- June 14, 2015
- Posted by: Con P. Sweeney
- Category: Social Media
Are you the type of person who only calls on family and friends when you need something?
You’re probably offended that I’m even asking you this question.
But, please bear with me, there’s a method to my madness.
In daily lives, many of us would never think of only reaching out to our nearest and dearest just when we need something.
Maybe we’re not as frequent as we like but when we do reach out we try to make the conversation about them.
Yet, when it comes to social media, many only turn to it when they need something.
I think we’ve all heard the old line by now about knowing when our friends are worried about their jobs because suddenly there’s a lot of requests for connections on LinkedIn and profiles start getting updated.
Seriously, how often do you reach out to your social media network and is it only when you need something?
Many of you may be experiencing that “Ah hah!” moment right about now!
You’re guilty!
But, don’t despair!
Many of us have been there and, believe it or not, social media is a very forgiving medium!
Corrective action is possible.
You just have to start somewhere and grow from there in a disciplined manner.
What’s discipline?
Post periodically and not too infrequently. (i.e., Once a year is definitely not frequently enough!)
Be consistent with your content and your format.
Use a combination of your own original content and reshared content from others.
Be relevant to the needs and interests of your community.
Put in a process in place to interact with a community.
Use a checklist for all your principle tasks and use an editorial calendar.
Don’t worry about posting to all your social media channels at the outset but do try to at least cross post.
There are other good behaviors too for someone who is engaged with their social media community.
Answering comments on your posts promptly is a great start!
Comment on the work of others and share it with your following.
Give more than you take. (An informal rule of thumb is to share four pieces of content with interesting material for every one request that your make of your audience.)
Avoid “me-too-ism!”
In other words, don’t just mindlessly reshare content that has already been shared many times already without adding something new.
In closing, just remember these points.
Remember to engage with your social media community regularly.
Add value.
Think what would you like to see if you were in the community.
(And if your first thought is funny pictures of cats, scratch that one and move onto the next thought!)
That’s it for now!
In the meantime, thank you for following and reading my blog!
I look forward to any and all comments that you may have. I will reply to any comments made to this blog post as promptly as I can.
Remember!
I do this for a living and if I can be of any assistance to either you or your organization, please feel free to call on me. Our initial discussion will be of no charge to you.
I can also be reached at conpsweeney@someddi.com.
My Twitter handle is @conpsweeney.
Stay well!