In a conversation at a Youth Leadership event with the local chamber, we were discussing social media and one of the comments shared was when posting on the internet, we should ask ourselves the question, "would you wear what we have said on a t-shirt?" What a great way to look at each message you are sharing online with that lense.

This month's column is focused on the content you are sharing on social media: how to monitor; what tools to use, and systems to follow in writing content. 

One of the biggest fears business owners have about social media is negative feedback. With Facebook rolling out the Facebook Reactions, now, more than ever, business owners are more fearful of the repercussions from their fans. Wait though, they are fans, cheerleaders for your business! Why be fearful of their feedback? Frankly, I like this new feature. For instance, someone shares a sad moment and “you give them a thumbs up?” I'd rather a person be able to imply they are sad, too, and now they can. This new feature is much more of a true picture of the fan's feelings.

Another feature happening with Facebook is Facebook Messenger for businesses. In the past, there was no way of going back to a customer face-to-face and now there is. This feature provides the ability to reach out to clients who might be upset, those you need to provide follow up, or those who you want to thank. It's a great feature and one that is rolling out slowly with Facebook for everyone.

Compliance...now there's a word that used to send chills down my spine. Not anymore, our clients who have certain restrictions and couldn't be on social medias without pre-approval are now able to submit their posts knowing that systems like Erado are monitoring their posts to make certain nothing slips through. Don't know about Erado? Learn about them at www.erado.com.

Facebook provides you with all sorts of tools to monitor your social media from their analytics, Facebook ads*, and Messenger. A few apps to use include Facebook Page Manager and Facebook At Work. All these combined will help to monitor and manage your Facebook business experience.

LinkedIn recently eliminated my favorite social app called “Connected” and replaced it with “My Network.” Between you and me, they are two worlds a part. Another good tool to use to help curate content for your posts, blogs, or website is “Google Alerts”. These are very easy to set up and very easy to use. Go to https://www.google.com/alerts to set up an alert for your business name. See what people are saying on the internet.

Now that we know ways to monitor our posts and tools to use, let's actually tackle the content. In my Constant Contact Social Media classes, I teach a system where 50% of the posts are engaging and fun; 30% are informative; and 20% are selling. So let's plan this. You have ten posts. Of the ten posts, five are engaging, three are informative and two are sales. Let’s say you have a pet store.