3 Reasons To Invest in Social Media Training
In 2010, Jeanne Meister, the Managing Partner at Future Workplace, predicted that by 2020, social media training in the workplace would be ‘as common as ethics and diversity training’. At the time, her prediction was considered bold, but as of 2021, social media training has already become mandatory in several large companies, including Dell, Intel and IBM.
According to Forbes, PepsiCo, Adidas, HP and Sprint consider social media not just a part of the company’s core training curriculum, but also an important element of their overall recruitment messaging, ‘stressing the employee benefit of receiving social media literacy training’.
By now, most companies recognize the value and importance of social media in building brand awareness, driving sales and establishing thought leadership. However, many are inexperienced with it as a whole, and hesitate to implement it in their business, beyond sporadic posts.
Social media can seem overwhelming and intimidating to those who are either too busy to take it on alongside their regular duties, or feel the market is too saturated. Thankfully, that’s why training is such a valuable investment! It fills knowledge gaps and leaves you with a clearer understanding of what you’re doing well, and where you can improve. I want to share three key reasons why investing in social media training—no matter your industry—is a must.
It provides a strong foundation and sets you up for success
Oftentimes, businesses looking to explore social media marketing aren’t sure where to begin with their efforts, how many platforms to be on, or how to maintain a consistent presence online, which leads to poor ROIs. These pain points are usually a result of not knowing the basics, or being inundated with information.
Effective training demystifies social media on a micro and macro level, and at Social T., our social media training works in tandem with the customized, comprehensive strategies we create for businesses. Depending on your goals, we delve deeper into how to leverage individual platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for your particular business. By the end of each training session, you come away with a simplified understanding of social media best practices, and no more overwhelm.
You learn up-to-date industry insights and trends
As social media experts, me and my team are constantly staying updated on the latest social media trends and tools, and we know exactly how to implement these to benefit businesses.
Social media training offers detailed insights on which new trends and features your business should utilize, and why. When Social T. worked with BC Blueberries, we knew that since they are a community-focused association that shares educational content, they would greatly benefit from Instagram’s latest “Guides” feature to share new BC Blueberry recipes, and health benefits.
It can be exhausting trying to stay on top of every new social media feature out there. Social media training does that for you! It teaches you how these new trends and features work in a clear, visual way, with expert insights on when and if they are worth implementing for your own business.
Through Training, Learn the Correct Way to Engage Online
A popular social media metric for success is follower growth, but it isn’t the only core ROI you should be measuring. Engagement—or the amount of comments, tags, likes and shares—is an absolute must for growing a strong social media presence. As Hootsuite expertly puts it, the greatest measure of social media success is an engaged audience, not just a big one.
But there is no one-size-fits-all approach to engaging on social media. How a Real Estate advisor engages with their community on LinkedIn will be vastly different from how a food brand or law firm engages online. That’s where social media training comes in. Effective training looks at your particular business and industry, and outlines what type of engagement you should be working to obtain. This type of expert education can also help you avoid any engagement missteps.
There you have it! The world of social media is exciting and full of possibilities, and expert training can help unlock these opportunities for your business.
Let’s Connect
Have any questions about what social media training looks like, or interested in training for your own organization? Let’s hop on a call, I’d like to hear from you!