Social Media 2013: Five New Year's Resolutions for Success

As we approach the new year many of us will make New Year’s resolutions, and 36 percent of us will break them by the end of January.  So why not get a head start now on making and implementing those resolutions, while the pressure is off. For instance, if you’ve thought about social media marketing but haven’t jumped in, maybe now is the time to put together a strategy.

By carrying out the following social media marketing (SMM)strategies, you’ll be on your way to a successful new year. Managed services providers (MSPs) can effectively execute SMM by engaging their followers, listening and monitoring, establishing procedures, building a team, and replying to all to comments.

Schedule posts, however, you’re not a genie — There’s nothing wrong with scheduling your posts — as long as you’re lively, too. Often, I will schedule posts throughout the week to develop an outline (for example, I always take into account the upcoming holidays), however, this should not be the only way to update your accounts. Always stay lively by updating your accounts between your scheduled posts.

Listen to and monitor your industry — Try using Hootsuite, SocialMention, and SocialPointer to learn what others are thinking (or saying). Follow industry related hashtags on Twitter to look for new and developing ideas. You never know what you’ll learn through a late night search. To be successful with social media, you need to be in the conversation, but most importantly, understand where the conversation is going.

Establish procedures — Do you currently have standard operating procedures (SOPs) for your social media accounts? Think about what could go wrong, and establish procedures around the possible shortcomings. Remember to update your SOPs when something new comes along. Develop these standards you for your accounts, so that no matter who is in charge of them, the appropriate actions will always be taken.

Building a team of managers — Do you only have one person managing your social media accounts? If so, what’s your reasoning? Try building a team to trigger innovation that could boost your activity on your accounts. New thoughts will bring new ideas to your accounts, resulting in a new following.

Another reason why you’d want to build a team of managers is that it prevents down time that may result out from one absent manager. The more employees that are involved with developing your brand’s image, the less likely you’ll have to worry about an employee destroying it.

Reply to any comments directed to you — Always reply to your followers. Like we’ve said before, social media is about conversation and, most importantly, engagement. Thank your followers for following you, reply to any questions, reply to any comments, and most importantly, respond to any negative feedback. Always look to develop a relationship.

What new SMM strategies will you implement for 2013?