What the Suits want from Social Media

I’ll cut to the chase and tell you up front.  The “Suits” or decision makers writing the checks for social media want results. They want to know the money they are paying you is going to give them a return on their investment.  They want honest answers for your expertise so don’t try to use a bunch of buzz words or throw a bunch of reports at them they won’t be able to understand.   If you want to be hired and be retained you need to do the following:

• Give realistic expectations of what they can expect for your services.  If you are fighting to get social media implemented at your place of business, you need to let them know clients, customers, etc.. will not typically be knocking down the doors in the first few months.   It takes 3 – 6 months of consistent daily posting to see any type of noticeable results.  You do NOT want to post 6 posts on Monday and be done for the week.  This is a BIG mistake a LOT of people make when starting out.
• Strategy.  They want to know what your plan is.  If they give you a trial period, they will want to know what your plan is for that trial period.  If this is your job, they want to know what your plan of action is for the year.  Give them an outline of what your social media strategy is for the year.   I’ll write a post on social media strategy, but I’ll give you a tip:  don’t be afraid to adjust your strategy if what you are doing isn’t working.
•  Focus on your target market.  Social media allows you to reach beyond the borders of your country, or it allows you to laser focus in on your region, your county, your demographic.  I use Facebook ads regularly and even though I target a VERY focused area and a VERY focused market, I still reach a good number of people outside that criteria because of the people who SHARE the posts.  That’s the beauty of social media.
• Start reporting from the beginning.  It may be difficult to get approval, but a company like SproutSocial offers the best reporting options I’ve seen and they don’t charge extra for every type of report unlike HootSuite.

So how did you do?  Do you have anything to add?  If so, please share with me here or on my fan page.  I’d love to write a follow-up post!