Why did they decide to follow you?

Did an ad campaign promise to offer exclusive deals and tips? Did a promotion align your brand with an edgy, comical personality? No matter the reason, if you’re not delivering the things your audience was initially attracted to you, they’re going to disconnect.

Consider your brand, and its position in its industry. If you’re a food brand, for example, people likely expect you to inspire them in the kitchen with things that look good and sound appetizing. Are you delivering? If the answer is no, why did you steer off course?

Hint: Looking at Facebook? Pull the External Referring Sites data from Facebook Insights to see what’s driving traffic to your page. Use that as a jumping off point to uncover why fans may be flocking to you, or flocking away.

Why would they want to interact with your content?

Communities surrounding a cause may interact with your content because it hits an emotional, personal note. Lifestyle brands may have content that provides entertainment. Are you empowering your audience to feel smart? Are you showing them an innovative way to use a product? Are you making them look like a hero to their friends by giving them access to exclusive content?

Interactions with social content are often linked to the fulfillment of psychological needs of the people taking actions. Think about it: receiving likes on a witty comment validates the poster’s sense of humor. Retweets of a customer’s smart insight boost self-confidence. What needs should your content fulfill?

Hint: Pull demographical data about your audiences. Then, combine it with research to build personas that represent the major players in your social audiences. Knowing what’s under the hood makes it easier to understand why certain things are happening.

Why do they think of your brand outside of social?

At the end of the day, most brands that play in the social space make their money outside of it. Having a social presence in 2013 is a necessity for reaching customers, but can seem disconnected from the actual business purpose if it strays too far away from the brand’s platform. Figuring out why people are thinking about your brand when they’re not thumbing through social posts will help you play on your strengths and actually reach them.

Let’s stick with our food brand example from earlier. Here are a few reasons why people might think of you offline:

• Because they’re hungry
• Because they’re going grocery shopping
• Because you’re serving your product at an event

Hint: Tie these insights back to how  those insights can tie back into your social channels:

• Because they’re hungry: share a recipe
• Because they’re going grocery shopping: post a coupon
• Because you’re serving your product at an event: make the cost a tweeted testimonial or photo

Each of these questions highlight the importance of going beyond how people are interacting with you (though, sometimes that influences your strategy). The best part of understanding the why behind your audience's actions? It helps you create content that provides real value, something that’s lacking across the board when it comes to branded social media. So start asking a few questions, and get those communities back on track!

To the beginner, freelancing sounds like the perfect gig: you set your own hours, define your own contracts, and name your own price. Though freelancing is a great option for supplementing full-time income or building a better reputation as a social media professional, it's also an important learning experience that will make you better at business. Here's how.

Freelancing sharpens your client skills.

This one's probably obvious, but it's important. Many of us Millennials have a phone phobia, and avoid placing a call at all costs. When you're freelancing, that's not really an option. Clear, frequent communication with your client is important because it sets the groundwork for your project. It's also important because it can teach you how to appropriately handle conflict. Many of us agency people rely heavily on our account teams to deal with difficult situations for us. As your own unit, that's up to you. Learning how to lead a client through empowering them with a viewpoint is an extremely valuable skill.

It forces you to better manage your time.

Just like you become your own account person as a freelancer, you also become your own project manager. If you're not good at setting deadlines already, freelancing will force you to start. By understanding realistically how you tackle different pieces of business, you'll optimize your own processes, and become more efficient at your job. It'll also force you to balance your work life and your personal life, which is something many of us forget to do. The earlier you work out how to do that, the happier you'll be in your career. Trust me.

It improves your strategic POV.

One of the things I value most about agency life is the collaborative atmosphere. It's always helpful to have a fresh pair of eyes look over the work I'm doing, or walk through the approach I've taken. Still, collaboration is never responsible for all pieces of a project, and that's where freelancing can be very beneficial. Because you're left to your own devices to identify the direction of your project, you'll become more comfortable with advocating for your point of view.  And since much of your support will be based in research, strategically plotting a direction won't seem as scary as it may have before.

It evaluates your strengths and growth opportunities.

