Stop Apologizing For Your Social Media Program
It happens a lot. I meet with a potential client, and we start talking about how I typically start with an audit (or review) of their existing social channels.
Insert nervous shifting in seats, possibly joined with the shuffling of papers.
“Ok, we know we haven’t done a great job at (insert thing here).”
First up, yes, of course. If everything was divine and your social program was perfect, I probably wouldn’t be meeting with you.
Organizations with excellent social programs typically don’t need consultants like me. They have a whole lot of people behind the scenes making their excellent social programs happen. So it’s cool; I’m pretty sure we have things to work on.
But second, let’s stop the hot nonsense about feeling BAD about your social program. Because here are a few things I believe are true:
Despite what you’ve probably been forced to accept by osmosis and told by people who call themselves “gurus,” “ninjas,” or “rockstars” over the last decade or so, social media isn’t easy. It’s hard, and it changes all the time.
Having a social program requires an investment - and not just a monetary one. It’s an investment that requires time, transparency, and a willingness to ideate content across your organization,
It also requires a process that makes all the social stuff happen as expected.
Not just once.
Not just twice.
But over and over again. (Ad infinitum, until we turn the lights off on the Internet, maybe?)
Knowing those things, and a lot of other stuff about social media programs that I won’t go into today but have before and probably will continue to do for a long time, I rarely judge any social media programs because I have ZERO idea what is going on behind the scenes with any organization.*
And if you, like so many organizations, haven’t invested the time, process & budget in developing your social program, not having the World’s Most Amazing Social Program isn’t a surprise, and YOU CAN STOP APOLOGIZING FOR IT RIGHT NOW.
What can you do instead? I mean, if you want to, you can give me a yell, but since it is VERY LIKELY we just met, I’d recommend taking baby steps:
Talk to your team and think about how you might proactively come up with content for the future.
Look at your existing marketing calendar for opportunities to create posts consistently (once a week is better than nothing a week, you know).
Join a supportive community geared towards people who want to improve their social (I’m fond of Social Media Pulse because I’m a contributor, but LinkedIn also has excellent industry-specific groups for social media managers - even if that isn’t your title).
Finally, remember that it’ll take time. Nothing is built in a day, or even a week, except maybe badly made reality TV renovations.
And stop apologizing.
*Ok, that’s not true. There are a few social programs I judge the HECK out of, but mostly because I wonder where the hell legal went. Maybe they took the day off.
