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By Thomas Baekdal - May 2010

Social is a High Maintenance Job

The great thing about traditional media are that everything is campaign or event based. You put in a good amount of work, launch it, and relax. It is a very gratifying way to work. Social is not like that. It never ends. You have to be "on" all the time. There is no such thing as relaxing.

One example. One of my clients is doing an incredible job with their Facebook page. They had a person who where really passionate about it, and did an amazing job being a part of the communication.

Sadly, that person went on to do other things. She was hired on contract basis and we knew we couldn't extend it.

When she left, the rest the team tried to keep up the energy, but had to do it in-between their other responsibilities, and the effect was staggering. They lost 50% of their engagement level, and 45% of their social traffic.

We are, of course, doing something about it now, but this shows just how important "being there" really is.

The difference here is that instead of posting 6-8 times per week, they are currently posting new stuff 2-4 times per week. And instead of answering people questions 5-20 minutes after they have been posted, it now takes 5-8 hours - sometimes not until the next day.

They are still far more active than most other companies. But it is that last step that makes all the difference.

"Just coming by to check up on things" vs. "we are always here and ready for you" will double the effect. The magic starts when people feel that they can visit your social profiles and meet you.

The trick is:

All the above is just logistics. The question you really need to ask is, "What do our fans want from us?" ...and the answer to that isn't "ads".

 
 
 

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Thomas Baekdal

Founder, media analyst, author, and publisher. Follow on Twitter

"Thomas Baekdal is one of Scandinavia's most sought-after experts in the digitization of media companies. He has made ​​himself known for his analysis of how digitization has changed the way we consume media."
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