving, so experiment with new methods and ask your followers for suggestions on how to improve.

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Social Media Roundup

Contact informationHave questions? Please feel free to reach out to us at the Online and Social Media Division

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF PUBLIC AFFAIRSPENTAGON

3/2/2011

Email:[email protected]

To review and download past editions of the Social Media Roundup, visit our Slideshare site at: http://www.slideshare.net/usarmysocialmedia.All Social Media Roundups are authorized to be distributed to a broader audience.