Change the Post, Not the Message

Throughout my time at St. Edward’s I have managed two different organizations Facebook and Twitter pages. The first belonging to a leadership organization and the second belonging to a Catholic High School. Clearly they were two separate organizations with different ideals in mind. I recently had someone tell me that being a social media account manager was easy, “It’s just writing a post,” she said. Oh if only you could have soon the look on my face after she said that.

There are positions being created that are solely for Social Media Managers. Whoever said posting to Facebook and Twitter and Instagram was as easy as managing your personal social media account is sadly mistaken. You aren’t managing your own personal accounts, your managing the accounts of others or possibly for huge corporations, and if you take a selfie holding two bottles of tequila with the caption “poppin bottles” and post it to the page you happen to be managing (let’s say Dell Children’s Hospital), I guarantee you won’t have a job.

You need to carefully learn the brand you are communicating and use key words that are associated with the brand. Chances are if it’s a big enough organization they are going to have a brand page with pre-made words, phrases, pictures, colors, etc, that are being used over and over again to convey that brands message. Now you just have to figure out how you’re going to use all those tools given to you to create a Tweet or Facebook post that will be relevant to all of your followers. Think before you Tweet!..or post, or snap a picture, it goes for all social media outlets.

Shane Tilley, author of “Seven Tips to Establish Your Brand on Social Media,” says When branding your website, advertising, newsletter and other marketing collateral, you’re the one in total control. You own the pixels, you own the story — it’s your game and you dictate how it’s played.” It’s completely true, your the one behind these posts and whether your creating a post to promote a Catholic High School or a party bus business you need to make sure your conveying the same exact but different message every-time. Seem confusing? It’s not, and let me explain.

When writing your Tweet, Facebook Post, or snapping a picture and posting it to Instagram, you need to make sure you’re creating different content to keep your audience interested, but at the same time, you need to still convey you are the same organization that you’ve always been by communicating your brand through words. An article I recently came across, “Brand Building: Connecting with Consumer Through Social Media,” offers some great tips on keeping your brand consistent when communicating it through separate outlets. Jose Costa, President of MAACO and author of the article, explains “that it’s imperative to build memorable experiences and conversations with consumers using all brand touch-points.” Change the post, not the message.