Ignoring the social media time traps
29th June 2011 / All, How To
So, you’ve got your blog, you’ve got your Twitter account and you’re fully engaged on Facebook. Your brand and social media are now synched in an Internet form of harmony and you’re conveying your message well. Three cheers for you
But are you over compensating? And what’s the real reason you’ve just wrote that blog post? With so much ‘banter’ going on through Twitter and so many updates to like, retweet or share, social media can suddenly turn from being your brand’s best friend to something rather damaging to your business.
Whilst engaging with your audience is great, time can easily get carried away and soon enough your other half is calling you asking where on earth you are. And, we haven’t even touched on those time-thief iPhone apps.
However, with sensible planning and a bit of restriction, you can really make the most of your digital PR platforms as well as being highly productive in other areas. Like most things in life, it’s all great in moderation. So give us a shout at Nellie PR if you want help taking back those time-thieves and creating an effective social media strategy.
In the meantime, here’s some tips I’ve picked up as a PR intern:
• Objectives: What do you want to achieve from social media? Do you want to create awareness of your brand? Do you want to use Facebook to find out more about your consumers? Do you want to contact old colleagues on LinkedIn and add to your client list? Create an objective and have it written on the brightest Post-It Note you can find and stick to it
• Don’t add your friends: It sounds simple enough but you’d be surprised at how many businesses follow their partner on Twitter or add their best friend on Facebook. If you don’t add them, the temptation is less likely to be there to check to see how bad their hangover is or where they last checked-in on FourSquare
• Start the clock: Aim to dedicate a certain amount of time to certain social media platforms. Are you going to spend two hours a week writing blog posts? Are you going to spend twenty minutes of your lunch hour on Twitter? Stick to a time plan, you’ll sharp see the effect it has on your productivity in other areas.
Like everything, it’s all about resisting temptation and distraction. Someone you follow Tweets a celeb story? Click! You’ve just wasted half an hour on Heatworld.com. Your friend just happens to fancy a chat? Soon you’re swapping Saturday night stories over MSN. Keep your business head on and your hand out of the social media cookie jar!
Posted by Hollie-Anne Brooks, PR intern at Nellie PR.
