YouTube At A Crossroads: Social Media Network or Streaming Service?
As our teams dove into Q4 research at the beginning of the year, we notice that our data partner, GWI (formerly known as GlobalWebIndex), recently moved YouTube out of the ‘social media network’ category and into the ‘streaming service’ category.
We asked one of our representatives what prompted the move, and the GWI research team replied with the following: We reviewed the social media questions last year and felt that the landscape had changed since they were first introduced in 2013 and that YouTube would now fit more comfortably into the TV, film and video services.
This decision had our team heavily weighing which category was more appropriate for the company.
Could they be both? More importantly, could they be successful in both?
Is YouTube aware they’re being categorized as a streaming service and is that their intention?
YouTube quickly became the most popular online video platform and revolutionized video hosting on the Web. The success of YouTube subsequently led to several similar online video streaming platforms, from companies such as Netflix and Hulu.
YouTube As A Social Media Network
Even with GWI moving YouTube to the streaming services category, a lot of its core functionality and features (including new ones they’ve recently rolled out) are very social media-centric. Let’s take a look-see at these features, shall we?
Community Tab
This YouTube feature allows you to socially engage with your audience away from the videos and content that you upload. However, the Community Tab is only available to creators who have 1000 or more subscribers. You can engage with your audience in the form of status updates, subscriber polls, and Q&As.
YouTube Stories
Stories is a collection of short videos that last for seven days, well, until you save them. As a competitor to IG/FB and Snapchat stories, this fantastic feature is only available to creators with 10,000 or more subscribers.
Stories are available only on the YouTube mobile app, where they appear on the stories page on the creator’s channel.
YouTube Shorts
Shorts allow you to create 15-second-long videos and add fantastic music tracks. While launching BETA in the U.S, the company’s product lead in Shorts pointed out: We really want to create a playground of creativity here where we give creators the raw materials to produce great videos.
The company forecasts a dedicated Shorts tab; in the meantime, the feature will live on a carousel on the home tab of the mobile YouTube app.
As a competitor to TikTok and IG Reels, Shorts is a new avenue for the next generation of creators to emerge.
Engagement Features
All social media networks have one thing in common; user – subscribers, in the case of YouTube – engagement.
YouTube allows subscribers to like, dislike, share, and save videos of their liking. Additionally, and most importantly, audiences can comment on videos, a feature that streaming services don’t have.
Subscriber Notifications
Notifications are a great way to help audiences and subscribers track and stay engaged with you. However, too many notifications can be annoying right? This can prompt subscribers to turn off the notifications altogether. Therefore, the company has limited notifications to three for new video uploads and one community post for three days.
Your subscribers won’t get all your notifications by hitting the ‘subscribe’ button; instead, they should manually hit the bell icon next to the subscribe button.
Creator-Centric Platform
Since its inception, YouTube has and continues to play a vital role in the influencer marketing world. The company has created various avenues for creators to earn from their content. Some of them are;
- YouTube Partner Programs (YPP) – grants creators access to YouTube’s resources, such as the YouTube support team. The program enables creators to earn through features such as;
- Ad revenue
- Channel memberships
- Super chat and super sticker
- Merch (merchandise) shelf
- YouTube premium revenue
If you think your channel is ready to earn you some bucks, head over and take the YPP creator course.
- YouTube Premiers – joins you and your audiences to allow you all to watch and enjoy a newly uploaded video together at a scheduled time. You can create and share a public watch page ahead of the video premiere.
- Live Streaming –enables you to engage with your audience in real-time through chats, polls, Q&A, and video feed. It transforms a video feed into an interactive and fun activity.
- Media Buying Platform – makes it easy for any creator to run ads on the network.
YouTube As A Streaming Service
On the other hand, several unique features support the argument that YouTube is a streaming service;
YouTube Original Series
These are shows, series, movies, and events produced by YouTube. Some of these series are exclusive to YouTube Premium or YouTube TV subscribers, while others are free. However, free viewing comes with running ads, and only select episodes may be available for streaming at particular times.
