Social media management is no longer a one-person job. The time it takes to research and create compelling content consistently for multiple platforms is overwhelming. When you add scheduling, reformatting, analyzing, engaging, and staying on trend to the mix, it’s enough to overload even the most seasoned social media veteran. 

It truly takes a team to hit all the marks required to stay relevant online–a team of like-minded individuals working towards the same brand goal. Your team doesn’t have to be large, especially if you’re using AI-social media management tools to automate the day-to-day tasks. However, building a successful social media team means working together to speak strongly about your brand’s mission. These individuals should know your audience well enough to pique their interest on all social platforms. 

Don’t worry–this doesn’t mean your team has to be made up of mind readers. There are tons of resources teams can use these days to help manage social media. In this article, we’ll discuss what it means to “know” your brand and audience and the best practices you can use to build a successful social media team. Plus, we’ll highlight a few tips for integrating automation tools to increase your team’s productivity. 

Importance of understanding the brand 

The primary goal of any social media team is to understand the brand’s mission: What does the brand stand for? What do they offer? What is the meaning behind the product or service? 

The brand’s mission is the center of your business, the heartbeat of all other parts. It’s essential that your team is passionate about your business goals, or they won’t be able to speak to the audience you’re attempting to reach. 

It’s more important to find team members who speak to the heart of your brand rather than individuals who are well-versed in social media practices. Most skills can be taught, and there are plenty of programs to assist employees in social media. If your team understands your brand, it will be much easier for them to create content to convey this same message to your audience. 

How to ‘know’ your audience

The second goal that goes hand in hand with understanding your brand is knowing your audience: Who are you speaking to? Who are you serving? What terminology should you use to refer to your audience? Your social media team should know your audience better than anyone, not just the obvious details. 

Knowing your audience means knowing what they do and what they are about to do. Your team should know their interests, online behaviors, likes, dislikes, style, hobbies, political views, location, occupation, etc. It may sound nosey, but there’s a reason. It’s important for your team to know all they can to make a personalized experience full of tailored content your audience will love. Focusing on personalization enhances the reader experience for the better. You want to catch those loyal users!

How do you make sure your team knows your audience? Have the conversation. Don’t make it a game, or keep it a secret. Have frequent team meetings about your audience: who they are, who your team thinks they are, or any changes that have occurred. This will help you readjust your strategy and fill in any gaps. 

Tools to build a social media team

So, you’ve chosen your rockstar team. Let’s give them some tools and best practices to succeed! 

Decide your team size

Every business has different marketing capabilities, including how many people they can afford to put on a social media team. Assessing your budget, bandwidth, and resources is crucial to achieving a positive return on investment. Instead of hiring new employees, it may make more sense to see which existing employees would like to be part of the social media team. After all, these individuals most likely know and already love your brand, giving them a step up from a new person just entering the scene. 

Define your roles

Social media roles will look different on every team based on your size. Popular roles include social media managers, content creators, content strategists, data analysts, and community managers. If you don’t have enough people to fill each role, don’t worry. Some roles overlap and can be combined, while others can even be outsourced to AI. We talk more about the importance of human and AI collaboration in this article. 

Set your goals

Define with your team how social media aligns with the goals of the brand’s mission. Are you looking to get sales? Subscribers? Both? Your goal on social media in combination with knowing your audience, will help your team create content that leads to more conversions from users to loyal followers. 

Create a voice guide

For anyone who does forward-facing communication on social media, a voice guide is a must. Voice guides show your team exactly how they should word their content to maintain a consistent style across all platforms.  Some things to include:

• Important terminology: Everyone should use the same words to refer to the same things. Going outside the box will not show brand consistency and make it hard for your audience to follow. 
• Similar tone: Be clear on the tone you want your social media team to use and the level of formality you expect. Casual and conversational can work fine, but if that isn’t appropriate for your audience, make sure your team is on board.
• Multi-platform style: Your team should be familiar with the style of content expected for each platform. Demographics on platforms will differ. Creating examples of each for reference could help keep your team on track. 
• Identify channels: Establish expectations for content creation, internal communication, and publishing. Define what channels you use (email, team software like Slack, social media platforms), and be sure the expectations are clear for how and when to use them. 

Integrate AI into your social media team

When all is said and done, the most important part of building a successful social media team is ensuring they have enough time and resources to complete tasks effectively. You don’t want a team bogged down by mundane tasks with little time to produce quality materials. You also don’t want a team so burnt out from doing it all that they lack the energy to be creative and consistent. 

Saving time is where AI helps social media teams the most. These programs allow teams to collaborate on one dashboard to create, manage, schedule, and analyze their content in one place. AI technology can help you as much or as little as you need. You can use these tools to create full posts or just as a way to manage, schedule, and gather data. This is a great option for brands with fewer resources who can use AI to fill in the gaps for roles their employees don’t have the capacity to take on. 

Another cool feature of AI social media management is the analytics. These programs will show your team immediately if they reach the target audience and provide suggestions to change course. 

Build a successful team with True Anthem 

In the end, building a successful social media team means knowing your brand, your audience, and how to utilize your resources best. Time is valuable, and where you can save it without sacrificing quality and authenticity, you should. 

Stay true to your mission and integrate AI tools where they fit your brand best. If you want to see how True Anthem can help your team enhance their strategy, explore our demo.