My experience managing social media
Social should be a featured menu offering for all business plans, student finds
By Molly Peters
Knightly News Reporter
molly.peters@mymail.centralpenn.edu
Sometimes when people think about running and owning a business, they discover that they and their small businesses lack in the marketing department.
When it comes to social media, there is a huge market for advertising to target an audience, and that is essentially free.
Social media can have a huge impact on one’s perception of a business, as it is the forefront of what a business stands for, what it does, sells and how it carries its professionalism in the public eye.
One thing I noticed about one local business I’m employed at was that its social media accounts were lacking the potential community reach they were capable of. Duke’s Riverside Bar & Grille is a restaurant in Wormleysburg, along the Susquehanna River, and right across from Harrisburg. It is a huge tourist spot for people in the summer, and is a go-to for baseball fans, as the Harrisburg Senators professional baseball team is right across the bridge on City Island.
I knew that when it came time for this project, I would have a huge online audience. When I started, I focused a lot on interacting with the Facebook users who liked and commented, and not as much on the content of the page. Then I realized that in order to draw in people, your page must be interesting and eye-catching, so I started creating content and photos to publish.
So far, I have posted more regularly, and also am interacting with customers daily. The page has rapidly grown in likes, and interactions to posts.
A lot of the techniques and information I have acquired come from my social media certification earned via HubSpot. I was able to pass the exam, and learned about how to keep up with social media, check stats on accounts and traffic to that business via social media. I also learned about what to do in a social media crisis, and how to handle certain situations when they arise. The things I have been learning throughout the course of this project, I have applied to my work with this business and it has been a great advantage.
So far, my experience working with this local business has been gratifying. The ability to see a locally owned business grow and thrive on social platforms is a rewarding feeling for someone working in the world of communications.
Editor’s note: Peters produced this story as part of Professor Paul Miller’s projects in corporate communications course this term.
Have a comment or story idea? Contact KnightlyEditors@CentralPenn.Edu.
Edited by media-club co-adviser and blog editor Professor Michael Lear-Olimpi.