YouTube Premium
At only $11.99 per month, you get to enjoy;
- Ad-free content, including YouTube Original Series
- Download videos for offline viewing when you are preparing those delicious cookies
- YouTube Music Premium offers uninterrupted music from all your favorite artists. The cherry on top, your location data enables the feature to play location-related music. For instance, if you are working out, you can listen to workout music only. Sounds cool, right?
- Video background plays when you open another app on your mobile device.
YouTube TV
This feature allows you to stream live TV from more than 85 top entertainment channels, shows, news, and live sports. You can stream through a host of supported devices such as smart TVs, media players, game consoles, computers, and mobile devices.
At $64.99 monthly, you can record without storage limits, no extra hardware such as cable boxes, and you get six accounts.
There you go, so is YouTube a social media network or a streaming service?
Looking at YouTube as a whole company, the move by GWI to the ‘TV, film and video services’ category may make sense. However, we can’t overlook the YouTube app’s numerous features and functionalities that support YouTube as a social media network.
Keep your social teams up to date on the latest YouTube strategies and overall social media marketing news and trends by subscribing to our newsletter below.
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The discard pile
Walking away from something that we’re used to, even if it’s unjust or inefficient or ineffective–it usually takes far too long. Fear, momentum and the status quo combine to keep us stuck.
And so it builds up. The cruft calcifies and it gets in our way, making our world smaller, our interactions less human. What used to be normal is rejected and obsolete. It turns out that the status quo is the status quo because it’s good at sticking around.
But brave people stand up and speak up and take action. And far too slowly, the system starts to change.
Sunk costs are real, but we must ignore them. Culture changes, our standards evolve, opportunities arise.
Better is possible… if we care enough to walk away from what was and brave enough to build something new.
The Chris Voss Show Podcast – Children Under Fire: An American Crisis by John Woodrow Cox
Children Under Fire: An American Crisis by John Woodrow Cox
One of The New York Times’ 16 New Books to Watch for in March
One of Publishers Weekly’s Most Anticipated Books of the Year
One of Newsweek’s Most Highly Anticipated Books of The Year
One of Buzzfeed’s Most Anticipated Books the Year
Based on the acclaimed series—a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize—an intimate account of the devastating effects of gun violence on our nation’s children, and a call to action for a new way forward
In 2017, seven-year-old Ava in South Carolina wrote a letter to Tyshaun, an eight-year-old boy from Washington, DC. She asked him to be her pen pal; Ava thought they could help each other. The kids had a tragic connection—both were traumatized by gun violence. Ava’s best friend had been killed in a campus shooting at her elementary school, and Tyshaun’s father had been shot to death outside of the boy’s elementary school. Ava’s and Tyshaun’s stories are extraordinary, but not unique. In the past decade, 15,000 children have been killed from gunfire, though that number does not account for the kids who weren’t shot and aren’t considered victims but have nevertheless been irreparably harmed by gun violence.
In Children Under Fire, John Woodrow Cox investigates the effectiveness of gun safety reforms as well as efforts to manage children’s trauma in the wake of neighborhood shootings and campus massacres, from Columbine to Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Through deep reporting, Cox addresses how we can effect change now, and help children like Ava and Tyshaun. He explores their stories and more, including a couple in South Carolina whose eleven-year-old son shot himself, a Republican politician fighting for gun safety laws, and the charlatans infiltrating the school safety business.
In a moment when the country is desperate to better understand and address gun violence, Children Under Fire offers a way to do just that, weaving wrenching personal stories into a critical call for the United States to embrace practical reforms that would save thousands of young lives.
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Ending it gracefully
Just about every business, every initiative and every intervention fails sooner or later.
Since that’s demonstrably true, it’s worth considering how you intend to fail when the time comes.
You can pull out every stop, fight every step of the way, mortgage your house and your reputation–and still fail. Or, perhaps, you can quit in a huff at the first feeling of frustration.
The best path is clearly somewhere between the two. And yet, too often, we leave this choice unexamined. Deciding how and when to quit before you begin is far easier and more effective than making ad hoc decisions under pressure.
