Diana Podaski, Linear Retail Properties

As I prepare for the upcoming ICSC MOCIAL (Mobile, Social, Local) Conference in early August in San Francisco, I’ve been gathering my thoughts on my own social media strategy. If you think about it, there are two things you are focused on within social media: 1. Social media for your business and 2. Social media for your personal brand. There are only so many hours in the day and social media is demanding, you need to work on it every single day to really create an impact yet you can’t be on all social sites throughout the entire day. I personally discourage outsourcing social media for your brand, as so many companies currently are doing in our industry. You can buy followers but keeping them engaged is all on you. Your accounts should convey the voice of one person or one brand, not the voice of strangers posting generic content; you may think so long as you post something you’re in the clear but in reality you could be damaging your brand. Here are some tips to crush it on social media when you are only a team of one.

Create Value - A friend of mine with a background working with Disney made me realize the importance and necessity of value in posting. East post that you make on any social media network should include one of five value buckets: 1. Education 2. Inspiration 3. Entertainment 4. Reciprocation and 5. Exclusive Info. For example, if you are working with a new retailer and they just opened, post something unique about the retailer instead of the simple fact that they opened, ie. “Lady M Confections is now open at 304 Newbury St., their first location in New England. Each cake features twenty paper-thin handmade mille crêpes layered with pastry cream, yum!” While posting, include photos, videos or GIFs for an added draw.

Have a content calendar - Look at the year and determine approximate dates of key events in the industry as well as important company happenings. Now, you will be able to see where your gaps are and plan accordingly.

Determine your posting frequency - Depending on what works best for you, stick to a daily social media to do list. I like to first search on social and see what is happening before I post anything so you can adjust content if need be. The best fit for my schedule is when I first get to the office in the morning. If you get in a few minutes early, you can search and post without being interrupted. I tend to do a five minute check-in after lunch and then another five-ten minutes before I leave for the day. Remember, social media only works if you engage with others so step 1 is to thank people who have mentioned you. Step 2 is to favorite or retweet articles or posts from others; it also helps to leave comments. Step 3 is to post your own updates. Next, continue to prospect using the search features. Search keywords and hashtags including regions. At the end of the day, be sure to triage and reply to queries.

Figure out what social media networks are working best for you - You can do this by investigating your Google Analytics social media referral stats. I’ve found that LinkedIn is great for working on your personal brand and that our LinkedIn company page is great for acquisitions news. Facebook works well for smaller, more detailed announcements and lately SnapChat is great for sharing events. Every company and industry is a little different and can change over time. Now you can revamp your strategy and get to it!

Fun Fact: Restaurants are using Pokémon Go to up their sales. Pokémon Go already has 21 million users.

Diana Podaski is VP - marketing and social media at Linear Retail Properties, Burlington, Mass.