Blog

  • An Ideal Day in the Life of a Social Media Manager

    Gus Wagner - Comment (0)

    Despite what you may have heard, thought, or been told, professionals in social media don’t just play online all day.

    I thought I would run through a step-by-step analysis of procedures and planning for a typical day managing client social activities. This list is A) not time-based because the amount of time varies from day to day, B) not going to reveal the client or the area in which they practice…just know they have a total audience of 5,000+ and are dealing with important topics of the day, C) not set in stone or in order of action as flexibility is a key attribute of a successful social media professional.

    What’s In It For Me: Learn the steps taken every day by social media pros, like TRG, to reach and impact audiences to further the success of your content mission.

    Also, a truly good social media professional is almost always connected through their mobile device and working and monitoring the situation no matter where they are. (Usually closest to a power outlet.)

    Review Social Interactions for Opportunities

    Some say the first thing you should not do in the morning is to check your email, so I try not to. What I actually do is check my Hootsuite control panel for social media responses, retweets, favorites, Likes, Shares, etc. Then I set out to see who the folks were who interacted with the content from the previous day, night, or last scan of activity. Gratitude is shown to those who share our messages, especially if that sharing generated many web clicks, and connections are made with any new voices who are singing our song. If a new connection has really outstanding content of their own and it ties into our mission, we will then share or interact with something relevant of theirs to be good social media neighbors.

    Scan, Review, Edit, Pause, and/or Create Paid Campaigns

    Most days of the year we have paid campaigns going, especially on Facebook and Twitter, to promote important content to targeted audiences or put the account in front of more potential fans. One of the first things I do each morning is check those campaigns to make sure they are still delivering, what they have delivered in followers and clicks, and make any adjustments which need to be made. This could include increasing or decreasing budget, adding new messages or images, or changing targets and goals.

    Check Stats from the Hours/Day/Week/Month Before

    To be successful in social media, you have to know what the audience is interacting with. We normally check our Facebook Insights, Twitter Analytics, and Google Analytics on a daily basis. If something is catching a bunch of attention, clicks, and Shares, I can make decisions to promote those posts or create additional content with similar themes immediately. If you aren’t checking your stats frequently, you are really talking in a dark room with no idea if anyone else is in there with you. We are also able to see quickly if traffic is rising, falling, or maintaining compared to other time periods or topics.

    Review New Fans and Followers for Leads and Spammers

    Another daily task, and a critical one, is to check your social connections for new fans and followers. There may be a $1 million dollar lead who just Liked you on Facebook or there may be a dozen spammers who followed you on Twitter. You need to reach out to the legit new connections then block and report the spammers. 

    Check the Headlines of the Day for Content Ideas or Consultations

    Between social media, blogs, aggregators, and even (still) traditional media, there is no shortage of news and information out there for you to share with your audience or get content ideas from. For this client we have several sources which we scour every morning for ideas to educate, inform, and entertain their audience. Scheduling tweets of the hard news items throughout the day, create long form content based on (and referencing) others content, and recapping the events of the previous or current day for Facebook – where hard news doesn’t play as well – are just a few of the immediate actions we take every morning.

    Read Your Own Timelines for Content to Share

    While you are building thousands of followers and fans, you also need to be following and Liking influencers, media, and decision makers in your own industry. Reviewing your own timelines and newsfeeds for breaking or relevant content is an important step to take every day. That means every day of the week and every day of the year. News, like Greed ®, never sleeps. 

    Schedule and/or Review Planned and Scheduled Content

    One of the beauties of a tool like Hootsuite is the power to schedule tweets. This client is working with an audience that is highly active from 7 AM to after 10 PM every day so we schedule evergreen content posts to go out throughout the day. Facebook is a different creature and will punish content published through a third-party tool so we use the internal schedule tool to publish at our peak times. Two rules to play by with scheduled posts: 1) be aware if some local/national/international news story breaks and check your scheduled items to pause or reschedule their publishing so you don’t look foolish in a time of tragedy and 2) don’t “just set it and forget it” as you will have to make sure your post was published, what the interaction is, and correct any errors you will, er, might make in the content or links.