The Chris Voss Show Podcast – Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done by Adrian Gostick, Chester Elton
Anxiety at Work: 8 Strategies to Help Teams Build Resilience, Handle Uncertainty, and Get Stuff Done by Adrian Gostick, Chester Elton
Executive coaches and #1 bestselling authors of All In and The Carrot Principle offer insight and advice in this practical eight-step guide both managers and employees can use to reduce work anxiety in the office and at home.
Have you ever dreaded Sunday night, got a pit in your stomach on the way to work, or had your heartbeat speed up at the sound of your boss’s voice? If so, you may have had anxiety at work. In this empathetic and wise guide, executive coaches and gurus of gratitude Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton explore the causes of workplace stress and anxiety and the management practices that have proven successful in reducing tension and cultivating calm.
If you’re a manager, how do you keep up with demands while creating a stress-free work atmosphere? How can you spot rising anxiety levels in your people? If your employees feel overwhelmed or worried about the future, what can you do to ease their concerns? How do you engage in productive conversations about emotions in uncertain times? Anxiety at Work builds on the authors’ vast knowledge and experience working with the leadership teams of some of the world’s most successful organizations to offer effective strategies that can make any workplace better, helping supervisors and their employees:
Weather uncertainty
Balance overload
Beat perfectionism
Build confidence
Create and sustain an environment that fosters resilience
Strengthen strong social bonds
In today’s volatile, fast-paced, and ever-changing global climate, organizations and their employees are under more pressure than ever to perform. Anxiety at Work shows how everyone at all levels can work together to build an environment that fosters camaraderie, productivity, and calm.
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The Chris Voss Show Podcast – Remote, Inc.: How to Thrive at Work . . . Wherever You Are by Robert C. Pozen, Alexandra Samuel
Remote, Inc.: How to Thrive at Work . . . Wherever You Are by Robert C. Pozen, Alexandra Samuel
You can thrive and excel when you’re working remotely, if you adopt the mindset, habits and tech tools of professionals who are even more productive outside the office: Learn to think like a “business of one,” and that entrepreneurial mindset will transform your experience of remote work.
Remote work can be satisfying and productive—once you craft a strategy that taps into the unique advantages of working from home. After a year in which many of us plunged into remote work overnight, we finally have a chance to make thoughtful choices about how to combine remote and office work, and how to make the most of our days at home.
Remote, Inc. gives you the strategies and tools you need to make remote work a valuable part of your renewed working life. Learn how to…
Gain control over how and when you work by focusing on objectives, not the 9-to-5 workday.
Wow your managers by treating them like valued clients.
Beat information overload by prioritizing important emails and messages.
Make online meetings purposeful, focused and engaging.
Build great relationships with your colleagues—whether at the next desk, or another city.
Find a balance between work from home, and life at home.
Make a remote work plan that lets you get the best from time at the office—and the best of home.
Remote, Inc. takes you inside the mindset and habits of people who flourish while working outside the office some or all of the time: people who function like a “business of one”. That’s how productivity experts Robert C. Pozen and Alexandra Samuel describe the mindset that lets people thrive when they’re working remotely, whether full-time or in combination with time at the office. You can follow their lead by embracing the work habits and independence of a small business owner—while also tapping into the benefits of collegiality and online collaboration.
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5 Tips for Perfecting Your Business Strategy on Pinterest
Last month, Pinterest hosted the first-ever Pinterest Presents summit for advertisers that included some promising news for the platform’s future, such as seeing a global audience growth of 40% year-over-year in 2020 for two unexpected demographics, Gen Z and men. Even more exciting, the platform announced a new enhanced conversion analysis dashboard coming later this year.
While these announcements are exciting, it’ll still be a few months until you can leverage the new dashboard and other upcoming features. In the meantime, our expert strategist at Ignite Social Media has broken down five tactics you can leverage right now to enhance your business strategy on Pinterest.
1. Optimize for Mobile
Pinterest has shared that 85% of Pinners are actively saving pins on the mobile app, so it’s important that your creative team is developing Pinterest visuals with a mobile-first mindset. That means tailoring your font sizes and styles to make sure they are legible on small screens and testing graphics and videos to ensure they’re not blurry or cut off by a vertical aspect ratio. This doesn’t just apply to organic pins that your brand is publishing but your advertising strategy as well. Make sure your Pinterest Ads are targeting mobile devices so you’re not missing audiences.