Don't bite off more than you can chew. And, if you do, you'll learn very quickly which pieces of your freelance services are easier for you to deliver on than others. I'm a social strategist by nature; I may have a design certificate, but it would be impractical for me to offer logo design as part of my freelance package because I'm not an accomplished designer. I choose to stick to what I know because it comes naturally, and I have the confidence I need to do the job right. If you can't speak to why you're qualified to do something for more than a minute, don't try. You don't have to be good at everything. In fact, it can be more powerful to own your unique skill set and play to its strengths rather than to try and fit it into something else.

It makes you more self-sufficient.

To build on that last point, when you become more comfortable with the work you do and how you do it, you are able to tackle bigger pieces of projects without as much guidance. As I mentioned before, collaboration is important, but being able to execute strong work solo is something that will help you grow in your craft. Combine that with your newfound client relationship & project management skills, and you'll be the favorite wherever you work.

Have other advice or insights from your own freelancing experiences? Share 'em in the comments below.

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What roles are community managers qualified to transition into at an agency (or elsewhere)?

As far as I'm concerned, this one depends. If much of your community management experience involved coordinating with Facebook tab vendors and other sweepstakes partners, project management could be a possibility. Many people often find themselves transitioning into account management, handling clients who have social media as a large component to their agency business.

In-house marketing opportunities may be worth exploring as well. Agency experience is rarely seen as a negative, and for some people, slowing the frenetic pace of agency life to focus on one core piece of business can be easier to sustain.

Community management does not typically turn into a creative career, from what I've experienced. Though we write a great deal of social copy, the space still requires a lot of traditional skills (like writing TV spot scripts and pieces for headlines) that would require more training than anything else. What I do feel community management is best suited for is strategic planning, of course at a digital capacity, which leads me nicely to the next question...

What is the social media job hierarchy?

The way I have come to understand it through many conversations and some research, the typical entry point for a social media career is Social Media Coordinator. From there, you can go in two directions, from what I've seen and discussed:

Community Manager -> Community Strategist OR Content Strategist -> Social Strategist

OR

Social Media Manager -> Social Media Supervisor -> Digital OR Social Strategist; Social Media Account Manager

My advice? Take a look at how other agencies have structured their social and digital departments. It's also a good idea to scope out social and digital job openings to check out the required experience needed for the position. I've noticed that often, social strategist positions naturally evolve out of community management because the skills necessary for that job evolve into more critical thinking and planning roles as a byproduct.

How will community management evolve within agencies as some brands migrate social media in-house?

This is perhaps one of the most important and relevant questions in the industry right now as our landscape grows. While we've seen some brands handle community management in-house, there is still room for agencies to step in with analytics, content strategy, and promotional execution. The beauty of a brand and agency partnership is that agencies have additional resources that may not be present in-house.

Agency people also tend to innately stay on top of emerging trends and get dirty with platforms, and for timely, high impact social campaigns, that is key. Another really great benefit? Agency people can draw experiences from other agency clients to gain insights that may be a bit more narrow in an in-house environment. Sometimes, it's just more helpful to brainstorm your posts for the next month with someone who knows about your industry, but doesn't work in it.

Naturally, the partnership between agencies and brands will change, since the way we as consumers and individuals use social media will continue to change. Perhaps I speak from a biased perspective, but I believe there are enough seats at the table for both sides to work together.

These are only a few of the questions that I've heard (and asked) while talking shop. Have any others? Or, can you provide additional answers and insights? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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People have short attention spans.

One of the reasons Twitter is so popular for news & discovery is that information is pre-formatted into headlines, making it easy to digest a high volume in quickly. Infographics operate under the same parameters, by identifying visual representations of bigger data sets and trends that can be absorbed in seconds.

If you're writing social copy, cut to the chase. Often, content developers get stuck on flowery language that better belongs in a :60 spot than on Facebook. Similarly, if you're writing a blog post or site copy, make your point sooner than later. Formatting blogs with sub-headers and lists also helps readers skim for valuable nuggets of information that they can then choose to expand on.

Content needs inherent value.

