So you want to manage social media? Maybe you already do but want to get better at it. Me too. It can be a struggle but here is what I’ve learned in my experience!
ORGANIZATION — You must be organized. Take you posts seriously by planning them out a week at a time. Maybe even a month at a time. The social media manager I provide content for at my workplace schedules out posts 2–3 months at a time, and sometimes even longer if we are promoting events. Use tools like Hootsuite or even a spreadsheet to schedule posts. Set reminders to check comments and interactions daily.
Don’t get overwhelmed — it can be easy to get overwhelmed by the constant notifications of social media groups or pages. I co-manage social media accounts with 30,000 followers, but I only check the notifications twice a day. I actually turned off comment and post notifications, like notification, and new follower notifications. from facebook and Instagram. I leave on the message notifications since sometimes those can be more timely than comments. Don’t be concerned about monitoring comments all the time, whatever happens happens. You can’t control everything that happens on social media, so if a nasty comment doesn’t get hidden right away, that is ok. I check notifications at 10AM and 10PM daily. It works best for me.
Be kind and engaging — it can be easy to disregard comments on posts. To ignore the weirdo making silly comments. But it is a good habit to keep up with interactions from you community members. The more your members see you interacting, the more respect your community gains, and the more of an expert you are seen as. Don’t be a jerk. Be kind and use happy and inviting language in your posts. Written language can easily come across stern or rude even if it isn’t meant to.
Be patient — Growing a community is difficult. Especially if it is fresh and new. You have to be patient to let growth happen naturally. It can be discouraging but don’t let the slowness of the growth bother you. Stay on top of the community and stay consistent, consistency is key for new growth.
Be savvy and keep up with trends — You must keep up with the newest trends of social media. Don’t let your content get stale with the lack of newness and fresh content. Be trendy, use modern themes, build on trends to create growth. Use new features on social platforms as they arise.
