Don’t Get Lost

Getting lost or overwhelmed by all the choices in social media platforms is easy to do.  It wasn't always this way.  Until the late 1990's marketing and promoting a practice was as easy buying space in newspapers and periodicals or on TV, and doing some smart networking to build trust and lasting relationships.  That was it.  That was the magic bullet.

But in today's market there's no such thing as a magic bullet.  Consumers are more savvy about who we are and what we do.  They know that there are many choices for resolution services.  Establishing trust and creating relationships with prospective clients is still a requirement.  In fact it's the primary asset that we're building.  And only connection, direct connection, does that.  Whatever platform you want to use is fine, as long as it leads to a direct connection with your primary, secondary, and / or tertiary target markets.  In that vein, I always recommend that you use the platform your target market is most comfortable using.  You may not like Facebook, but if that's where your clients are, you need to get really good at using Facebook.  If your clients love it you need to love it too.  The same goes for Twitter, Instagram, etc.

For most resolutionists, LinkedIn is the platform of choice.  Making best use of this platform is a great way to connect, establish credibility, authority, and availability.  Make best use of messages to invite people to connect, thank them for connecting, offering to be a resource for them, and providing them something of value will start the all-important dialogues to creating trust and building business.  If you have connected with previous clients, ask them to endorse you or write a recommendation - the best way to do this is provide an endorsement or recommendation to them first.  LinkedIn is a powerful library of articles - write and post one.  Is video your preference?  Record and post one.  Use LinkedIn to find groups and interact with them.  Comment on your connection's posts.  The key to LinkedIn is to connect and interact.

Regardless of your choice, log on to your social media platform profile and with a critical eye update your bio, update your photograph, make sure that your contact information is complete and correct.  Link to any other platforms and your website.  The goal is to make it easy for prospective clients to confirm your professionalism and contact you.

Being in many places is far less important than occupying one space extremely well.  Own that space and state it clearly eg: "I'm a blogger not a podcaster".  Be in that space in a way that other resolutionists without your tenacity have no way to occupying in the way you do. Do one thing and do it really well.

After all that, if you sincerely feel that you need to be on numerous platforms concurrently, that's fine too.  It can get overwhelming to manage all those accounts however.  You might want to simplify your life by using a social media management tool like Hootsuite.  The point is this ... don't get lost or overwhelmed by all the platforms and then not use any of them.

If you're not sure which platform is best for you, how to use your chosen platform(s), or simply don't want to become the social media master that your practice needs, give me call and I'll help you find the best solution or even help you manage your accounts.

The Top 9 Tools for Managing Social Media Accounts

Managing social media takes more than a few minutes a day.

The need to engage is at an all-time high. That’s because our clients are more likely to hire ADR professionals that are responsive on social media.  The value of having an efficient and effective social media presence for the purposes of social proofing is immeasurable. 

Someone needs to be representing your practice all day on social media – responding to and engaging with users.

Without using tools or a social media account manager to help cope with the daily requirements of your social media platforms, there truly aren’t enough in the day to get everything that needs to be done, actually done.  From researching new content ideas to keeping an eye on your hours competitors‘ posts, keeping up to date on current laws and consumer trends, engaging with your followers, and forming new business relationships … it’s just too much for most mediators and arbitrators to handle.

Luckily for you, here’s a list of some of the top and most practical social media management tools. All of these tools will help you work smarter, not harder.

If you’ve discovered a tool or technique that isn’t listed below, please let me know so that I can share that good information across my own social media accounts.

1. Bit.ly

It feels like such a luxury when a tool or platform gives you the option to shorten your ugly URLs, but Bit.ly does and they’ve done so for over 30 billion links so far. With the multiple social media networks, you’re going to want a unique tracking parameter on each URL, and not one that the social media users will see.

Bit.ly allows you to shorten, customize, and track URLs, making lengthy coded URLs into neat, pretty little URLs.

Pricing: Free

2. Buffer

Buffer is one of the social media marketing veteran’s favorite tools. With one easy click you’ll be able to share content and schedule posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Buffer allows you to post content throughout the day so that your social media feeds are consistently updated. Additionally, you can schedule ahead of time, which means that you’re posting on your social media accounts while also mediating or arbitrating.

Important note: If you own or work for a registered nonprofit organization, you need to look into Buffer. They offer a 50 percent discount (on what is already competitive pricing) to all registered nonprofit organizations.

Pricing: Free, $10 or $99 monthly

3. BuzzSumo

Running out of ideas for your social media content? It happens to us all.  BuzzSumo is the perfect content idea generator. Just type in a topic and see what their research suggests.

You can use filters to see whatever types of content you want, whether you’re looking to share:

* Articles

* Infographics

* Videos

* Interviews

* Podcasts.

You can export this data and even set up alerts to receive a daily inspiration of content.