    See What the Other Guys (and Gals) Are Doing

    Chances are you have competition, just as this client of ours does. Whether you are competing against other businesses, organizations, or nonprofits for revenue, awareness, or real estate, you’ll have to be aware of what they are doing. Our strategy here is to not follow or Like the loyal opposition on social media but to have lists, links, and tools in place to monitor their content and efforts. We check them out on a daily basis to see what they are up to, what their point of view is on common issues, and to stake out themes they are totally missing. You should too.

    Make New Friends

    Another growth strategy we employ is to check hashtags, conversations, and even lists of suggested accounts to connect with by the social media platforms to follow and Like similar and legit voices in the areas our client is concerned with. Going out and connecting with new “friends” on a regular basis is a great way to find supporting and new points of view and to grow connections which will help your own content find new audiences. Be sure to clean up the lists of your followers for dormant, dead, or spam accounts with a tool like CrowdFire.

    Review Content Calendar

    Just like most of us wouldn’t leave on a long trip without a map of some sort, you shouldn’t manage your daily social media activity without a plan. These are normally referred to as content calendars and can be as simple as a list of what actions you will take each day of the week to detailed Excel sheets for listing topics, titles, dates, and results (like this one). Either step, big or small, will get you headed in a better direction than you are currently going with your social media.

    Prepare Social Media & Blog Posts

    You’ll notice that we haven’t talked much about actual content creation. I will now but you need to see how much work we put into this effort before any words or pictures are created. By keeping your ears on for what the audience is actually interested in (versus pushing out what you want to talk about), investing time and resources into growing an effective audience for your efforts, and being interactive and responsive to the content of others, you will have a much greater success story for when you publish your own content. Preparing blog posts, whitepapers, and infographics for the client website is a dedicated and concentrated effort which runs parallel to the social audience observation and creation. Each blog post, unless it is very specific to current events, can ideally be used dozens of times for social media content. Crafting your content in smaller lengths, unique voices, or in digestible bits (like this one) can help you to have an “evergreen” article which will benefit you, and your audiences, for weeks, months, or even years.

    Acquire, Create, and Edit Specific and Interesting Images for Web and Social Use

    Words are only half the picture when it comes to social media content, pictures are the rest of the pictures. Images, graphics, and video will help you to stand out in a world of text on platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Inserting those images into your blog posts will enable your audience to share your messages in other platforms like Pinterest as well. You can take your own photos, buy stock photos, create graphics in a tool like Canva, and create short- or long-form videos (with a company like ours!) which will help your content to have even more impact on your audience. Most importantly, social media posts with accompanying images or video have interaction rates dozens of times higher than boring old text by itself.

    So there you have it, a dozen steps to take on a daily basis if you want to truly have a social media success story of your own. Perhaps you can focus on some more than others or skip a step or two but, in our experience, you won’t be as successful in moving audience action, gaining greater awareness, or improving your bottom line if you do.

    If you don’t follow a plan like this, you may as well just be playing on the internet all day.

    What do you think? Email me at Gus@RocketGroupLLC.com, tweet me (where I will catch up the fastest) @RocketGroup, send up a flare, whatever, let’s talk.

  • When Should I Be Posting to My Social Media and Web Platforms?

