Your day is planned and you know exactly which tasks must be completed today and everyday in order for you to be a successful social media marketer. If you have any doubt as to the tasks you must complete, read "A Day in the Life of a Social Media Marketer" for more assistance and advice. Your are also in no doubt as to what you must complete in order for you have a successful week. You have drawn up your list of weekly tasks to be completed and you are ready to go. If you need assistance with this, you can read "A Week in the Life of a Social Media Marketer", for some more useful tips and tricks.
You are all set and all you have to do is know exactly what you need to do every month, and I will guide you through the tasks you need to complete every month.
“The truth is that stress doesn’t come from your boss, your kids, your spouse, traffic jams, health challenges, or other circumstances. It comes from your thoughts about your circumstances.” - Andrew Bernstein
Monthly
The Monthly Social Media Marketer's Checklist
Audit all your accounts
Your goal here is to look very closely at the social media accounts you manage and audit them. One of your weekly tasks is to check your statistics, and this statistical analysis can help you with your audit, which is all about what is performing well and what needs to be tweaked, and what needs to be revamped completely.
With your monthly social media audit, you can look for
any updates needed with regards to biography, profile picture, cover photo, description etc for your managed accounts
the frequency of posts, amend as necessary
the growth in followers
any site referrals
clicks and reach for any updates
You can use a simple spreadsheet to monitor these statistics.
Update & review monthly targets
Every month you will have set yourself targets, and these targets will have been agreed to by the client, so it is imperative that you review your monthly figures and update and revise as you see fit. All this information will be relayed to the client through your monthly report and your monthly meeting, but you will also remember that you will have had regular contact with the client, so nothing done here will be of any surprise to the client.
You must keep the client up-to-date with all that is going on in their social media marketing strategy, the good and the bad, and offer solutions and recommendations to correct the negatives.
Your revision and update will have been begun in the weeks prior to this, because with regular review, on a daily and weekly basis, you do not leave anything to chance.
Set goals for the coming month
There are many ways to set goals, you can set progress goals or end target goals. For example, you could set your goals at 4 posts per week, or similar and monitor this as you go or you could look at the end result and set yourself the target of 10,000 followers. Whichever option you choose, and there are many ways to set goals and here is one option from "WikiHow" to help you set personal goals, but the methodology is the same.
Find an option that you are comfortable with and one that works for you, then set your goals as needed for the coming month.
Brainstorm for new experiences & ideas
Find new ways to make you, your brand and your posts more noticeable and more sociable. The more sociable you are the more people will look at you, look up to you and latch on to you. So, instead of jumping on the social media bandwagon, experiment with new ways of interacting and look at how you can offer new experiences for your followers, your audience and your customers.
The key here is to find something unique that fits with your brand or the clients' brands.
“Stress is like spice – in the right proportion, it enhances the flavour of a dish. Too little produces a bland, dull meal; too much may choke you.” - Donald Tubesing
Be inspired
Drawing on the brainstorming for new and unique experiences for your audience is the inspiration box. In order to be spotted as being different and unique, you need to be inspired to better your creativity. Many social media marketers advise looking at Pinterest for inspiration or use the tried and trusted How to, or Top Fives etc.
I believe there are many other ways to get your inspiration for your posts, but you need to know the niche you are posting in, and what content works and what content doesn't work. Look at the competition and see how their posts are performing and then look at the partners in the niche to see what does and does not work, and create your own fresh content. Do not re-hash old content, or copy other peoples ideas.
Walk your own path, and remember that the key to social media engagement is the seven Ps of social media: persuasion, persistence, practical, pertinent, playful, pleasurable and personable.
Plan for next month and the month after
From your inspiration, you can reflect on the purpose of the posts and what you see as meaningful for your next posts.
You can pull all your ideas from the strategy meetings, the brainstorming sessions, your search for inspiration and devise your posting strategy for the month ahead and draft a blueprint for the following month. The idea is to stay ahead of the game and avoid excess stress in your work life.
Draft & publish your reports for your clients
Your hard work has already been done during the weeks by carrying out your statistical analyses, your weekly goal updates and the fact that you have already drafted a copy of your report and amended as you have gone through your weeks.
All that is left is for you to tweak the wording and update on the results and your plan for the following month.
The report should show how the accounts have been performing in relation to the short, medium and long term goals set at the start of the contract. You should also look at ways the client can assist in the success of the project and what you need from the client. This is a two-way street, and the client has to take responsibility for some aspects of the social media strategy.
Hold monthly update meetings with your clients
Once the client has had time to look at the monthly report, it is then up to you both to sit down and discuss what needs to be done to improve the strategy and become more successful. The sit down aspect of the meeting may be in person or more likely it will be online, but whatever the means of communication at the meeting, it is imperative that minutes are taken and both parties understand the outcomes and any action points which need to undertaken and by whom.
This is your opportunity to fine tune the strategy and request again any assistance needed from the client. Remember to refer to the report and look at the successes as being long term.
“Much of the stress that people feel doesn’t come from having too much to do. It comes from not finishing what they’ve started.” - David Allen
As you go about your daily, weekly and monthly business, remember to check your to-do list and if it is completed you can check that box, if it is not completed, do it and then check the box. Your day, week and month should have some stress, but that stress should be manageable. If that stress becomes unmanageable, then you need to take stock of your tasks and review what needs to be fixed, delegated, dropped or changed in order for you to become the most effective social media marketer you can be.
By regular daily, weekly and monthly checks on the performance of each account you are aiming to stay in control of the situation and be proactive rather than reacting to the changes after you have seen them. The only way to be proactive is to adhere to your checklists on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.
If you need some assistance managing your time or understanding the importance if time management, read my "Time Management" blog for some more advice.
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Accent on Training have been helping companies improve their social media presence and engagement through bespoke marketing strategies. If you need any information or assistance in designing your website, contact us for more information.
Jonathan Moore is the founder of Accent on Training, a Social Media Management, Brand and Website design agency based in Seoul, South Korea. For nearly ten years, he has helped clients in developing their businesses online through branding, website design and bespoke social media marketing solutions.
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