Pricing: $79, $139, $239, or $499 a month for enterprise and custom plans

4. Hootsuite

Hootsuite might sound like a bit much for a solo practitioner or small firm, but this powerhouse is actually perfect.  Hootsuite allows you to connect, monitor, and schedule posts for 35 different social networks.

Very rarely will you meet someone who uses both Hootsuite and Sprout Social (number 7 on this list), and that’s because you don’t need both. They are both efficient and offer an array of social media features, but are very similar in what they offer.

Aside from their similarities, there are a few things that set them apart.

* Sprout Social is completely international when it comes to languages. Hootsuite is slightly limited.

* Hootsuite has a huge list of programs they integrate with, like Salesforce, Marketo, and SocialFlow. Sprout Social integrates with all of the social media networks, and then just five others (Uservoice, Bitly, Feedly, Zendesk, and Google Analytics).

* Both of their dashboards look completely different when you log in. Hootsuite offers more of a wide angle approach showcasing everything you need to see (scheduled posts, brand mentions, engagement, feed, etc.). Sprout Social has a cleaned-up version of this and only displays one portion at a time with top menu and side bars offering the rest.

Pricing: Free for up to 3 profiles or $19, $99, or $499 monthly.

5.  MeetEdgar

MeetEdgar is quite simply just fun to use. You pick your practice relevant topics like mediation, arbitration, conflict resolution, workplace conflict, divorce mediation, etc. and schedule the types of topics you want to publish on whichever days you prefer.

And, when you run into the inevitable content lull with social media, MeetEdgar is a great solution. This lovely little piece of technology will add a bit more fun to your social media calendar. It somehow does a little self-reflection and then only publishes content that Edgar thinks is worthy of engagement.

One of the best features of MeetEdgar is that once your topics are tuned in, Edgar makes sure the content never runs out. So you don’t have to constantly refill or pick new topics. Edgar does it for you.

Here’s my favorite part.. once everything from a topic has been published, Edgar starts to re-share old content that people may have missed the first time around. Considering the limited amount of organic reach on social media, resharing content gives it another chance for engagement. Way to go, Edgar!

Pricing: Free 2-week trial or $49 a month

6. Post Planner

Post Planner is another great social media content tool. With Post Planner you can see what types of content are being shared around a specific subject or person, search by:

* Topic.

* Trend.

* Keyword.

* Hashtag.

* Facebook.

* Twitter handle.

Search through their recommended feeds based on industry and interests and explore new content ideas.

The tool will also give each piece of content a performance engagement ranking. This ranking, which is based on Post Planner’s custom algorithms, helps determine whether a post is worth sharing.

BONUS: You also get a scheduling calendar with Post Planner.

Pricing: $3, $9, $19, or $49 monthly, depending upon profiles

7. Sprout Social 

Sprout Social is one of the best social media management tools. More than 19,000 companies, like the Hyatt and VICE, trust Sprout for:

* Social media scheduling.

* Engagement reports.

* Analytics.

* Brand monitoring.

Sprout Social will drastically help you save time and accomplish your daily social media tactics.

Pricing: Free 30-day trial, and then it’s on to a monthly plan of either $99, $149, or $249

8. TweetDeck

Are you getting and greeting clients on Twitter?  Maybe you manage multiple Twitter profiles? TweetDeck is the tool for you!

It looks on its face a bit like Hootsuite, but under its skin it’s different beast entirely, and customized just for your Twitter needs.

TweetDeck:

* Organizes your Twitter account by building collections, filing lists, searches, activity, and more.

* Tracks topics, events, and hashtags to help with brand monitoring and to stay in the know of trending conversations.

* Manages multiple Twitter accounts and lets you tweet, monitor, and follow from one dashboard. TweetDeck completely removes the hassle of logging in and out.

9. TweetReach

And then there’s TweetReach.  Another great tool for ADR practitioners who love to Tweet.

TweetReach has always had everything you thought you needed to know in terms of performance and engagement for Twitter. But did you know that they’ve recently expanded with Union Metrics and now also provide analytics for Instagram and Facebook.

With TweetReach you can:

* Monitor any topics or profiles, even your competitors.

* Create Trackers for Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

* Track trends in sentiment and engagement rates.

* Export your data into CSV or PDF reports.

* Determine the reach and sentiment for any hashtag on Twitter or Instagram.

* Discover the hashtags that get your content in front of new audiences.

* Find influencers in any community.

Pricing: $99, $199, and $399 a month

No matter which social media platform(s) you’re using, creating or curating content, engaging your contacts, and monitoring the effectiveness of your posts can be overwhelming.  The tools above are a great way to free up your time and alleviate some of the stress of managing your accounts on own.  Of course if managing your own accounts, even with the tools listed above, is too much for you to do on own, give Marketing Resolution a call and we’ll create a solution for you.