We just finished up speaking at the Christian Leadership Alliance conference (CLA) last week. Our class on Social Media ROI was filled with lively discussions and interactive examples.
One of the major conclusions that struck me from our class was how differently organizations incorporate social media into their development and marketing departments.
If you are like most organizations I talk with, you fall into one of two camps:
A: Social Media is one more task to balance on an employee’s already overflowing plate.
OR
B: You have recently hired a social media person or intern and are still trying to figure out the best way to make this person’s time effective.
Either way, discovering ways to make best use of your time spent on social media is worth having a conversation about.
Below are 5 strategies to help you do just that!
1) Know your roles in social media. There is nothing wrong with having one person taking care of the day-to-day interactions and tasks related to social media as long as that person is equipped and supported by others at the organization.
- All e-communication (blog, website, email) needs to be in weekly communication with the social media person to allow all e-methods to support each other.
- Case mangers, field workers, and key volunteers need to have an easy open channel to be able to provide ‘day in the life of’ content for use on social sites.
- Marketing manager, development director, and even senior management need to be aware and involved in listening to what your donors are saying through social channels. They also need to be part of the big picture strategy conversations on the best to make use of social tools to cultivate donors and acquire new ones.
2) Commit to a monthly meeting to review results and create a plan for the following month. This monthly check-in, which we affectionately call the ‘Dipstick’ here at Oneicity, is pertinent to learning and staying on track with your social media goals.
Use this time monthly meeting to review:
- Analytics from your website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
- Online donation giving trends and amounts
- What has been said about your org through social channels
- What copy and photos gave you the best results
- Your strategic plan for the following month?
3) Use scheduling tools to ease some of the day-to-day time spent. I have found scheduling apps to be one of the greatest time-saving tools. These can be used to fill in content while still allowing you to spontaneously post throughout the week as a need arises or a great success story lands at your desk. (Note: write a comment below if you want a recommendation on a great scheduling tool to use!)
4) Create a daily checklist. Even being in the social media world, I am the first to admit that it can suck you in and consume way more time that you had planned. Create a daily checklist to keep you on track with your objectives.
5) Ask: what is the social media component of this? Pull social into all conversations during planning times and creative meetings. Planning an event? Great! How are you going to integrate Twitter? Have a newsletter going in the mail next week? Know how you are going to use that content to share it on Facebook? By making social part of the initial planning conversations you save time in the long run.
And we can all use more time!
What do you think? Do you agree with these 5? Are there other time-saving strategies you have put in place at your organization or company that have been working? Love to hear from you about them.
Lindsey Lind
Social Media Director, Oneicity
(photo credit: images_money)
