This article was originally published in Reel West Magazine, and was republished here to archive it, after the close of the magazine.
The ‘Social Media Expert’ or ‘Consultant’ has become a shingle that too many people are hanging on their door, and I have seen too many productions miss an opportunity by hiring the wrong social media team.
Why does it really matter? Why can’t we just use the free intern to do our social media for us?
Well, in case you haven’t noticed, the media landscape has changed. Social media has become increasingly popular with our audiences and with brands. Why does this matter? Because …
- The film and television funding model is changing. Brands are increasingly moving their advertising dollars away from traditional television to digital and social media.
- The audience has an increasing number of choices for where to get their stories.
If you are creating quality social media storytelling that is unique from the film, television or web series, and have built an engaged audience on social media, you are opening up your storytelling to other opportunities – both in terms of alternate sources of funding and alternate platforms for delivery.
So … did we hire the right social media team?
First, let’s look at what are NOT the qualifications to seek out for a good social media team:
- grew up with social media
- cheap (or expensive, for that matter)
- friends with the broadcaster
- have previously done social media for other film, television or web series
- own or work in a marketing or PR firm
- have social media accounts of their own
Now don’t get me wrong, any of the above individuals or teams could make for great social media storytellers, but they are NOT reasons for hiring someone for the job.
What does make for a good social media storyteller, then?
- Someone who understands that they are augmenting your storytelling for the film, television or web series, and not simply marketing the show time or regurgitating exactly what has been said in the show.
Our audiences are more sophisticated than we give them credit for and they don’t enjoy being blatantly marketed to on social media. It is important that those show times are shared, but in a clever way, and not where it is the predominant message being shared on social media.
- They understand who your audience is, how to develop a ‘voice’ on social media that will appeal to that audience, where to find that audience online and how to engage that audience, so that they become invested in the film, television or web series.
- They understand who your audience is, how to develop a ‘voice’ on social media that will appeal to that audience, where to find that audience online and how to engage that audience, so that they become invested in the film, television or web series.
- They understand who your audience is, how to develop a ‘voice’ on social media that will appeal to that audience, where to find that audience online and how to engage that audience, so that they become invested in the film, television or web series.
- They understand who your audience is, how to develop a ‘voice’ on social media that will appeal to that audience, where to find that audience online and how to engage that audience, so that they become invested in the film, television or web series.
- They understand who your audience is, how to develop a ‘voice’ on social media that will appeal to that audience, where to find that audience online and how to engage that audience, so that they become invested in the film, television or web series.
- They understand who your audience is, how to develop a ‘voice’ on social media that will appeal to that audience, where to find that audience online and how to engage that audience, so that they become invested in the film, television or web series.
- They understand who your audience is, how to develop a ‘voice’ on social media that will appeal to that audience, where to find that audience online and how to engage that audience, so that they become invested in the film, television or web series.
- They understand who your audience is, how to develop a ‘voice’ on social media that will appeal to that audience, where to find that audience online and how to engage that audience, so that they become invested in the film, television or web series.
Checking In: Is your Social Media Team doing it right?
While it is great to have your social media team evaluating and reporting the social media stats to you on a regular basis, this is time consuming work and shouldn’t come at the expense of the actual social media work – creating content, engaging the audience, and building community. Limit this to every month or two, unless you are just looking for a bare basics email update, rather than a full report.
Also a few things to remember:
- Connecting with your ideal community is more important than mass numbers.
- Connecting with your ideal community is more important than mass numbers.
More importantly, do a check of your own to make sure the social media team is actually connecting with your desired community and not just their friends and spam accounts. To do this: look at the accounts they are following on instagram and twitter. If they are mainly film industry, follow4follow, and major player / news accounts, then you have a problem – they are not actually connecting with your desired audience.
Ultimately at the end of the day, remember that your social media is an extension of your film, television or web series. By doing the social media storytelling right, you can create opportunities for your project, and increase your leverage with brand sponsors and broadcasters. Treat it with value.
For more of StoryToGo’s story and that of our community, connect with us on twitter at @AhimsaMedia and with the hashtag #StoryToGo.
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