Developing Your Social Media Strategy

So your organization is on Facebook and Twitter. You occasionally post class schedules and updates, maybe a photo or two from an event. Now what? It depends on the company and their audience, says AB Show guest speaker Jane Bahneman, the co-founder of Blue Nectar Yoga Studio in Falls Church, Va., and the founder of Jane Bahneman Consulting. It's no longer enough to have a social media presence; organizations need to have a strategy for how they are going to use it, a concept that can be overwhelming for some.

Jane Bahneman, MS, Co-founder, Blue Nectar Yoga Studio, Falls Church, Va.; Founder, Jane Bahneman Consulting

"Too many organizations try to be something for everyone on every single platform," says Bahneman, who also sits on the Industry Advisory Panel for the American Council on Exercise. "They don't develop a campaign. They don't develop a strategy. They kind of dip their toe in the water, and that can be ineffective. On the flip side, if an organization doesn't have a marketing person or the resources allocated to social media, it can be so paralyzing that they just don't do anything."

Bahneman experienced that fear a few years ago before she hired a third-party consultant to manage her company's social media. She soon realized the firm was not delivering the voice of her business, so she studied what it was doing and how it was doing it to the point where she took over managing her company's social media.

At AB Show, Nov. 17-19, Bahneman will suggest companies answer the following questions before deciding which social media platforms to use and how they should use them to further their business:

1. What social media channels should I be using, and how often?
"Look to currently published statistics on social media, then look at your own analytics. While it's being said that you should post two times a day on this platform and post eight tweets a day on Twitter, the reality of it is, only by using different platforms and analyzing what comes back from that defines what your strategy should be."

2. How do I know what content to post?
"With social media strategy, you need to know who the people are you're trying to reach, where you're getting the best feedback and where you're getting the most engagement. What's working for the business next door may not work for yours. It's not a one-size-fits-all by any stretch. It does require some creativity and some patience to find the purpose for your organization. Then it requires flexibility, because social media is constantly changing."

3. How can I manage and track my social media campaign more efficiently?
"There are a lot of tools that have been built to help people not to have to go on to every single platform, not to have to manually post every single day. I'm always surprised at how many companies and organizations aren't aware of the fact that there are tools that centralize all of your social media channels."

Transform your program, facility and career at AB Show, Nov. 17-19. This premier event is the No. 1 place for you to learn how to build a great team, get top-notch education and tips from industry thought-leaders, and find the products and services you need to effectively manage and equip your program or facility.

Connect with more of Jane's tips on social media strategy during her AB Show session: "Streamlining Social Media."