Plan : Identify your goals and create a strategy to help you reach them. Make a list of what you want to accomplish. Is it to raise funds? Increase sales?
Patience : Nothing happens overnight. It takes time to develop relationships and establish credibility with your brand and your target audience. Over time, events and a steady pace will win out. Rushing leads to mistakes.
Persistence : You must be stubbornly committed to your goals and strategy. Give your plan a fair amount of time and analysis before you pull the plug. If you know it’s a good one, don’t panic and change course simply because you’re not seeing results as quickly as you’d like. That said, circumstances change, not every strategy works and you need to be willing to recognize when it’s time to try something new.
Pay (What You Can) : These days, especially on Facebook, it’s a pay-for-play landscape. Pay where you can, if you can. The results can provide the spark you need to drive a specific campaign or to increase your overall visibility to your target market.
Prioritize : I can’t stress enough the importance of time management. If your marketing staff consists of only one or two people, it’s essential that you stay on top of your social media strategy by prioritizing your quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily objectives and goals. Take the time to identify those tasks critical to your success and make them a priority.
Jeremy Juhasz is a social media strategist at EMSI Public Relations. He has years of experience managing social media marketing for the nonprofit sector, including launching social media and online strategies for Feeding America Food Bank and Goodwill affiliates.