You know immediately upon scanning an infographic what kind of data it's presenting to you. In other words, an infographic about mobile purchase behavior is going to tell you about mobile purchase behavior. You'll get information that will either help you accomplish a task, or will make you feel (and look) smarter.

There's a trend with online content, moreso in the social realm than in blogs and web copy: it only engages on a light-hearted level. There are countless brand pages with brand-related imagery asking a user to fill in a blank, or "Like" a post to help their brand mascot perform some action.

While these engagement plays do see social activity, they offer no value to the readers, and if changes in Facebook's EdgeRank algorithm are any indication, won't go over much longer. Think about the kind of brand voice you want to be, and the kind of content you'd want to read as a fan of these brands through social media. Is the content you're posting saving them money? Driving them to retail? Making them smarter? Noticeably brightening their day? If it's not, you might want to start the shift now. 

Goals need to be measurable.

Infographics represent data that comes as a direct result of a measurable study. Infographics also frequently break down how the viewer can achieve either the same result, or measure the same metric. They provide benchmarks for measurement and analysis.

One of the biggest mistakes people who work with online content make is that they forget to measure its performance, omitting performance metrics from the equation completely. If you've written a blog post, what are you hoping it will do? Do pageviews = increased exposure? If so, how many constitute a solid increase?

Are the Facebook fans you're paying to acquire going to be converted into loyal customers or even occasional purchasers through your content? What are you going to do with the fans once you get them? How are you going to track money invested in social engagement against an increase in sales, and participation in brand programs and services?

Facebook fans and Twitter followers have become social currency for brands and indiviuals alike, but almost no one is thinking about what to do with these people, save for highlighting their accumulation in quarterly reports. Will you be one of the first to start?

The main takeaway is this: create content that easily provides value to your readers, and establish measurable goals for your online actions. By boosting engagement at the same time you begin to think about converting that engagement into sales, you're doubling your efforts with a few fairly simple tweaks.

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Then, I discovered Boston. Nicknamed "The Hub," academics from the likes of Boston College, Harvard, and MIT push the region forward with their bright ideas. As the technological beacon of New England, it attracts and retains some serious talent, not to mention it serves up a serious bowl of chowda.

I've been watching DC since kicking off my undergraduate career there. It is all too obvious that Washington is an elite city, entertaining international dignitaries and of course, housing our federal government.

For many years, the allure of these cities, regarded as captains of industry, have taken the talent born and bred in the Philadelphia area (not to mention the talent from many other places across the globe). People move to Manhattan to become professional powerhouses, Boston to engineer the future, and Washington to dictate it. Now is the time, more than ever, for Philadelphia to grow into its role as the champion of innovation. We all know it as such, but it's time others did, too.

There is a lot of talent in this city. Tech companies are sprouting in every direction, and as a whole, our professional scene is bursting. From video game studios to interactive agencies, artists to chefs, Philadelphia is the place to be. We have thousands of students graduating from Philadelphia institutions every year. Hundreds of entrepreneurs are starting their own businesses. We don't need to move to other cities with bigger skylines to lead innovation; we have the means to do it right here in Philly, and 2013 is our year to do it.

Sure, there are plenty of people across the country who still see Philadelphia as a "rough around the edges" city, but in my experience, that's because the people who live here are sharp (see what I did there?). We call it like we see it. We read situations and intuitively assess our surroundings. We see the pie in the sky, and we chase it.

And, there is a real sense of community here. Philadelphia is America's biggest small town (and every local can attest to that), so let's use that to our advantage. We are the city of community - the City of Brotherly Love - so let's keep our homegrown talent here by holding them up, challenging them to succeed, and helping Philly live up to its potential.

The people who represent this city with their talent can't help it move forward if instead, they chose to move out. Let's make 2013 count, Philly.

Feature image cred: Etsy

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Consider Your End-Goal

The obvious goal that comes from promoting a post on Facebook is having specific content with an increased reach. The not-so-obvious goal of a promoted post is what you’ll do with the momentum you build. Unless you’re looking to amplify a piece of exclusive content that’s for fans only, you’ll want to have answers to the following questions:

• Is this promotion looking to temporarily boost post engagement, or is it aiming to acquire new fans?
• How will the promoted message be supported and emphasized with unpaid content?
• Will success of the promoted post be measured in Facebook likes, comments, and shares, or are other metrics a consideration (i.e. contest entries, link clicks, etc.)?

