At the MinneWebCon in Minneapolis, MN Meg Knodl shared some strategies for managing social media interactions with your customers and staying sane while doing so. Here’s my notes form her talk:
- Social media is here to stay. Being a networked individual is here to stay –how will you cope?
- When jumping into social media, your organization needs a strategy. Which channels should you stay active on? Where is your audience? Have you made goals for managing social media? –If not make some and track against them. Course correct if not going in the right way.
- Don’t try to create something false. Instead share what appeals to you. Stick to what you know and like. A fast track to burn out is sticking to a single subject all the time.
- If you are facing burn out, try limiting time on social media: take weekends off; log in at specific times during the day; take a sabbatical to come back and re-center & refocus
- Get curious about how being on a social network makes you feel? Are you tired, anxious, frustrated bored?
- The four agreements: be impeccable with your word; don’t take anything personally; don’t make assumptions; always do your best
- Twitter can include post form other social media channels.
- Facebook post might only make sense 3-5 times a week. More frequent post may lead to less interaction.
- What causes people to write negative posts? Attacks looking for a reaction; someone who is angry (profanity & capital letters); misguided through false information; unhappy customers that genuinely had a bad experience.
- The 3 & 3 rule is after 3 days on twitter or 3 days on a blog –it’s over don’t bother, move forward
- Responding to negative posts: transparency, sourcing, timeliness, tone, influence
- It's ok to retire social media accounts –just cause you created something, you do not have to continue to make an effort if it is not paying off.
- Think of rules for managing social media, and apply them. Refocus + reapply. Mind like water: the splash of a rock should only be as big as it needs to be.