Diane Shapiro, Social Media Manager for cybersecurity companies, joins us to discuss all things social media. As a social media strategist for top B2B companies, PR agencies, and cybersecurity industries, Diane has over 10 years of experience helping companies broadcast their messages on social media to gain engagement and meet business goals. This week, Diane talks to us about employee engagement, post scheduling, metrics of measuring success, and how to speak to your target audience online.

Timecoded Guide:

[02:03] Engaging employees in your cybersecurity social media strategy

[07:20] Encouraging employees to create company content on social networks

[14:11] Gamifying content strategy to further encourage online engagement

[19:40] Measuring essential metrics when reaching social media goals

[24:40] Crafting a strong message to your target audience through effective customer service

How do you sell employees on the idea of social media strategy?

It’s one thing to have C-suite higher-ups pushing out posts on social media, but it’s another thing entirely to have everyday employees engaged and sharing as well. Employee education in the form of webinars allow the opportunity to explain how every member of your company can play a part online. After training team members about the importance of social media, consider incorporating weekly reminders on Slack, or setting aside specific office hours where employees can ask questions about types of content they could be posting.

“I'll do a couple webinars where I communicate the important point that social media really thrives when you have both the company and individuals posting. Employees then can choose the content they know is going to resonate with their social media audience.”

Is there a method to encourage people to write their own posts?

In theory, we think social media is easy. We’re not writing a novel or a thesis, it’s usually just a line or two with a simple photo or graphic. In reality, employees outside of your marketing or social media department are already working full-time jobs, making it especially difficult to get people writing and posting about your company online. Making social media posts as easy as possible is key. Pre-draft posts, edit for your employees, and make it a one-click deal. 

“What I've found in my 10+ years of marketing is that if you don't make posting easy for people, they don't do it.”

How do you motivate employees to post authentic content?

The employee engagement platforms can be a great asset when motivating employees to post authentically. For example, some platforms offer employers an opportunity to gamify the experience and turn it into a contest. The key is to make the reward something rare enough that employees feel motivated to participate in the content on their social media channels. However, Diane does warn to be aware: it’s not about the quantity of posts, it’s about quality and scheduling. 

“If you've got seven posts in one day on one person's account, and none for the rest of the week, you're only getting the benefit of one of those posts, not all seven.” 

What metrics do you measure to make sure your social media strategy is working?

There are two terms here that Diane wants us to remember: vanity metrics and non-vanity metrics. Vanity metrics on social media channels are things like follower count. Follower count can be useful, but followers can be bought to artificially inflate the count. Diane instead advises to look at non-vanity metrics, such as impressions, likes, comments, and clicks. Those metrics will reveal how much your posts are actually getting interacted with and can determine the reach of your account.

“All these platforms measure in analytics. Clicks from the social assets through to the company's website are things you really want to look at, because that tells us how much your posts are getting interacted with. That's really what matters.” 

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