Also, channel specs change all the time (much to our dismay), but it’s important to keep up with these changes. Here’s a shortcut to the latest and greatest Pinterest specs your teams should be utilizing.
2. Leverage Shoppable Features
It’s no secret that online shopping increased last year as consumers were home-ridden during the pandemic. That said, Pinterest shopping specifically grew 50% in the first half of 2020. What’s more, if you’re targeting a U.S. audience, half of U.S. Pinterest users are shopping on the platform. So, if you’re not taking advantage of the shoppable features this platform provides, it’s time to start.
Here’s a cheat-sheet of current shoppable features on Pinterest:
- Product Pins: This asset leads people directly to your website where they can purchase the product. The pin itself features price, availability, and product title and description.
- Product Tagging: A recently improved tool that allows merchants the ability to tag exact products within an image, and more than one product in a single Pin.
- Catalogs: An aggregate of shoppable Product Pins where audiences can see more than just one product at a time. See if Catalogs are right for your brand here.
- Storefronts: A new way for audiences to discover your brand and easily shop your products, as recommended merchant profiles are served to audiences when they’re searching for shopping-related content. Storefronts are presented through the “shop” tab on your brands profile that features in-stock products organized by category.
- Shoppable Ads: Through either Shopping Ads or Personalized Collections Ads, you can promote your product groups through the catalog sales objective in Pinterest’s Ads Manager.
3. Utilize Keywords Properly
Keyword optimizations are a bigger part of your Pinterest business strategy than you know, especially since Google also indexes Pinterest and serves up relevant Pins within a user’s search. What’s more, 97% of top-searched pins are unbranded, meaning searchers aren’t using brand names in search queries. So there’s a big opportunity available to brands who do the right research and program their Pins properly.
For assistance with this type of optimization, we recommend using guided search, Pinterest Predicts, or Keyword Pin Buying. Later this year Pinterest will also be rolling out an interactive trends tool, but until then the aforementioned tactics can be extremely helpful.
4. Use the Right Ad Units
We’ve mentioned a few different ways you can leverage ads on Pinterest already, but as the paid media landscape gets more and more competitive, ads are going to become more expensive. Ensuring you’re spending your media dollars wisely and on the most effective ad units is important.
While there are five different ad formats currently available on Pinterest, it’s worth noting that video content continues to be on the rise (both organically and via paid). Recent research shows pinners are 2.6X more likely to make a purchase after viewing brand video content, and Pinterest plans to release Pinterest Premiere later this year, which will enable advertisers to purchase exclusive video placement in the home feed for a specific demographic, interest, or category for a designated time frame.
5. Ensure Content is Inspirational, Attainable, and Positive
It’s important that the visuals and content you’re publishing on Pinterest follow all three principles outlined above. Users are searching for inspiration on how to do something (how to decorate a room, cook a certain meal, prepare for an event, etc.), and they’re most interested in content that they believe they can realistically achieve. Because of that, leveraging User Generated Content (UGC) or Influencer Content can be a great tactic to ensure you’re not promoting content that may be interpreted as unfeasible.
Additionally, after this past year, many social media platforms have been making efforts to ensure their platforms create a positive experience for their users. Pinterest naturally fits into this category as 8 out of 10 people who use Pinterest says it makes them feel positive. So, make sure your content is designed similarly and meshes well with other positive content on the platform.
BONUS: Make Sure Content is Inclusive and Accessible
While this is our final piece of advice within this post, it shouldn’t be the last thing your teams think about. As you know, Pinterest is primarily a visual app, yet 2.2B people worldwide have a vision impairment or experience blindness. Because of this, it’s important your content is accessible to all audiences and leverage native tools that enable your content to be experienced properly by all.
I hope the above recommendations help get your business strategy on track for 2021, and that the upcoming additions to the platform prove to be even more beneficial. However, if your social media team is looking for assistance with optimizing your Pinterest business strategy, contact us for assistance. Our team is Pinterest Certified and happy to assist.
Additionally, keep yourself up-to-date on new Pinterest tools and features, as well as other trends in the social media marketing space by subscribing to our e-newsletter below.
