Why Social needs a team approach to prosper

Say goodbye to the lone social media manager, your social needs a team to prosper!

2020 was a hard year for pretty much everyone. And social media played an even bigger role in our lives keeping us connected and updated as life changed minute by minute. The upshot of this for brands that we worked with was a sudden hockey-stick in activity across all of their channels. Questions that may have been dealt with in-store, via a call centre or simply by word of mouth all flooded onto their social media channels.

With retail closed, sales teams pivoted into using their existing eCommerce platforms to find new routes to market and competition for online success in the advertising space exploded as out-of-home advertising was reigned in. And who was left to deal with all of this in many cases a sole Social Media Manager. So if your social media manager is looking less than tip-top right now and a little frazzled around the edges it's time to take action!

At Seed we do nothing but social media marketing, it's our sweet spot and yet the skills we use cover just about every area of the marketing skills mix. Strategist, planner, creative, copywriter, videographer, graphic designer, advertiser, data analyst, PR, influencer are all part of the social skills needed on a daily basis.

My team and I recently discussed the advice we'd give brands and other agencies for effectively supporting their social media resource. After all, your social rep is at the frontline of your brand experience. Here are some of the ideas we came up with.

1. Don't go it alone.

There's so much that goes into social media marketing that one person cannot successfully do everything or at least we haven't found or cloned that superhuman yet. From editorial planning to content production, from paid media to reporting, social media requires many different skill sets and a lot of time to do it all properly. Our tip is to identify those skill sets that your current manager/s does well and find support in other areas to help lighten the load. Plus, two minds or ten, are always better than one when you're looking for that new creative angle.

2. Be mindful of response times.

Night and weekend monitoring has become essential for many brands during the pandemic. Asking one person to be "always on" isn't reasonable or realistic, especially at a time when we all need to manage our mental health. If you need to staff outside normal business hours, be sure you're properly resourced and that you have an escalation plan in place should your team need to reach leadership during out-of-hours.

3. Hire social-centric experts.

It does not escape us that everyone thinks they know social, after all we are all consumers of it right? Wrong, when you're hiring, make sure your social media team has a background driving meaningful results on social media. Just because someone has a Facebook account doesn't mean they know how to run a business page on Facebook. It takes a skilled expert and marketeer to understand the nuances of the various social platforms and apply them to help your brand thrive. Messaging, TOV, POV, persuasive copy and ability to handle a crisis at any given moment make this role highly skilled.

4. Have backup resources.

It's important to let people recharge. Social media managers should have the ability to completely disconnect when they're off the clock, too. Make sure you have systems in place for backup personnel to be set up for success should your manager be off for the day or on annual holiday. When you deal with the highs and lows of social on a daily basis, taking a week off now and again is imperative.

5. Educate leadership on social media basics.

Social should now be on the boardroom agenda. It is high on retailers wish lists when listing brands and everyone loves a viral hit so give it the attention it deserves. While daily decisions on social media tactics should be left up to the social team, leaders within the organisation should have a basic understanding of your social media strategy and best practices. Too often, people in leadership roles call for social teams to execute tactics that don't follow the strategy or focus instead on vanity metrics, like getting more followers. Developing a social strategy allows the social team to educate leadership members on these items that will prove more productive for everyone.

6. Provide social teams with ample resources.

Help your social media teams work smarter by providing them with tools they can leverage to complete their jobs. From grammar checkers like grammarly to industry subscriptions, these resources add value and can be major time savers. Here at Seed we devour The Grocer, catch the latest Marketing Week updates, listen to industry Podcasts (we love Secret Leaders and Brand Growth Heroes if you haven't heard) and work closely with the channel tech teams to keep on top of our game.

Additionally, and especially when it comes to content creation, make sure your team has what they need and then some. High-quality content is crucial and the speed at which it is consumed is insane. Don't expect them to work a miracle with one photoshoot you did 12 months ago, it just won't work!

7. Establish clear escalation and brand guidelines.
Social brand guidelines help social media managers work within a framework that aligns with your other marketing efforts. At Seed, every client is onboarded with a fulsome strategy and a social guidelines doc that covers everything down to the hashtag. In terms of escalation strategy, make sure the correct people internally know they may be contacted for answers. This provides daily efficiency, but it's also imperative if a crisis arises. Having clear SLAs means the team can prioritise and keep your customers happy!

8. Talk to Seed
We mentioned earlier having backup resources available is key. Working in social media every day is demanding and stressful at times. It's important that your social team is well supported to prevent burnout. If you don't work in social media marketing, think about the times when you had a social detox because it's all just a bit much. Now imagine you can't close it because it's your job. If you can picture how that would make you feel, the rationale for the steps listed above will become even clearer.

If you'd like to chat more about your social plans just email ann@theseedgroup.co.uk