Social media has completely changed the way companies advertise and communicate with their clients. This isn’t surprising, especially since some of the most popular websites in the world are currently social media sites. This includes Facebook, which according to their own statistics from September 2014 receives approximately 864 million daily active visitors, but it also includes Twitter, Pinterest, and just about any website that has a social networking component. But the social media umbrella also includes blogging, rumors of the death of which have been greatly exaggerated. A blog can be just as influential as the most prominent Twitter or Facebook account as long as it’s updated regularly, and it can get across much more information with a single post.
As useful as social media and blogging can be to a company, actually managing a social media account or website can be difficult. The average small business owner doesn’t have the time or resources to devote to keeping a Twitter account or blog updated as often as it should be, and it’s easy for a popular account to take on a life of its own and have some detrimental effects to a company’s reputation. In other words, a social media account needs to be monitored closely. That can be difficult in some cases, but it’s far from impossible. Here are just a few things a business owner can do to keep their social media accounts and blogs working for them instead of against them.
Know Why an Account Needs to Be Monitored
There are several reasons why a social media account or blog should be monitored. Some companies monitor their blogs to manage the image they have with clients, while others want to find ways to respond to questions and concerns from their customers. It’s important that a company know what they want to accomplish by monitoring their presence on social media and the Internet as a whole; it can’t be done just because everyone else is doing it.
Update Frequently
Anybody who says that a website or social media account should be updated frequently probably sounds like a broken record at this point, but the truth is that these accounts really do need to be updated almost constantly. A blog should be updated at least once a week, and according Richard Berry of Business 2 Community the majority of businesses recommend posting to a company Facebook page every day in order to stay engaged with potential clients. It’s important not to post too often on social media, since it’s easy for some posts and advertisements to resemble the kind of spam that users instinctively tune out, but a daily Facebook post and a few tweets will go a long way toward raising the visibility of a company.
Invest in IT Governance Software
IT governance software allows companies to manage IT projects such as blogs and social media, effectively making them as easy to manage as any other aspect of a business. This kind of software helps companies decide how much time and money they should be spending on IT and social media, how they can put together IT portfolios and how they can otherwise get the most out of their investments. With the continued reliance on blogging and social media, many companies are finding that they need the assistance that such software suites provide. “Managing the portfolio and ensuring that IT is aligned with the business—that’s absolutely critical,” says Susan Klein, Senior Director, IT PMO with Beam.
Above all else, managing a social media account or a blog takes diligence. Maintaining a blog or Facebook account looks easy to an outsider, but it takes far more work than some people realize. A blog can work wonders for a company, but it requires just as much attention as any other aspect of running a business.