    Gus Wagner - Comment (0)
    The short answer is always, “When your fans are online” and the longer answer is contained in the video above. Let’s discuss best strategies for posting content to social media and the web.
    You may also be interested in these posts:

    Quick! Look at your #Facebook Insights’s “When Your Fans Are Online” tab. Does it look like a whale? Now that you have done this, be sure to post when YOUR fans are online not when YOU are online! #TRGRules

    Posted by The Rocket Group on Wednesday, January 14, 2015

  • What to Do and Not Do With Your Interns and Social Media

    Gus Wagner - Comment (0)

    nn Having interns for your business/organization/nonprofit can be a great thing. It can also be a disaster if you handle them incorrectly. Gus Wagner discusses three missions to do and not do with your interns when it comes to social media.nn 

    Things you should watch out for with your interns:

    Things you can learn from your interns:

    As I said in the video, our history with hiring and working interns has been fantastic. To this day, many still make me proud when I see how far many of them have gone in their professional and personal lives. You should never pass up the opportunity to work with qualified interns of your own.
    How have your experiences been so far? Email me at Gus@RocketGroupLLC.com, tweet me (where I will catch up the fastest) @RocketGroup, send up a flare, whatever, let’s talk about them!
  • Always Carry A Spare in Social Media

    Gus Wagner - Comment (0)
    At some point in your social media life, you are going to wish there was more than one person with access to your accounts, profiles, and content. Gus Wagner discusses the why’s and how’s in this video. 
    Other points:
    Need help with other social media or marketing needs? Reach out anytime! We’re here to help!
  • Twitter Success Story: Tweet with a Smile

    Gus Wagner - Comment (0)
    Your state of mind at the time of your tweet (or post, or blog, or upload) shows in the tone of your content. The simple mental trick I describe above, and the reasons for it, will help you to find success on Twitter and other social media platforms.
    Check out these other posts for even more keen insights to help you along your way:
    What tips for Twitter success would you like to share? Leave those answers in the comments below, Tweet me, or drop a line at any time.
    Thanks for reading,
  • Live Tweet Your Meetings, Events, & Experiences

    Gus Wagner - Comment (0)
    If you are hosting or attending conferences, events, even concerts, you should be active on social media during those events to reach audiences, build relationships, and offer value to the audiences you already have. Watch the video above to get your act together!
    Other thoughts and links:
    • I mention our previous “How to live tweet a public meeting” post. There is the link. 
    • Be dang sure you are plugged into the official hashtag of the event, the local geographic area, and keywords so you # the right terms
    • A tool we use to monitor conversation at events, outside of Hootsuite, is HashAtIt.com. Check it out. 
    • Be sure to go through and favorite and follow the other folks in the room who are tweeting the same event. 
    • While you can “live tweet” on Facebook, it is not recommended. Your friends and family don’t want to see 100 tweets about the insurance seminar you are attending. Your Twitter followers, which are probably more professional, will be more interested.
    • Be sure to tweet photos from the events, even if you are not in them. The old adage, “pics or it didn’t happen,” still has truth to it.
    Thanks for reading and be feel free to reach out to me anytime!
  • Public Speaking: What’s in the "Go Bag"?

    Gus Wagner - Comment (0)
    Gus Wagner comes prepared to speak at your event. His “Go Bag” holds back up supplies and equipment for almost any snag which might hit your event so the planned presentation still runs smoothly.
  • Your Business’s Biggest Asset Isn’t What You Think

    Gus Wagner - Comment (0)

    When I was in business school, they taught us about the Golden Triangle: Good, Fast, and Cheap. They taught us that we needed to “own” two of those things. We could own Good and Fast or Fast and Cheap, but we didn’t need to own all three.

    These days, we live in a consumer-driven marketplace where two out of three isn’t enough. Consumers want it all: they want it good, they want it fast, and they want it cheap. If you can’t provide them with all three of those things, you won’t be in business long.

    We also live in a global marketplace. You are in competition with big box retailers and big online entities even if you’re a small, local shop. How do you separate yourself from big box stores? How do you become a successful business when your competition is big and your customers want it all?

    The Secret to Building a Strong Business 

    The secret to building a strong business in a competitive, consumer-driven marketplace is to put your personality into your business operations. Whether it’s your own personality or your corporate culture, make sure you’re known for how you do business just as much as you’re known for the products or services you offer.

