Social Media Breakfast: What we learned

WBZ, Boston’s CBS radio station hosted a business breakfast titled “Social Media Success: Uncovering What Works.”  We would like to share our takeaways from the knowledgeable panelists, Steve Garfield, Jason Santos, Michelle Manafy and AJ Gerrritson.

 

Ensure that your social media strategy includes a crisis communications plan

All companies should have a strategy for their social media, including a plan that deals with negative input.  Who should respond and what is the appropriate response if the comment is negative?  Having a plan will allow your organization to react to the issue quickly instead of having to wait for internal guidance.  The panelists suggested the best way to handle negative comments about your organization is to be transparent, own-up, take responsibility for any problems and finally engage with the negative commenter. 

 

Determine your audience and where they are online

Your organization might not have the resources to be engaging on every social media platform.  It’s more important to invest time with a few platforms than be everywhere.  If you can’t utilize every platform, figure out where you audience already is.  As the presenters mentioned yesterday, while the baby boomers are the fastest growing segment on Facebook, many are still not regular Facebook or Twitter users.  They do however, gather information through online searches.  In that case, writing relevant blog posts and making sure you focus on SEO and quality content are the best ways to target this audience segment. 

 

Use the tools provided

There are some valuable free tools available online to make utilizing social media easier.  If you need to put together a social media policy you may want to look at professional organizations in your industry as they may have a template you can use.  The Centers for Disease Control  (CDC) is trying to make it easier for health organizations to use social media and have recently released an updated Health Communicators Social Media Toolkit. At causemedia, we’ve used our IPhones to film video blogs because it is easy, free and most importantly efficient.  Remember to utilize the tools and technology you have on hand so you can spend more time creating interesting content.

 

Did you attend the WBZ breakfast, what social media lessons did you learn?  Or what was the best takeaway from the last conference or webinar you attended on social media?