Use A Photo

By now, we’ve seen that photo posts perform best with Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm. So, it makes sense to leverage this when promoting a Facebook page. The post should see an extended newsfeed hang-time from interactions, which will help your message receive additional exposure to your audience beyond the 3-day promotional period. And while the exposure from EdgeRank won’t reach friends of fans, it’ll help reinforce your message to people who already like your page without any additional effort.

Tip: Don’t promote your post right away – especially if you use a photo, let EdgeRank do some of the work for you. Once you notice the virality of your post increasing, hit it with the promotion. Just keep that 3-day promotional window in mind.

Keep it Concise

Social media platforms like Facebook are not a delivery system for blocks of text; that’s what a blog is for.  The industry standard is to keep posts between 100 – 250 characters, likely because with all of the digital media out there, our fans’ attention spans aren’t designed to tolerate things much longer without a solid reason. Facebook itself even calls out that keeping messaging concise is a key to successful content.

By using these three things, a recent promotional post of my client’s saw a reach 22x greater than the page’s average post reach.  Have any other insights to using Facebook Promoted Posts? Share them in the comments below.

Featured image cred: Mashable

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Image cred: NatGeo

When it comes to Facebook, for many of us, engagement rates are down. Post virality is down. Organic growth is painfully slow. If you’re going to save your brand from the throes of Facebook purgatory, you’re going to have to level up your current game.

People don’t like to be sold, yet quite a few brands have a social media approach that, if personified, would look a lot like a door-to-door salesman. These days, we’re dealing with a society that tunes out as quickly and readily as they tune in.

Our audiences - just like us - crave information at their fingertips when they want it, how they want it.  They get a sense of validation from remaining perpetually connected. They’ve taken comfort in the ease with which they can broadcast thoughts and feelings from behind a screen. And, after spending the better part of a decade on Facebook, they’re sick of reading content that sounds like an advertisement.

I know what you might be thinking. “The latest industry study says only 6% of our audience cares about engagement! EdgeRank’s recent adjustment is what drove my posts’ reach into the ground!” While some of the behavior you see on your page may be partially attributed to those things, you should be doing other things to counteract any undesirable outcome.

• Think outside the book. Red Bull created more social buzz in one day than most brands do in a month by pulling off a stunt that had nothing to do with social media at all (save for a hashtag and a livestream). Don’t rely on your content alone to get your fans to talk about your brand. While most of us don’t have it in the budget to send a daredevil to space, we can still get creative with the ways we’re engaging our social communities. Ask yourself what you can do on behalf of your brand to get people talking.
• Be insightful with Insights. There’s no excuse for social media managers not to understand who’s in their community when Facebook Insights are readily available for export and analysis. You can instantly improve the relevancy of your content when you understand the demographics of your audience, and Facebook Insights breaks down community growth by geography, gender, and age. From there, it’s back to basics: build demographic profiles and make relevant plays with them.
• Put your community ahead of the industry. It makes no difference that only 6% of fans engage with Facebook content if only 2% of your fans actively engage with your content. The game we’re playing isn’t about optimizing content for Facebook; its about optimizing yourcontent for your Facebook community. Yes, you should pay attention to industry findings, and yes, EdgeRank influences your posts, but use these things to guide your research and social experimentation, not dictate it.

We work in a dangerous industry in that there’s no set time period for how long a social network maintain's a user's interest, yet it’s up to us to keep the sparks alive every day, no matter what. What have you noticed happening in your social communities? How have you been adjusting your approach?

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One of the things that's kept me busy during my community management days has been attempting to profile the various types of Facebook fans. And while fans are each unique (since they're all different people), many of their behaviors fall into certain patterns. Here are the 5 most common types of Facebook fans that I've seen while managing communities, and how you can tailor your content to keep them.

1. The Potential Client/Customer

   The potential client or customer is a fan who has heard of your business through something like word of mouth or an advertising campaign, and is intrigued by what you're all about. This type of fan is like a hawk waiting to swoop; the more relevant, interesting, and personal your content, the more likely this fan is to stay on your page (or even make a purchase/contact you for business, if you're B2B).

