Create and manage a campaign that includes social media tools, curated content and analytics
Launching a social media campaign from scratch is a daunting task for business owners and frazzled professionals.
Even if you navigate Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare fairly well, creating a comprehensive plan and maintaining consistency is a challenge.
Lately, companies have been hawking free help in the form of one-stop social media management platforms that help you define a digital plan, set up your accounts, sync information and tap into relevant content.
Roost.com is one such free platform. Clients register online, and choose their industry. Then, the site creates an automated social media campaign, which is a combination of business owner-generated tweets and curated industry content based on your industry and interests.
For example, restaurants are prompted to share articles from the food section of newspapers; likewise, lawyers are advised to share court decisions and posts from legal blogs.
The service also is being marketed to social media consultants as a way to organize and manage their client accounts.
The basic service is free — but like most online social media business platforms — Roost sells premium tools and positioning products.
Alan Weinkrantz, a San Antonio-based social media advisor and content strategist with international clients, says free social media tools like Roost have pros and cons.
On one hand, they can be an easy way for social media neophytes to get started. On the other hand, they can cause people to rely on curated, unauthentic content.
“If you’re a real estate agent and you’re posting national headlines that have nothing to do with the local market, you aren’t setting yourself apart from anyone. Everyone has access to all the same information online — so 16,000 agents posting the same crap isn’t interesting. Go out and shoot videos of local properties. Interview local experts,” Weinkrantz says.