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It’s 2017. At this point in time, it is clear how important it is to have an organic social media presence for your business. Organic social media may not always yield direct leads or on-site conversions, like how PPC and Facebook ad campaigns function, but it can certainly help you mold your brand, build your reputation, exchange ideas, establish a voice, and connect with the community around you.
Organic social media maintenance is not as daunting as you may think, and can be developed and maintained in-house – as long as you use the right tactics.
Understanding Your Campaign
It is important to understand that results stemming from organic social media efforts will be less quantifiable and concrete than FB, PPC, or SEO campaigns. This simply means that success isn’t necessarily measured in on-site conversions but rather the level of following and engagement the business is receiving on that particular platform from the targeted community.
These metrics will eventually supplement and trickle into overall business, but not seeing major conversion results (emails, calls, etc.) right away should not deter a business from maintaining a social media presence. Measuring follower engagement, new follows, and clicks to the site are more appropriate forms of measuring success.
Planning Your Campaign
First, it is recommended that your practice find a social media management software that works best for your needs. Your practice is busy, and social media will likely be the first task to fall by the wayside. With a management program, you can simply take some time once per week to plan out your posts. Because you are only managing one business’s social presence, you’ll find that there are a number of free social media management programs available to you. Our team recommends Buffer as a free, clean, and easy-to-use platform.
When planning what to post, it’s important to consider the current mindset and behavior of your community and aligning that information with your goals. For instance, if you are a pediatric dental practice, you may want to focus on breaking the stigma of the dentist being scary for children and showcase the fun, relaxing features of your office. Finding a balance between professionalism and relatability is key – stay true to the professional feel of your office, but also incorporate genuine human moments that happen behind the scenes.
Managing Your Campaign
There are a number of best and not-so-best practices for social media management, which is why we have provided a general “do” and “don’t” list to get you started:
Do:
Conduct market research. See what type of following your competitors have. Take a look at what works, and what types of posts your community best responds to.
Stay true to your branding and your business.Step slightly outside the professional realm to humanize your business’s tone and community (but stay HR/ HIPAA compliant at all times).
Incorporate a number of mediums into your posts (infographics, video, social media graphics) as often as possible.
Use your platform(s) to connect with influencers in both your area and industry, and make a point to interact with these businesses at least once per week.
Stay up-to-date with social media changes and trends with frequent research. Post consistently while maintaining quality.
Stay even with your presence across all platforms (i.e. don’t leave your Twitter untouched if you are posting on Facebook five times per week).
Track your insights and overall progress month-to-month. If you don’t want to pay for analytics, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all have free basic insights to help track progress.
Don’t:
Be impatient. Never assume organic social media success can only be measured by major conversions.
Use your platform purely for promotional efforts (though some is definitely encouraged, you still want your posts to feel personal and human).
Use a negative or argumentative tone. With negative feedback, remain professional, open, and responsive just like in the office.
Post disengaging “filler” content. While you should post consistently, you shouldn’t create uninspired posts just to meet a quota. Turn your attention and time to brainstorming more creative posts and social opportunities for the future.
Go overboard on hashtags. Your hashtag line should never be longer than the post itself.
Abandon your platforms! Building and maintaining a following takes time, but the payoff is so rewarding.