By Susan Saldibar

What’s up with the love/hate relationship with social?

Maybe this:

  1. It’s a frickin’ pain in the butt.
  2. But you plug away at it, day after day.
  3. A week passes. Then two.
  4. But you plug away at it some more.
  5. Then you get a nibble. A few “likes” and “follows.”
  6. Then some “comments” and “shares.”
  7. Then you get a call. (They’ve been following us on Facebook?!?)
  8. They take a tour.
  9. You get the move-in.
  10. You still hate social media. But you love the results.

Here’s the point. You don’t have to love social media. You just have to do it.

And Foresight’s recent Tech Tuesday is all about this. In this episode, you get to listen and learn from people like Cathy Berry, chief marketing officer for Healthcraft Creative Solutions (a Foresight partner) and Kirk Anderson, their senior art director. And, you can also pick up some wisdom from host Abbie Richie herself and our own Rachel Hill, creative director for Senior Living Foresight.

These folks do social media every day. And they’re SMILING. 

I’m not trying to be cute here. But these folks know the value of a solid social presence. They wouldn’t be doing it if they didn’t. And they have a ton of useful tips for you. I’ll share just a few (watch Tech Tuesday for the rest).

  1. Have a strategy. Without a plan, it’s going nowhere. Cathy plans out socials for clients a month in advance. So she’s always on top of it. Even a week out is better than no plan at all. You can set themes for each week or any day of the week. Then you’re not wracking your brain every morning trying to figure out what to post.
  2. Be consistent. Cathy says three to five times per week is optimum. But once a week is better than a lonely post every 40 days.
  3. Tell a story. This is about authenticity. Let people into your community with a few videos. (Kirk tells us that video gets 10 times more engagement.) Or snap some really cool images of residents. (Photos with faces garner 38% more engagement.)
  4. Use social to recruit. This should be a no-brainer. According to Cathy, 79% of job searchers use social to look for jobs. (A side note: A Tech Tuesday viewer popped in to say that she loves the idea of using TikTok as a recruitment tool for senior staffing. She’s a hired caregiver and would be honored to be featured on social media. So stop dissing TikTok.)
  5. Repurpose your content. This is not cheating! It refreshes great content. That post you did a few weeks ago could become a short blog. Or a downloadable checklist. Or, another post!

There are at least 10 more “wow-I-can-use-that” ideas in the Tech Tuesday episode. 

But a better idea might be to just download Healthcraft Creative Solutions’ “Quick Start Tips for Social Media.” The Healthcraft folks are experts. So it’s all mapped out for you there.

Bottom line: You don’t have to love social media. It doesn’t even have to be perfect. You just have to do it.

So why not get those tips from Healthcraft and do it right? Maybe even have some fun?

You can get more information and download the tips here.

Watch Tech Tuesday live every Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. ET / 10:30 a.m. PT on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Catch up on previous episodes here.