Ask a Social Media Director #8: The Zen Juggler Edition
By: Justin Buchbinder, Social Media Director, FINN Partners
February 3, 2020
It’s 2020 and spring is almost here. That means The Social Shake-Up is around the corner—and, as the social media director of FINN Partners, a global integrated marketing agency, I can’t wait to share my approach to paid social with you in person in May.
Can you believe I’ve now taken a voluntary seat in this Ask-A-Director contraption four times!? Where’s my free toaster? Just kidding. I hate toasty things. I also eat cold pizza, and drink iced coffee all year long. I’m weird! Check out my previous Ask A Director columns here, here or here. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn or follow me on Twitter.
As I was saying, I am thrilled to head down to Atlanta to co-lead a master class in paid social advertising. It’s going to be amazing! And when we’re done with you, you’re going to be amazing at it.
To warm up the festivities, I figured I’d answer a few more of your burning questions. So here goes:
Dear Director,
What are some musts for social media policies for employees?
Sincerely,
HR You Kidding Me
Dear HR,
Great question! While social media policies can differ from organization to organization (as they should), there are certainly a few hard and fasts.
- Employees should know what they can and can’t share externally. Clearly outline what should never be shared publicly, what can be shared publicly—but only after approval from someone higher up in the organization—and what employees should absolutely share whenever they can.
- Be sure to include a contact email for any social media questions employees have. The most important part of a social media policy is clarity. The more specific and easy to understand you can make it, the better for all involved.
- While a social media policy is serious business, it should be encouraging and exciting, too. We want our teammates to be social—sharing good news, engaging with each other and the company accounts, etc. So be sure to include inspiration in there: Include links to company profiles or some thought-starters for employees to mull over before they post.
- Ensure that your HR department is fully on board with the policy. It will fall to them to take action if a directive is violated or a question arises.
Dear Director,
Do you have any tips or tricks for staying motivated and focused while juggling a massive social media workload?
Thanks,
@ Attention
Dear Attention,
Considering I’ve looked away from my Google Doc eight times between reading your question and beginning to answer it, I’m not sure I’m the right person to answer this!
Here’s my take: Social media folks live in a world of nonstop chaos—alerts popping up all over the place, switching from desktop to mobile at the blink of an eye, and then back and forth over and over again. We spend our days on networks that exist to keep us constantly engaged, as we fall headfirst down rabbit holes of distraction.
How do I deal with this? I give into it. I let myself be distracted. I embrace the chaos of social media and my various tasks. Why? Because it’s the world we live, work and play in, and every moment we constructively and consciously spend in it, the better. By being social on social media, you’re passively taking in inspiration and ideas.
So, let the chaos be your inspiration. Find focus in your lack of focus. Give yourself permission to go down that rabbit hole—but this time, notice what is grabbing your attention. Whatever that is is some very good social media. How can you capture that lightning in a bottle for your accounts?
Keep your focus as you lose your focus, and every social media rabbit hole will become a creative journey as opposed to a time-wasting distraction.
Dear Director,
How can I better understand ROI on social media advertising?
Cheers,
Drowning in Data
Dear Data,
I love this question because the answer is different depending on who is asking it. The ROI of your advertising will change depending on the goals you set when you began. What type of campaign are you running? Awareness? A traffic campaign to an article or blog? If it’s a direct sales conversion campaign, then you’ve got your answer right there!
ROAS, or Return On Ad Spend, is a big deal in today’s advertising world. Essentially, it’s revenue divided by ad spend. But ROAS is only part of the picture. Maybe someone saw your product ad online, and then hopped over to Amazon to do more research, ultimately purchasing it there. Maybe someone read your blog on the train and walked to a physical store to purchase the product. Perhaps your company sells services rather than products, or is an agency prospecting for new clients. Lots here, right? Not to mention that all data and results we get are never perfect. It’s maddening, and I feel your pain.
In the end, you can better understand the ROI of your advertising by figuring it out up front. Don’t just run a campaign; think about what you want it to achieve, and the markers by which you will judge its efficacy. Then run tests and campaigns as you set about to meet those goals or benchmarks. Optimize and try again. Try to beat your own best score. You better understand ROI by defining it, and then getting buy-in on it. It isn’t easy…but it’s a lot of fun. Good luck!
