We finished our second day of Social Media class at the Digital Professional Institute and I’m fired up. It’s like being at the front end of starting a new workout. The strategy session is workout pre-planning: plan your next 90 days, decide which routines to focus on, set some goals, do some prep and light stretching (gotta keep those fingers nimble). Here’s what the plan looks like:
- Next 90 days: P90X, T25, TurboFire – they aren’t figuring out what workout to give you the day after your last one. They’re not winging it – they’ve set the routine 60 – 90 days in advance. There’s a reason for that: if you can see into the future, you’re more likely to accomplish your plan. Create your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ calendars well in advance, so you don’t end up like the guy at the gym who’s stuck staring at the equipment, overwhelmed.
- Pick your routine: circuit training is so ‘90s. Nowadays every workout you find (even 6-minute abs) focuses on a part of the body - back and bi’s, core, legs – to ensure that you don’t neglect critical areas for growth. Set your social routine similarly. Pam Moore of Marketing Nutz offers a calendar to help you organize your efforts. But, ultimately, you have to decide the right cadence and pacing for your business, based on where your current and desired audiences are spending their time.
- Set some goals: Could you imagine going to the gym and saying, “my goal is to do some reps today.” Uh…is that 10 reps? 100 reps? Is there weight involved? Goals are specific numbers that quantify a specific objective – I want to build lean muscles, so I’ll do 15 reps every 90 seconds. Similar with your Social Media routine. If your objective is to be an authority, set a goal for the number of conversations you’ll join on Twitter this week or the number of relevant posts you’ll make on facebook. Put a number on your activity and measure yourself against it.
- Do some prep: When you’re starting a work out, you don’t just march into the nearest weight room or studio. Maybe you buy some new clothes. Maybe you do some research online to get some tips. Maybe you scope out the right gym first. Similar with executing your social media strategy. Are your profiles optimized? Is your voice consistent? Do your pictures reflect the person or brand you want your audience to see? Getting started right can help you avoid painful injuries in the future.
Next week we get into the Social Media weight room and, like Arnold, start pumping some iron!
What are your routines that help you stick to your Social Media plan? Leave them in the comments.
