Keeping abreast of the social media world is a responsibility many assistants now hold. Emily Bain, our Managing Director shares some crucial tips on The Canary Wharf PA Club, to help boost your company profile.

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No longer are assistants just assistants in the traditional sense of the word. Previously known as the ‘right-hand man’ to the managing director or CEO, they now wear many hats and handle a great deal of responsibilities, from managing teams of people and organising a company’s budget to making key business decisions and planning crucial events and conferences – assistants are essentially the glue that holds many businesses together.

While the job role has evolved, a number of assistants have also been tasked with managing their company’s social media platforms. LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook all play a huge role within a business in terms of showcasing new products, events and even new jobs. Ensuring social media pages are kept up to date is crucial in today’s competitive business landscape.

According to research carried out by Ambassador in 2018, 71% of consumers who have had a good social media service experience with a brand are likely to recommend it to others. Meanwhile, in 2018, the number of people using social media in the world increased by 13%, with the total now standing at 3.2billion (Source Shareable). This proves how crucial it is for a company to understand how to market themselves using these platforms.

With this task now often falling on the shoulders of a PA, VA or EA, Bain & Gray offers some tips to make a success of your business’ social media.

Run a social media audit

Before you get stuck into the new role, one of the first things you should do is carry out a social media audit to find out what platforms your organisation is actually using and what is working. A great starting point to gauge this is to study click-through rates, following/growth, the frequency of top-performing posts and how engaged your audience is.

Secondly, it is worth taking a look at what your competition is doing in terms of their social media output. If they are using Instagram but your business isn’t, ask why and how you can utilise this platform to your advantage to engage your customer base.

Once this is completed, now is the time to cut any irrelevant platforms that aren’t performing and spend your time on those that are working to boost the business. It’s far more important to have just one or two accounts that are effective, than spreading yourself over lots of different accounts but not seeing any real growth.

Research social media tools

If your social media skills are somewhat rusty, take some time to research the range of social media tools available to enhance your capabilities. There are plenty out there and to save you the trouble we have provided you with a list of some of the most helpful below:

Planoly

Ever struggled making sure your images sit nicely together on your Instagram grid? Planoly is built just like Instagram. You can drop images, move them around, scheduling them using a monthly calendar and plan professionally styled stories.

Hootsuite

Manage, schedule and analyse all your social media platforms in one place.

TweetDeck

This is focussed purely on Twitter; follow competitor accounts without them knowing, schedule posts, watch trending hashtags and analyse your posts.

Buffer

Similar to Hootsuite, you can craft the perfect post for each of your social networks, all in one place.

Customer service

In 2018, Smart Insights discovered that 63% of customers expect businesses to offer customer service via their social media channels, while 90% of social media users have already used social media as a way to communicate with a brand or business. This suggests why you should be actively responding to any customer as soon as possible on social media to ensure they are receiving the best service possible. Consider implementing a standard customised response that has been thought out so that you are always consistent and speaking in the correct company tone. This will also boost your business’ reputation for the long-term if customers are receiving a positive service.

Planning & scheduling

Planning ahead is key when carrying out any task and should definitely be the case when it comes to social media posts. Meet with members of staff on a regular basis to keep abreast of the goings-on in the company, which can then be shared via social media platforms. Whether it’s a new acquisition or an award the business has recently won, followers will want to hear about achievements. In addition, keep up to date with industry experts and influencers. Follow them to show your customers you are knowledgeable about the industry and its key figureheads.

What’s trending

Lastly, listening to and being reactive to what people in your industry are saying is crucial for engagement. We suggest spending 20 minutes each day engaging, commenting and sharing other people’s content or conversation starters. Meanwhile, keeping tabs on keywords that are trending or are popular within your industry, and using them in your social media posts will help you stand out from the competition.