Social Media channels

Ask what your Social Media channels should do for you. Then ask what you should do for them.

Are you leveraging Social Media channels such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to build your brand, network with valuable business contacts and generate sales leads?

Or are you spending some time pottering around them everyday, with no fixed plan or outcomes?

Or are you frustrated at getting nothing from them, so barely even trying any more?

If you answered ‘yes’ to my first question, congratulations! You can still enjoy the rest of this blog post, and send in your comments, sharing your experiences and best practices.

But if, like most of the people I know, you answered yes to my second or third question, then maybe you need to change your approach to Social Media. I’ll still say congratulations, because you are reading the right blog post. I believe I can help you make Social Media marketing work for you, by better defining how you want it to work.

So start creating your ‘Personal Social Media Charter’. You can start typing it right away, or writing it down.

The purpose of this Personal Social Media Charter is to define what you want your Social Media channels to deliver to you. In my work with many business leaders, I have found that creating this charter helps them to focus on the outcomes and the strategic results from time spent on Social Media. Next, it helps to define what activities need to be done at what frequency.

By writing it down as a personal charter, it becomes a commitment to oneself, and with a well defined purpose.

Let me explain. I will cover the 5 points that I consider essential in the charter.

1. I want to connect with specific people.
   If this point is part of your charter, then define who those people are. Are they people you know, maybe your customers or your own team? Are you using Social Media to stay in touch with them? Or do you want to make new connections? What is the profile of those new connections? Or are you looking at connecting with a wider audience? Whatever your specifics are, define them here.
2. I want to build thought leadership and also increase my network so that my content will have a wider audience.
   Are you planning to share more content on Social Media, and primarily need to build an audience for that? Define that here – what numbers, demographics and interests you are seeking.
3. I want to amplify the communications of my business and showcase achievements.
   Are you planning to support your company’s marketing communication function through personal amplification? State that as your objective, then.
4. I want to connect to potential employees and the larger talent pool.
   Is your Social Media oriented towards employees, past employees and potential employees. Define that as your objective.
5. I want to find specific business opportunities.
   Define what kind of opportunities you are seeking through Social Media channels.

So we’re done with the 5 key aspects that go into most charters. Now, depending on what specifics you have entered for the points above – against each point, write down ‘to achieve this, I will…’

Of course, this will depend on the specific objectives you have listed.

For example, if you have said that you want to build thought leadership in blockchain technology, then maybe in your ‘to achieve this, I will…’, you would enter that you will write one blog post or article about blockchain every week.

So now, your charter consists of your 5 objectives, with specifics defined, as well as the tasks that you need to do, to achieve them.

This gives a strong focus, defined objectives and an activity calendar to your Social Media efforts. Once you have this rolling along, you can start analyzing the results, and then fine-tuning your efforts so that they become more effective.

Do try this, and let me know whether you find it helpful. If you need any help with defining the tasks that will help you to achieve your objectives, do reach out to us.