   How to keep them: Strike a healthy balance with your content that services their needs/wants with a bit of personality. B2C companies can do things like showcase fan reviews, while B2B companies can showcase in-house talent, or show off a "behind the scenes" look at what the office environment is like. Be fun and approachable, and work on exhibiting a voice that exudes thought leadership (and friendliness).

2. The Friend/Employee:

   The friend/employee is someone who has liked your page either because they want to support your business (or business venture), or work at your company. These fans are dangerous because while they raise the quantitative count of your audience, they qualitatively reduce your engagement score. Employees and supportive friends are less likely to engage with your content, simply because they typically view the "Like" as the end of their transaction.

   How to keep them: The more important piece of this question isn't how to keep them, but how to engage them. Borrowing a few tactics from pleasing the Potential Customer/Client can help - B2Cs can highlight certain locations that provide excellent service, and B2Bs can make things personal by recognizing individual employees. Since they already have a personal connection, you can play on it. And, if it works out, your other fans will enjoy seeing the faces behind the logo talking about things that are happening.

3. The Sweepstaker

   Did your page feature an exclusive contest recently? If so, it's a pretty safe bet that some of the newbies to your audience simply liked your page so they could have a chance at winning your giveaway. Often, Sweepstakers have a "one and done" mentality, and once the contest is over, may unlike the page and move on. Other times, these fans might forget they've liked your page until an irrelevant piece of content appears in their newsfeeds, and then they'll purge your page.

   How to keep them: You may be wondering why you'd want to keep such a specific group of people, but the Sweepstakers are more likely to vocalize their excitement for your promotions, and that's free marketing for your page. Don't just post a contest and then forget about it - support it with content they can like. And, as one contest is winding down, hype up others that may be launching soon, or focus on promotions you have outside of Facebook. Provide exclusive deals, like coupon codes, through posts made on random days to increase the chances they'll stick around.

4. The Happy Camper

   The Happy Camper is a great fan to have, and most brands see them interact with their Facebook pages regularly. Happy Campers have positive brand sentiments based on great purchases they've made, wonderful customer experiences, and/or childhood memories. They come to your page because your brand or business has already enhanced a part of their lives, and they're passionate about sharing that with you (and other fans) so they get some recognition.
   
   
   How to keep them: Keep their conversations flowing! Thank them, ask them questions, and respond to them when they take it upon themselves to post content to your Timeline without a call to action. Work conversational posts into your content that ask for opinions that these die-hards will be eager to give. Tease upcoming work or new products/promotions with photos, polls, and links to keep their excitement flowing. And, if they ever post really unique content to your wall, ask if you can share it from the brand's voice. People love to be recognized and reinforced.

5. The Fairweather Friend

   The Fairweather Friend is a fan who may like your brand, its services, or a recent product they've purchased, but isn't driven to shout that from the rooftops. They usually like your page to stay current on brand/business news, or to remember your brand/business for a later date, when they'll be seeking what you have to offer. Unlike the Happy Campers and the Potential Client/Customers, though, they're more likely to leave negative feedback if your brand does something they don't like.
   
   
   How to keep them: If they leave concerns or comments on your page, address them head-on. Transparency is key. Understand and embrace what makes them different: they're looking for information, so give it to them. Make relevant appeals, and much like you do for the Potential Client/Customer, show the value of your services to encourage engagement and business transactions outside of Facebook.

Of course, a healthy Facebook page that sees an upward trend of engagement and growth combines all of these content pieces into an overarching strategy. But, unless you understand who you're speaking to, you may not know where to begin. Use these profiles as a jumping point, and then dive into the analytics to get a closer look. When you understand your community, you can accomplish your social goals.

Now, I’ve wanted an iPad for some time, but I’ve had to prioritize my spending, and haven’t purchased one yet. I jokingly tweeted last week that Apple should send me one for free, since this event coincides with my birthday. While Apple is, at this point, seemingly light years beyond that kind of customer acquisition and retention, wouldn’t it be cool if they actually did it?

