Why Social Media?

Before embarking on a social media initiative, it is helpful to ask yourself these questions:

What am I trying to accomplish with social media?

Every organization has different things they're trying to accomplish in a given time of year. Some of these goals include fundraising or membership drives; promoting concerts; increasing awareness; drawing attention to a particular cause or campaign.

Certain platforms are better for certain goals than others. Facebook – which recently celebrated its 15th anniversary – remains one of the most widely used social media sites among adults in the U.S. Roughly seven-in-ten adults (69%) say that they currently use or have used  the platform. (A separate 2018 Center survey showed Facebook use among U.S. teens had dropped in recent years.) YouTube is the only other online platform measured that matches Facebook’s reach: 73% of adults report using the video sharing site. But certain online platforms, most notably Instagram and Snapchat, have an especially strong following among young adults.

Facebook has implemented fundraising functionality that CityMusic found useful during #GivingTuesday campaigns for the past three years. Instagram and Twitter are both good for increasing awareness of concerts and sharing quick video snippets of performance rehearsal. The social media platform your organization uses depends on the demographic of your audience. 

Doing social media for the sake of social media—or because there's a new, hot platform everyone is joining—without a rough idea of what you want or need to accomplish will be a frustrating experience. Experimenting with content or platforms is perfectly fine—in fact, trial and error helps determine blueprints of what to do and where to go. However, your social media analytics, growth metrics or goal-reaching won't be as effective or noticeable if you aren't clear on why you are doing social media in the first place.

Having goals, even if they're loosely defined, will help guide your social media strategy and help you maximize your time.

Pro tip: Before you dive headfirst into social media, write down some primary and secondary goals you think you want to achieve. Having goals on paper will help hold you accountable and also make it easier to see for where you should be aiming.

These goals can take the form of analytics-specific goals. For example, CityMusic Cleveland wanted to reach 5000 Facebook page likes in one period. The organization also tracked specific metrics via Facebook—e.g., number of total views of posts, and total video views—for each concert series, to see how and where growth occurred. 

Goals can also be action-oriented. For one concert series, CityMusic made it a goal to find more relevant Twitter and Instagram accounts to follow, and also made a specific effort to find more Facebook community groups to promote concerts. Having a balance of action-oriented goals and analytics-specific goals is smart, as it also helps organizations see a correlation between the work they are doing, and the results of that work.

What platforms make the most sense for my organization?

Organizations often know they need to be on social media, but aren't entirely sure which one is best for their needs. 

Complicating matters: Besides the big platforms mentioned above, there are tons of other social-geared platforms that people use. Some major ones include Snapchat (videos and photos that disappear after 24 hours), Instagram Stories (photos/videos that also disappear after 24 hours),, Google+ (event-based sharing/information) and Soundcloud (sharing audio).

Having so many platforms can make you feel like you're missing out if you're not everywhere. Don't worry! That's not true. For organizations looking to maximize their social media efficiency, going into platforms that already have a lot of users—and, therefore, potential audience members or followers—is a smart first step.

Each platform also has its strengths and weaknesses. For example, Facebook prioritizes video-related posts and is great for events, but its ever-changing algorithm means content can get lost in the shuffle if it's not tied to advertising. Instagram works well for organizations with a visual element, but coming up with new, fresh content on a daily basis can be challenging.

At this point in time, your organization should be on at least one social media platform—even if it's a basic Facebook page that can double as a landing page for information about who you are, what you do and how people can contact you.

But trying to do everything on all platforms can quickly become overwhelming or lead to sub-par content. Zero-in on what platforms make sense for your organization, and then prioritize time spent on those. You'll have better results, and your content and messaging will be more focused.

Pro tip: As an organization, even if you don't plan on using all social media platforms, it's smart from a branding perspective to plan ahead and proactively register accounts under your organization's name, so they are available to you in the future if you decide to use them.

From a branding perspective, it’s helpful to create uniformity across platforms. Some ways to do so are decide what you want your social media handle(s) to be. This makes it  easier for users to locate you while searching for your profile on social platforms. Another way is having the same profile picture and/or head picture across all sites. This in turn helps your audience differentiate you among accounts that may have a similar name.  

Who am I trying to reach?

Each social media platform attracts a different audience, across ages, genders and interests. For example, musicians love Instagram for networking and video posting; the age of Facebook users has crept up as the years have progressed; and Omnicore Agency reports that "90% of Snapchat users are 13-24 years old.”

Looking at who your audience is will help you decide where it makes sense for you to be.

Pro tip: If you are trying to expand your audience, it might make sense to dabble in other apps or platforms that cater to specific demographics, for example, an app whose audience is favored more by women. However, it's best to get a solid foothold in bigger platforms first—and then leverage this big audience to point to your other platforms.

What is my bandwidth for social media implementation?

When done right, social media can be a time-consuming endeavor—one requiring users to find and create content, craft effective messages, test content's efficacy, interact with followers, look for followers and advocates, and monitor social media feeds.

Not every organization has the bandwidth for full-time employee to manage social media; often, an employee handling social media also has other duties. This is perfectly fine: A mix of scheduling content in advance and active social media usage can get the job done.

Assessing how much time you have to spend on a given day or week for social media will help you figure out. If you're unsure, keep track of hours you spend on work-related social media in a two-week period, and see where adjustments might need to be made.