“Social media is tremendously powerful. It gives everyone a voice and allows us to transverse borders and look at the world differently. Currently there are more than 424 million active social media users globally. What is our role on social media and how do we deal with it responsibly and effectively?” These are the words of Lynne Smit as she presented a practical online workshop to Safreans.
She reiterated that we need to put parameters in place and check the facts and statistics to ensure effective communication. As change happens rapidly, our focus should be determined by why and who we do social media for. Currently the most favourite social media platforms are WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and WeChat.
- Who is our audience?
- Where are they?
- What do we want to say to them?
- What is our plan of action?
- How will we measure success?
Our messages
The very best messages should be:
• Compelling – encouraging action
• Differentiating – exclusive to you
• Relevant – have purpose to your audiences
• Credible – portray you as a trustworthy source
• Defensible – can be defended or proven.
Cross posting and content planning
Social media across all channels should have uniformity – your bio should be uniform across all platforms. A glance at your bio should tell the follower what you do. Be aware of cross posting – using the same content on all platforms is not ideal. Avoid this by doing proper content planning. You can plan a lot in advance and should only listen and respond on a daily basis. Content is usually prepared at the beginning of every month, using a calendar for all channels. Be aware of mentions and hashtags to encourage engagements. You can use scheduling tools such as Buffer, Hootsuite, Sprout, Mention or InChannel, which save lots of time.
“In conclusion – planning is key and with purpose comes power.”