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Updated Survey: How Social Media Behaviors Evolved Due to COVID-19
2020 will forever be known as the year that everything changed. A global pandemic, a Presidential election, numerous social justice movements, and more led to a slew of changes to how Americans live their everyday lives… including our social media behaviors.
About one month into nationwide lockdowns, our team at Ignite Social Media conducted a survey of over 600 consumers to gauge their opinions on social media marketing tactics and how their social behaviors had changed. Today, we’re announcing the results of a follow-up survey of another 1,000 consumers to see how social media behaviors shifted as a result of the pandemic and other major events that unfolded over the past 12 months.
Key Takeaways:
- Audiences are much more comfortable with brands running advertisements on social media today than they were in the early days of the pandemic.
- Audiences were more prone to joining new groups on social media at the start of the pandemic compared to now.
- Of those audiences that joined new groups throughout the year, Gen Z’s main motivation was to stay connected to people, while Millennials joined to keep up to date on COVID-19 information.
- Over the course of the year, some audiences have been more willing to try out new networks with Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok leading the pack.
- Audiences are creating less content across social media today.
- Audiences are most likely to unfollow a brand or influencer for publishing content that implies a political stance the user disagrees with.
Advertising on Social Can Resume as Normal, Barring Major Events
When the pandemic originally took hold of the country, most marketers began to question if they should be running ads on social media. It was a very valid question at the time, and in our original survey 2/3 of respondents said they thought it was ok for some brands to continue advertising.
Today, our latest group of survey respondents agree that not only was it ok brands run ads during the pandemic, but the majority (80%) are comfortable with brands running ads right now. About a fourth of those who are comfortable with ads feel there are still some restrictions brands should be mindful of, for example, only running ads if their product is essential or if the message is sensitive.
That said, there are still going to be case-by-case scenarios where brands need to evaluate pausing social media ads, pandemic or not. When a critical event occurs, such as a mass shooting or a natural disaster, an evaluation needs to be quickly conducted and a modified strategy rolled out to your social channels. We recommend you review the following post for guidance on best practices when temporarily pausing your advertising efforts.
Group Usage Isn’t as Prominent in 2021, But Motivations Changed
While networks like Facebook and LinkedIn continue to put more emphasis on group features within their platforms, not many audiences are looking to leverage these assets. In both surveys we conducted, over 70% of respondents hadn’t joined any new groups as a result of the pandemic. This increased by 15% with our latest survey (81.4%).
Of those audiences that were joining groups, we saw some interesting shifts in the data when it came to different generations and their motivations. Originally, our Gen Z age bracket was 2X more likely than other generations to join groups to keep up with COVID-19 information. Our latest survey shows that’s no longer the case, and that this same generation is now 3X as likely to join a new group to stay connected with others. It’s now our oldest generation that’s nearly 3X as likely to join a group to keep up with COVID-19 info, which makes sense as this age bracket’s health is more at risk than others.
Consumers Somewhat Open to Trying New Platforms
Our 2020 survey results showed the majority of respondents hadn’t ventured on to any new networks (70.4%) which has barely decreased (69%) in our latest survey. That said, of those audiences that have chosen to explore other platforms, all up we’re seeing TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram stand out, with audiences 2X as likely to join Instagram.
When we then dive into channel usage across different generations, that’s where we start to see some more robust outliers.
Our 2021 Gen Z audience is more likely than any others to try out a new network (not surprising). While they’re known for dominating TikTok, they’re also 2X as likely than others to start using Instagram or YouTube. Also, when compared to a year ago, respondents in this category showed a 5X increase in Twitter usage, the largest change in platform consideration over the past year for this age group.
Now Millennials (25-44 age brackets) are the ones more recently infiltrating the TikTok space, our 2021 survey results show. Additionally, although Pinterest recently touted their year-over-year growth among the Gen Z market, our data shows that over the past year the Millennial audience became 7X more likely than before to consider using Pinterest.
Check out our infographic for more information on the differences between the Gen Z and Millennial audiences and their social media usage.