Or, if more big brands did it in general?

Kellogg’s made Totes AmazeBalls cereal in response to a tweet… and even though that tweet belonged to a well-known musician, it still counts for something. As a fairly neutral cereal eater (I do love some Lucky Charms), it made me more enthusiastic about the Kellogg’s  brand. And if they had done it for your neighborhood Jane Doe, I would have been even more enthusiastic.

And that’s where the community manager comes in.

There’s this term, social listening, and though I hate the verbage, it’s an important part of the practice. Paying attention to who is posting on your wall, or mentioning your account in a tweet doesn’t cover all of your bases – you have to monitor keywords and conversations happening about your brand (and related products/industries/competitors).

I made a joke about Ask.com not too far back, and I didn’t tag the company’s various handles. I noted that I’d seen the girl on the train next to me using it as her search engine, and that I must have instead boarded a Delorean. Within a half hour, the Ask.com social team had tweeted me back another Back to the Future reference, all in good fun (and also in a way that positioned the brand favorably). Google’s a habit, and part of our vernacular, so perhaps it doesn’t make the best example here. However, I have warm feelings toward the brand now for their social intercept, and will recount that story if Ask ever comes up in conversation.

Conversations. I think that’s what a lot of companies are missing with this whole “social media” thing. Listening is just as important, if not more so, than talking. So, chat up your friendly, neighborhood community manager. They’ll help you out… just make sure you let them do some of the talking, too.

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What I mean by that is, I originally set out to find the biggest pet peeves people have regarding social media. Some of the responses I received called out the functionality of their favorite platforms. Others touched upon the obnoxious self-important behavior that some industry heads display. Since I was groomed as  a PR girl, my personal pet peeve is watching colleagues and friends with the same pedigree air their dirty laundry all over the Internet, despite knowing better.

However, I received one response that brought about a very important point, and it got me thinking. @platypusjones (Erich) said, with no ill intent, that his biggest pet peeve was watching people talk about social media on social media. And I have to give it to him: it makes more and more sense as I think about it.

My official, fancy title is "Community Manager." When most people find out I deal primarily in the digital space with social media, they either think a) that my career is a joke, or b) that my job is easy. I'm sure I can chalk it up to the fact that social media is still largely misunderstood, but there are certain things that also give the non-believers a golden opportunity to ridicule, criticize, and discount.

My community - the social media crowd, that is - has created and propagated the habit of arbitrarily tweeting and Facebooking industry links at an alarmingly high frequency. It's become a standard practice, a method by which we all attempt to show our expertise and skill set. I apologize for being crude here, but it's like we've all engaged in a digital pissing contest to see who can find the best article and spread it the fastest. I have to wonder, for what?

I read plenty of articles about social media, PR, advertising, and the like because it's my industry. It's always a good idea to stay current. But, using them in a tweet or a post doesn't show anyone what I'm capable of, other than reading. If a graphic designer constantly tweeted about typography, that wouldn't legitimize their talent, so my tweeting about the 7 hottest twitter tips sure as hell doesn't legitimize mine. Beneath those 140 characters, and those Facebook statuses is a real person. I get paid to help the voices of brands shine through, to create authorities in the social space. Why shouldn't I be doing the same thing for my own good?

You can't be an expert on something just because your social media profiles are littered with other people's content on the subject. Sure, you can post articles on occasion if you add meaningful commentary to them, but the days of hitting the "Share" button blindly should come to an end for us all, myself included. I feel silly having fallen into that trap, but we all move through phases with the way we communicate, and if anything, it was a learning experience that proved itself to be valuable. The only way to be a trusted voice in your field is to pave the way with your own work. We need to brand ourselves with rich content, and add dimension with our portfolios.

One thing that I've always said is still true, despite what most believe: the number of followers and friends and fans you have doesn't matter; their qualitative value does (and don't even get me started on Klout). But, to the point, let's make an effort to build up our networks with the people we want to listen most: the people who challenge us to think, the people who light the spark for our new ideas, and the people who can push us forward, laugh at our lame jokes, and make social media a less stigmatized place to work in.

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