I read a lot of social media blogs, articles and posts. I am amazed at the frequency in which I hear, “the first thing you need to do is create a plan.” I agree. BUT, this is the same advice I would give if you were headed to the grocery store, taking a vacation, or any range of other tasks that required steps.
The real question remains; what does it take to actually execute on a social media implementation?
If your plan for social media looks like something you would take to the grocery store, here are a few steps we use to plan for social media with banks and brokerages:
- Enter all of your key dates. We put all of the major dates into a project management tool to know which dates we need to hit, i.e. approval dates, launch dates and design deadlines. Everything else needs to be built back from here.
- Use a Calendar for Content. We utilize a calendar as a key part of our application to show when content is scheduled and when gaps exist.
- Assign Roles. Assign individual tasks to each person. Typically you know the team that needs to handle each role… where lines are less-clear identify the several individuals who need to collaborate and give them a deadline. This way you have fewer people debating who might be responsible for a task and allow them to work within their departments.
- Schedule Planning Meetings. Based on your rollouts, you may need to schedule weekly or monthly meetings to make sure everyone is on the same page. This allows departments to collaborate on things that are working well or need other tweaks.
- Settle on a Workflow. After knowing who the people are and how their roles impact each other, your workflow should emulate these real-world checks and balances without slowing down your process.
- 5 Minutes with an expert can help. I am amazed at how many times a client will say, “we’ve been debating on workflows or approvals before we started working together, what do you think”? Typically what I think is that I have had that conversation several times already that week with other clients and can probably help you move beyond the conversation quickly. Share your challenges and work with an expert who has crossed these bridges before.
For your next rollout or first rollout, we want to see you execute well on social media. Consider how practical tools, experience and expertise can help you gain traction, clearly identify the obstacles and instill confidence throughout your company.
