30 questions to ask before you spend time or money on social media marketing

I haven't promoted the fact that I can work in social media for a long time. I convinced myself that due to an enforced break due to personal circumstances, I was 'out of the loop' when it comes to social media marketing.

I worried that I wasn't up to speed on latest technology, whizzy (does anyone really say whizzy anymore?) new 'hacks' and platforms and that this would hold me back.

I was wrong.

Since being back on LinkedIn 'properly' for around a month or so, I have met people who have told me 'I love what you do.' Unprompted, they have told me how disappointed they are in their social media team and that 'things have got to change.'

There are so many social media companies out there, all claiming their way is the right way, giving conflicting advice.

Your own specific aims and what you want to get out of social media should always be at the forefront of your social media strategy - not jumping on a bandwagon, not sharing 'inspirational quotes' and hoping for the best, not adding emojis because they look nice. . .

Just because someone else is doing something doesn't mean you have to.

Jointly important in my opinion is the amount of thought and skill that goes into what you actually decide to share and engage about on your social media platforms.

This week at a business workshop on setting and achieving goals, a fellow delegate confided his aim of finding the best social media training for him. I opened my mouth and the words: "I can help you" came out.

I thought I'd jot down some pointers to help him get to grips with how to approach social media and how to make sure that there's a clear purpose behind it. For him, this is a daunting task - he doesn't even have a personal facebook page; "I just don't do social media," he said.

My pointers for him have evolved into a list of guidelines I think is important for anyone considering either starting out in their own social media or outsourcing to a team. That's why I'm reproducing my list here in the hope that it may be helpful for those facing a similar challenge.

Accountability is key. Clear direction is vital. Your own unique social media strategy should drive your activity.

The below points are based on my experience and are inspired by a need for clarity, consistency and measurable results. I've led training on LinkedIn, facebook and Twitter - and started back in 2007! Though I haven't been promoting my own social media services for a good while.

The big picture:

1.  How can social media genuinely help your business grow? How can it find you new customers, keep current ones, bring back old ones, increase brand awareness/improve customer service/retention or boost staff morale? How can it get you vital feedback and ‘social proof’?

2. Who are your audience? Where are they on social media?

3.     What needs to be in your social media strategy? 

4.     How does it support your overall marketing strategy or business plan? 

5.     Who will you share your social media strategy with within your company?

6. How will you incentivise staff in different departments to share brilliant ideas for social media?

7. What's the best way of publicising your social media channels elsewhere online, offline and in real life?

The mechanics

8.     What platforms are genuinely best for your business, as opposed to ‘nice to have.’ (My answer: go where your audience is and if you’re not sure of the answer, take some time to do some research.)

9.     How will you measure results? How quickly can you expect to see results? What results matter most to you?

10.     How inventive and creative can you be on social media/can your potential social media team be? Would training in content creation help? What the hell is a hashtag and what is the best way to use one without setting your audience's teeth on edge? 

11.     How relaxed are you about the fact this is ‘social’ media - how good are you at building relationships? Empathy and emotional intelligence are, in my opinion a cornerstone of successful social media - and all too often, lacking. 

12. How much time can you spend nurturing profitable relationships by creating conversation around your content, immersing yourself in other people’s content and being the advocate for them you’d like them to become for you?

13. Is there any point joining groups on social media? Would starting your own be worthwhile?

Content is still king

14. What format will your content take? Video? Text? Uploaded documents? Where will you get photos from and do you know all about copyright law? What about a content calendar to underpin your objectives? What types of content should you post: Calls to action? Photo galleries? Industry news? Why does any of this matter?

15. How will you design/brand your social media pages to maximise impact? 

16. Should your content be planned in advance, and how much should be spontaneous? When is the right time to embrace current trends, or news to make people smile, gain attention, drive engagement? 

17. How often should you post and at what time of day?

18. Should content differ on different platforms? Should you save time by posting exactly the same stuff at the same time? (Opinions differ and for lots of reasons, mine is - no.) Should you be more "professional" in some accounts and more "authentically you" in others? (Ah, now anyone who knows me, I think you can guess my answer. . ,)

19. Do you know about paid reach? Would you opt for sponsored content, boosted posts or ads? 

20. How and when will you answer questions sent to your social media channels? Will you have ‘automatic’ responders set up? What happens to out of hours messages sent about your goods or services?

21. How will you manage multiple platforms if you decide multiple platforms are the right approach for you?

23. What’s the best way of sharing brilliant customer feedback? 

24. How do you deal with negative comments or reviews or even crisis management? What experience does any possible new team have of this?

25. How much will blogging fire up your social media?

Your potential social media team 

26. How can you ensure any outsider you invest in to do your social media knows enough about your business to do it well?

27. What brilliant case studies and testimonials can a potential social media supplier show you from past successes of how their work has made a difference?

27. How is your potential social media manager’s grammar and spelling and how important is this to you? (Not everyone agrees on this, but I’m old school and don’t like seeing people ripped off.) 

28. Can you or your prospective team set aside time to research new developments in social media? Do you have time to try them out? Would you like to be a trailblazer or wait until their worth has been proven?

29 . How often will you liaise with your social media team and what level of communication can you expect in between?

30. Lastly - if you’re hoping to outsource or get to that point - how much do you like the people quoting to support you? If they’re going to be doing *social* media, they should make it easy to strike up a good rapport with hopefully a pretty likeable freelancer or bunch! If they don’t. . . Run!