As we have discussed before, you can’t dabble in social media, it is a major time commitment and now more than ever you need to continuously monitor and update your social media activities for success.
To run a successful campaign, follow this basic social media check-list:
- Come up with compelling content
- Create a content plan to manage posting your content
- Be able to share it across all the relevant platforms
- Find people to follow and connect with
- Identify followers who could be clients or referrers and engage with them
- Track what your competitors are doing
- Create campaigns that will build loyalty and engagement e.g. competitions
- Track the results of your campaign
- Ensure social activity is coordinated with other marketing activity
It’s clear from this that to raise your social media presence and deliver the right results is a long-term process and probably needs close to full-time focus. It’s true that great social media doesn’t cost money but as highlighted above, it can cost a lot of time. We are talking about several days a month, not several hours. So what are the options?
- Do all of the above yourself? Not practical is it?
- Hire a marketing or PR agency to run your campaign? Will cost thousands and all you may get is a few posts a day.
- Hire a member of staff? Also expensive. Not if it’s an intern, graduate or apprentice…
Guaranteed all graduates today are social media savvy (more than most working professionals) and they have very hands-on practical experience. A bit of a given really! All you need to do is find the right person for the job, train them about managing your social media campaigns and you will get very cost- effective help. There are many graduates out there who would love professional experience or an internship and what more can you ask for than this mutually beneficial option where you will be helping this person get a foot on the working world ladder and you get a very cost-effective and experienced resource.
There are various schemes to help you hire one. Start by visiting www.apprenticeships.org.uk or you can contact your local university or college and find out about their internship schemes.
So, you see, not only can social media work for you, it is be self-managed and if you plan properly and resource accordingly, it doesn’t need to be a major cost.
Click here to find out more about how an apprentice or intern can work for you >>
