posted by Public Relations
As the newest crop of interns joins marketing agencies and departments this summer, now is a good time to identify their participation in your brand’s social media efforts.
Over the past few months, many brands have recognized the importance of a social media strategy and have established an active social media presence. Social media marketing takes many forms across organizations and companies – whether it’s an internal function or supported by an agency, whether it’s operated by a single person or by a group of contributors.
Across all industries, a consistent mistake is allowing interns to exclusively manage your brand’s social media presence. Many companies lean on their interns because of their potentially deep knowledge of social applications and ability to stay current with the latest mobile gadgets and technology. However, interns still have a long way to go in learning about these applications from a strategic perspective.
That is not to say that interns shouldn’t work with your brand’s social media presence at all. Many interns are very educated when it comes to online tools and their application. You wouldn’t give a driver with their temps the keys to the Corvette would you?
The following social media activities should be left to the marketers with a few years under their belt:
- Would you let an intern handle a major ad buy, pay-per-click campaign or website redesign? If the answer is no (as it should be), you probably shouldn’t let them dictate a major online communications plan.
- Your social media pages can be just as important as your media relations responses and official statements. A seasoned professional should monitor and respond to any potential issue.
- Message implementation and responses
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Just as you would proof a brochure an intern drafted, you should be proofing each social media post. Look for grammar and spelling errors, and help define the strategic goal behind each tweet, post or comment.
Here are a few activities to help interns learn social media from a strategic perspective:
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Interns can provide fresh eyes and perspectives on both your brand’s presence and your competitors’ social media profiles.
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Similar to face-to-face communication, it’s important to listen before your speak in social media. Engage your interns in the social media process by having them monitor online mentions of your brand. This perspective will help them understand how consumers want to engage with your brand and manage conversation from your brand’s accounts.
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Find new connections, new applications and new platforms
- Ask your interns to provide suggestions on new connections on networks such as Twitter, new applications to add to your Facebook fan page or new website services to review. Have them focus on your target audience and how you can reach them.
By clearly identifying where your intern fits within your social media practice, you can create a relationship that best benefits both your interns and your brand.
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