Monday matters: Working your personal social strategy

Ok, so it’s not really Monday. It’s even better, it’s Tuesday after a holiday weekend! With a short week ahead, it’s tough to take on new things this week. So, today I’m going to discuss what I do when I have a little extra time on my weekends, especially a long weekend  like this last one where you have the luxury of an extra day.

I take my spare minutes, and really on the weekends, it is minutes. I have two young kids and not a lot of extra time. But quiet weekend mornings are the best for working on your own personal career path using social strategy. Here’s what I do (in small chunks here and there).

First I think about my goals of who I want to know me, read my blog and hear what I have to say. For more on goal setting, read my post on 4 Dumb Reasons to Start a Blog. These fall into three basic categories for me (you might have your own):

1. Local CMO’s and marketing staff of companies I’m interested in. These might not necessarily be places I want to work, but maybe they are doing interesting, smart things I want to know about. Also, getting to know these influencers in your home market can only be good for networking to other interesting people and companies you might want to work with in the future.
2. Marketing organizations, national and local that I want to associate with. I like to get invited to speak at their events, which gets me introduced to more influential people.
3. Marketing gurus worldwide. These are the ones at the top of their fields, doing the most interesting work, with the most social following. Get these guys to notice you and it’s all downhill from there.

Next, I have a handy-dandy spreadsheet, where I keep track of all the people and organizations and mark who I am following on which social channels and who is following back. If the CMO you’re interested in isn’t on any social channels that you can find, probably others on her team are. Find them all.

And finally, the tricky part. If they’re on social media, watch the topics they talk about, who they follow and the hashtags they like. Use those hashtags to share interesting articles that are likely to appeal to them. Retweet them, favorite them and generally stalk them (but not in that weird way) until they follow you back.

Once they follow you, send them a nice thank you for following to put yourself even more on their radar.

This is just the start, the real work is writing blog and social media posts that will interest these people and make them want to know you and hear what you have to say. Still not blogging? Read my post on why marketers really should. Paying attention to your personal social strategy will keep your efforts focused and energize you for staying active and out there socially.

About Monday Matters: Monday morning is a great time to think about some big picture strategy. You’re hopefully rested from the weekend and ready to come out swinging. Don’t waste this glorious freshness on your in-box. Before you get into your tactical to-do list for the week, take this moment to pause and think about strategy. I will post a thought to get you started most Mondays.