10 essential steps in your social media survival guide

According to Econsultancy and Adobe’s most recent Quarterly Digital Intelligence Briefing, 36 per cent of businesses identified social media engagement as one of the top priorities for their organisation.

But while most brands approach social media with a business as usual mentality, some companies are still struggling to engage with people on social media and fail to recognise its place within the wider content marketing strategy.

The problem is, it’s easy to fall into the trap of using social media platforms as another broadcast tool to push out sales messages, or as a soapbox to dictate and wag your finger. This may come as a surprise to some of you, but in business, your social media channels are not all about YOU.

Social media is also about quality, not quantity and the ultimate aim is getting influencers to engage with you on a regular basis so that they will then talk about you in a positive way to the people that follow them. It’s important to remember that social media is their space not yours – you are stepping into their world so you need to behave accordingly.

We always advise clients to think of it as a bit like going to a party. You wouldn’t go up to a crowd of people you don’t know, butt in and interrupt what they are saying so you can tell them just how great you are. So why would you do the same on Twitter or Facebook?

Social media is exactly what is says on the tin – it’s social! To help you get started, here’s our social media survival guide.28