Now, our biggest change in new network consideration from 2020 to 2021 comes from our 65+ age bracket. While still the least likely of all ages to join a new network, they’re 7X more likely to join a new network today – and these chances increase to 10X more likely when considering TikTok, Twitter, or Pinterest (which was practically non-existent last year).
People are Posting Less on Social Media Today
While over 50% of respondents in both surveys say they’re publishing about the same amount of content since the pandemic began, we saw a 52% increase in respondents saying they’re creating less content today. That said, out of all the data we’ve pulled this is one that we could see drastically change in the coming months as people gear up to share stories of being reunited with loved ones or traveling once again. (It sounds like a dream, but we’ll get there one day people!)
Political Content a Top Motivator for Unfollowing Brands and Influencers
As mentioned earlier, there were many different events that occurred over the past year impacting our lives. As a result of these events, brands struggled and debated throughout the year if they should be participating in potentially controversial topics online or if it was best that they not get involved. There’s no single right answer to this question, as each brand needs to evaluate it on a case-by-case basis. One thing is for certain: once your brand has taken a public stance you need to stick with it.
That said, this inspired us to ask our 2021 surveyors if they unfollowed a brand or an influencer within the past year and why. In both questions, the majority of respondents (over 65%) selected “none of the above” implying they didn’t unfollow accounts for potentially controversial topics. However, of those that did, politics was the main motivator, specifically if the brand or influencer took a political stance that the user disagreed with.
While respondents were somewhat 50/50 when it came to unfollowing brands/influencers who took a stance on social justice movements or didn’t publicly, it’s important that your brand evaluates your position on today’s important topics. When it comes to brand activism on social media, arm your social media teams with these best practices to ensure you’re not made an example of or called out by followers on social media.
Moving Forward in 2021
What was supposed to be a two-week lockdown has caused over 560,000 deaths and consumed over a year of American’s lives. While things are beginning to look up, keep in mind that your brand should be prepared at a moment’s notice to adjust your social media marketing strategy in addition to the optimizations you already have in place for this year. Social media behaviors are likely to continue to evolve as the world changes again, especially with new apps launching (like Clubhouse) and new features emerging across channels. (Twitter has big plans for this year.)
Keep your social media teams up to date on the latest news and trends in social media by subscribing to our bi-weekly newsletter, Social You Should Know, below. We’re #AlwaysLearning and sharing insights regularly.
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The Chris Voss Show Podcast – The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler’s Ghettos by Judy Batalion
The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler’s Ghettos by Judy Batalion
One of the most important stories of World War II, already optioned by Steven Spielberg for a major motion picture: a spectacular, searing history that brings to light the extraordinary accomplishments of brave Jewish women who became resistance fighters―a group of unknown heroes whose exploits have never been chronicled in full, until now.
Witnesses to the brutal murder of their families and neighbors and the violent destruction of their communities, a cadre of Jewish women in Poland―some still in their teens―helped transform the Jewish youth groups into resistance cells to fight the Nazis. With courage, guile, and nerves of steel, these “ghetto girls” paid off Gestapo guards, hid revolvers in loaves of bread and jars of marmalade, and helped build systems of underground bunkers. They flirted with German soldiers, bribed them with wine, whiskey, and home cooking, used their Aryan looks to seduce them, and shot and killed them. They bombed German train lines and blew up a town’s water supply. They also nursed the sick and taught children.
Yet the exploits of these courageous resistance fighters have remained virtually unknown.
As propulsive and thrilling as Hidden Figures, In the Garden of Beasts, Band of Brothers, and A Train in Winter, The Light of Days at last tells the true story of these incredible women whose courageous yet little-known feats have been eclipsed by time. Judy Batalion―the granddaughter of Polish Holocaust survivors―takes us back to 1939 and introduces us to Renia Kukielka, a weapons smuggler and messenger who risked death traveling across occupied Poland on foot and by train. Joining Renia are other women who served as couriers, armed fighters, intelligence agents, and saboteurs, all who put their lives in mortal danger to carry out their missions. Batalion follows these women through the savage destruction of the ghettos, arrest and internment in Gestapo prisons and concentration camps, and for a lucky few―like Renia, who orchestrated her own audacious escape from a brutal Nazi jail―into the late 20th century and beyond.
