Chat #90 – 12 Things You Should Keep In Mind about Social Media

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This is Talk Number 17 in a series that will become the You are a media company course. This is the 3rd of 4 that I will speak about social media and what it is. In the last chat, I spoke about social media and social media advertising and gave some examples and explained some platforms. This chat, I will focus on explaining what social media is and some best practices

Definition of a Social Media: Social media is the media we use to be social (according to The Social Media Bible. 2nd edition). Social media marketing is all about listening first, understanding the conversation and speaking last.

Some best practices

Social Media is Social but can be used for branding, selling, promoting etc.
Social Media is Changing
You Don’t Own These Platforms. You are renting space.
Most of these platforms have some type of algorithm (e.g. PageRank for Facebook)
There are platforms that help you to maximize your posting time e.g. Hootsuite)
Each social media site has a different demographic and “typical user”
Likes and Followers don’t equal success*
Data. Data. Data – Measure your success or lack there of
Have a plan – check previous chats
It’s your platform but it’s not just about you – self-promotion is a no-no / documentation and telling your story is
Spamming is a no-no
Most of these social media platforms are business and looking to generate revenue (e.g. ads) and keep your attention (psychologically)

Scenario Pastor Mark aka Your Social Pastor

Story: Doesn’t have engagement but wants to employ a bold and ambitious social media strategy to increase engagement and prepare the church for the future. He’s fearful because church attendance is down and has been down over the past 3 years.
Goal: Leverage social media to grow the congregation
Facebook: Goes live and leverage Facebook Page for updates and ads for events including Sunday service. Sunday Service has a special behind the scenes but the website has the live service streamed
Instagram: Uses ads to promote Sunday Service targeting Millenials and the later afternoon service
Twitter – Live Twitter Chat on Wednesdays #yoursocialpastor
Snapchat: Pastor Mark has his Youth Pastor Pastor Lauren engage with the youth through a series called “Ask Pastor Lauren.” The younger members can ask any questions and interact
Pinterest – Pastor along with his wife have a Sunday Dinner board with recipe ideas
LinkedIn – Pastor uses LinkedIn to network and promotes the members of the church that are business owners. He also has a private LinkedIn Council of Business owners group to interact and provide counsel to the Pastor.