Social media is a cornerstone of many organisations’ marketing strategies. As stakeholders across the enterprise recognise the value that social media can deliver, the marketing or social team will often receive more requests to create new social media accounts and content. And so, the role and responsibility of the social media manager grows exponentially!
It’s not uncommon for today’s social media managers to be responsible for hundreds of different social media accounts, receiving thousands of messages and comments, and delivering consistent and regular communication on a 24/7 basis.
A survey revealed that 70% of Twitter users expect a response from the brands they reach out to, and importantly 53% of these expect a response within one hour, making it virtually impossible for a social media manager to handle such demand single handed! As a result, organisations are starting to adopt an enterprise approach to social media, with social media users contributing from many different teams or departments.
So, what does it take to build an ace social media team in a large organisation? Follow our tried and tested tips below to learn more:
Step 1. Where are you now?
The first step is to take a look at your current situation, how many social media accounts are you currently managing? What is working well? What have been your biggest barriers? Take a look at your current analytics, are there any glaring issues jumping off the page, such as a rise in customer complaints? Consider the processes that you currently have in place for budget, resources (content), and workforce. Once you have a clear picture of your current situation you can make an accurate assessment of what needs to be done.
Step 2. What does success look like?
Defining your objectives and aligning them to your business objectives will be key in providing focus and direction for your new social media team. When delivering an enterprise social media strategy, this will often involve multiple departments with multiple agendas, it will be important to manage expectations and set clear goals of where the social media strategy will support and drive the business forwards. Take a look at our social media strategy academy lesson as a starting point.
Step 3. How are you going to get there?
You will need to consider the delivery approach you are going to take, central command vs local control, or perhaps a hybrid approach combining the two. Many organisations have limited resources at a central level resulting in over-stretched marketing teams, unlocking resource from local teams and other departments (such as customer service) will be vital in enhancing your social media capabilities. Integrating and embedding social media across the entirety of your organisation will further enhance the chance of success.
Step 4. What are you trying to say?
Your social media strategy will outline the goals that you are hoping to achieve, but your social media plan will set the precedent for what you are going to say and how you are going to say it. The social media plan outlines key messages, tone of voice and brand personality that each of your social media accounts will be embodying. Having a clear social media plan is vital in ensuring consistency, especially important when you have multiple people delivering social media content through your organisation’s corporate channels.
Step 5. Who is going to be doing it?
This is perhaps one of the most critical elements of building your social media team, the people involved will be vital in achieving success, as they are the ones that will bring your brand story and your organisation to life. Identify digital champions who will help to drive social forwards within your organisation and act as internal brand advocates for your social media project. Ensure your social media team includes a variety of different roles: content creators, conversationalists (who enjoy creating engagement and discussion), brand advocates, analysts and data driven thinkers, as well as a project manager (someone who can look at the bigger picture and facilitate everyone else).
Step 6. How to ensure it’s a success
A step that is often neglected when building social media teams is ensuring that they receive adequate training. Product training is often provided, however, it’s important to remember that not everyone is confident about delivering social media. Even a whizz on their personal channels can quickly fall foul when being tasked with delivering social media on an organisation’s corporate channels. Providing inspiring social media training (such as how to create content, engaging audiences and responding to customers, etc.) is vital in building confidence and also ensuring that your social media team is singing from the same hymn sheet.
Step 7. Mitigating the risks
The final step in the process is ensuring that your risks are assessed and under control. The more people that are involved in your social media delivery the greater the level of risk, here are 8 common social media risks many organisations neglect. A social media management platform with robust security features such as personalised logins and an audit trail is a critical element when managing multiple teams and multiple social media accounts. A social media policy is important to provide protection not only for your organisation but for the individuals involved, giving them the confidence to deliver engaging social media and respond to enquiries professionally, whilst maintaining your brands’ reputation.
To learn more about social media team goals, roles and responsibilities in large or complex environments, check our webinar below:
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