    Are you a fun-loving guy who sells widgets? Infuse fun into your store so that every time someone shops there, it’s a blast. People will quickly learn that they’re going to have a heck of a good time doing business with you, and that their purchasing experience will be fun as a result.

    Are you a rock-steady dame who can “own” helpfulness and customer service? Do it! Show your customers that when they do business with you, your service, your steadiness, and your helpfulness carry over into every part of your business — from what goes on online to what happens on the shop floor, to how you manage your phone calls. Be the rock steady business in your trade. 

    Make yourself human to you customers, and they’ll want to do business with you. When you bring your personality into your business, your customers will build the kinds of relationships with you that will inspire them to go out of their way to buy from your store or hire you for the service they need fulfilled. 

    Your Biggest Asset 

    Bringing your personality into your business turns doing business with you from a transaction into an experience. And when customers have a great experience doing business with you, it builds their trust.

    Your biggest asset in your business isn’t what you sell, it’s your personality.  Put yourself into your brand, put yourself into your social media, and put yourself into your real world interactions, and you’ll be a lot more successful than that big box retailer online or down the road. Put some personality into your business and they will come, they will most definitely come.

    Follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, give us a shout out there in comments below this blog post. I’m Gus Wagner, I own The Rocket Group and I look forward to learning more about your personality soon. 

    Thanks a lot!

     

  • HAM is Simple Way to Convince Your Audience to Take Action

    Gus Wagner - Comment (0)

    Gus Wagner speaking at the Simonsen Business Academy in Jefferson City, Missouri 

    What if we told you that the two simple things you needed to do to persuade your audience to make the decision you want them to make both amounts to something as simple as HAM? Yes, HAM.

    What we’ve learned at The Rocket Group is that HAM is what persuasion is all about.

    How do you make people buy a product, advocate for a cause, or vote for a candidate? Whether you hope that a consumer will buy something or become a fan of something, or whether you hope a constituent will vote for something, the same two things have to happen: you need to capture that person’s heart and their mind. You need to win their ham.

    Whether it’s an idea, an issue, a person, a product, or anything else you’re trying to convince someone about, you need to win their hearts and their minds. Win the heart and you’ve won the emotional appeal; win the head and you’ve won the logical appeal. Win them both, and you’ve got their vote, their transaction, or their donation.

    If you can convince somebody’s HAM, you’ll have them in your wheelhouse to make the purchase that you want them to make, make the decision that you want them to make, or to vote for the candidate you want them to vote for.

    Need help finding the hearts and minds of your current, potential, and future audiences? Drop a line anytime! 

  • Please Enter Your Pin, Followed By the Hashtag

    Gus Wagner - Comment (0)

    One thing that we do here at The Rocket Group is present. We give trainings, we speak at meetings, and we teach at conferences. We educate, inform and entertain our audiences when we have the microphone, but sometimes, our audiences educate, inform, or entertain us, instead.

    When I spoke at the Jefferson City West Rotary Club, I was introduction by Stephanie Johnson,  the President of the Rotary Club. Jill shared a story about calling a business and being asked for her pin number.

    “It was an automated voice,” Stephanie said. “Normally you hear, ‘Please enter your pin or account number followed by the pound sign,’ but this little-automated voice said to me, ‘Please enter your pin followed by the hashtag.’ We are living in a Gus Wagner world,’” she said. “We have evolved.”

    I was so flattered by Stephanie’s words, “We are living in Gus Wagner world. We have evolved.”

    It just goes to show that social media doesn’t stop on Twitter or Facebook or YouTube. Social media has infiltrated our culture, and businesses, organizations, and nonprofits that want to be relevant in a social media world will embrace social media culture if they haven’t done so yet.

    Listen to what else Stephanie has to say about The Rocket Group in this video clip, and in the meantime, if you’d like to have me speak to your group, business or convention, just hit the speaking and training link above!