Powerful and inspiring, featuring twenty black-and-white photographs, The Light of Days is an unforgettable true tale of war, the fight for freedom, exceptional bravery, female friendship, and survival in the face of staggering odds.
The post The Chris Voss Show Podcast – The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler’s Ghettos by Judy Batalion appeared first on The Chris Voss Show.
How Brands Can Effectively Support Their Social Media Managers
It’s been a rough year for pretty much everyone. And social media has become a less friendly place along the way. That’s why it’s important to check in on your team that is working hard to make social media management seem effortless.
At Ignite Social Media, we do nothing but social media marketing. My team and I recently discussed the advice we’d give brands and agencies for effectively supporting their social media teams. After all, your social team is your front-line representation of your brand. Here are some of the ideas we came up with.
1. Say Goodbye to One-Man-Shows
There’s so much that goes into social media marketing that one person cannot successfully do everything. From editorial planning to content production, from paid media to reporting, social media requires many different skill sets and a lot of time to do it all properly. Identify those skill sets that your current manager does well and find support in other areas to help lighten the load. Plus, two minds are always better than one when you’re looking for a new creative angle.
2. Be Mindful of Response Times
Night and weekend monitoring has become essential for many brands during the pandemic. Asking one person to be “always-on” isn’t reasonable or realistic. If you need to staff outside normal business hours, be sure you’re properly resourced and that you have an escalation plan in place should your team need to reach leadership during off-hours.
3. Hire Social-Centric Experts
When you’re hiring, make sure your social media team has a background driving meaningful results on social media. Just because someone has a Facebook account doesn’t mean they know how to run a business page on Facebook. It takes a skilled expert to understand the nuances of the various social platforms and apply them to help your brand thrive.
4. Have Backup Resources
It’s important to let people recharge. Social media managers should have the ability to completely disconnect when they’re off the clock, too. Make sure you have systems in place for backup personnel to be set up for success should your manager be on vacation. When you deal with trolls daily, taking a week off now and again is imperative.
5. Educate Leadership on Social Media Basics
While daily decisions on social media tactics should be left up to the social team, leaders within the organization should have a basic understanding of your social media strategy and best practices. Too often, people in leadership roles call for social teams to execute tactics that don’t follow the strategy or focus instead on vanity metrics, like getting more followers. Allowing the social team to educate leadership members on these items will prove more productive for everyone.
6. Provide Social Teams with Ample Resources
Help your social media teams work smarter by providing them with tools they can leverage to complete their jobs. From grammar checkers to project management tools to industry subscriptions, these resources add value and can be major time savers.
Additionally, and especially when it comes to content creation, make sure your team has what they need and then some. Set these team members up for success by giving them access to any and all assets, products, swag, logos, brand colors, fonts, and more. Even if you don’t see the value in it, it could spark an idea or be a small piece of a larger creative initiative. There’s no such thing as too many pre-approved assets, information, resources, etc.
7. Establish Clear Escalation and Brand Guidelines
Brand guidelines help social media managers work within a framework that aligns with your other marketing efforts. You may need to adapt these guidelines a bit for social, but that should be a conscious decision. In terms of escalation strategy, make sure the correct people internally know they may be contacted for answers. This provides daily efficiency, but it’s also imperative if a crisis arises.
8. Encourage Days Off
We mentioned earlier having backup resources available for when your social team is out of the office, but make sure that team is actually taking off the time they deserve. Working in social media every day is demanding and stressful at times. It’s important that your social media managers recharge to prevent any burnout and potential turnover.
Taking time off can be less of a priority when travel and entertainment options are limited. But being recharged is important now more than ever.
If you don’t work in social media marketing, think about the times when you closed Facebook because some of the debates were just exhausting. Now imagine you can’t close it because it’s your job, and you run a large page that periodically attracts trolls for whatever reason. If you can picture how that would make you feel, the rationale for the eight steps listed above will become even clearer.
For assistance with your social media marketing efforts, contact our team today. Or keep yourself updated on the latest trends and new across the industry by subscribing to our bi-weekly newsletter below.
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