Now that we know what platforms MMSOnline uses and how they generally rank in terms of effectiveness, I thought I’d ask Emily Probst, the brand’s SMM, for some background.
How long have you been managing MMS’s social media accounts?
Emily Probst: Around five years.
When you began management, what was the nature of your instructions? Goals? Have those marching orders evolved over time?
EP: I began managing our social media about 5 years ago because 1. I showed an interest in it and asked for more responsibilities in that side of our business and 2. Our company realized that there was opportunity in social media that we needed to explore.
I began managing the blog because we needed some organization, and I had blogging experience. At the beginning, we had three MMS editors who wrote weekly posts. On occasion, we’d include a post from an editor from a sister publication in case we ran out of content. My role was very basic at first: Make sure these posts were written and turned in on assigned days, and copyedit each post.
As the blog has evolved, we have gained more in-house writers. I now manage about eight people who write posts for our blog. I also write posts on occasion. Our writers don’t have a set day they need to turn in content. Now, when they find something interesting, they just write it and turn it in. I manage the logistics of when things are posted. (We post daily now…occasionally twice a day if necessary to cover breaking news.) We’ve found the blog to be a great place to publish content we didn’t have room for in print. It’s also a great medium for video and other things that don’t work as well in print.
Aside from the blog, we also started with a Facebook page. This page had been created before I began working for the company, but nothing had ever been done with it. I was asked to find a purpose for the page and to keep it updated. My goals became to gain likes and get comments. Those goals haven’t really changed today. We don’t use social media as a sales tool. It’s more to engage our readers and point out quality content.
How long have you been managing MMS’s social media accounts?
Emily Probst: Around five years.
When you began management, what was the nature of your instructions? Goals? Have those marching orders evolved over time?
EP: I began managing our social media about 5 years ago because 1. I showed an interest in it and asked for more responsibilities in that side of our business and 2. Our company realized that there was opportunity in social media that we needed to explore.
I began managing the blog because we needed some organization, and I had blogging experience. At the beginning, we had three MMS editors who wrote weekly posts. On occasion, we’d include a post from an editor from a sister publication in case we ran out of content. My role was very basic at first: Make sure these posts were written and turned in on assigned days, and copyedit each post.
As the blog has evolved, we have gained more in-house writers. I now manage about eight people who write posts for our blog. I also write posts on occasion. Our writers don’t have a set day they need to turn in content. Now, when they find something interesting, they just write it and turn it in. I manage the logistics of when things are posted. (We post daily now…occasionally twice a day if necessary to cover breaking news.) We’ve found the blog to be a great place to publish content we didn’t have room for in print. It’s also a great medium for video and other things that don’t work as well in print.
Aside from the blog, we also started with a Facebook page. This page had been created before I began working for the company, but nothing had ever been done with it. I was asked to find a purpose for the page and to keep it updated. My goals became to gain likes and get comments. Those goals haven’t really changed today. We don’t use social media as a sales tool. It’s more to engage our readers and point out quality content.
My goals became to gain likes and get comments. Those goals haven’t really changed today. We don’t use social media as a sales tool. It’s more to engage our readers and point out quality content.
Did you have any experience with social media management prior to taking over here?
EP: My experience with social media came from dabbling in it in college. I had a personal blog, a Facebook account and a LinkedIn account for personal use. I took an “Online journalism” course in college, which was still considered cutting edge for 2006/2007. While that course never really touched on Facebook, etc. it did explore blogs pretty heavily. At that time people were still figuring out what social media was, how it could be used, etc. Facebook was still very much a private social space for college-aged people.
EP: My experience with social media came from dabbling in it in college. I had a personal blog, a Facebook account and a LinkedIn account for personal use. I took an “Online journalism” course in college, which was still considered cutting edge for 2006/2007. While that course never really touched on Facebook, etc. it did explore blogs pretty heavily. At that time people were still figuring out what social media was, how it could be used, etc. Facebook was still very much a private social space for college-aged people.
With reader engagement as a goal, do you think that the brand’s social media strategy has been thus far successful?
EP: I’m starting to see more shares/likes on our posts than ever before, so I take that as successful. I feel like if people take the time to share something, they enjoyed the content and didn’t just skip it over with the other “noise” out there.
EP: I’m starting to see more shares/likes on our posts than ever before, so I take that as successful. I feel like if people take the time to share something, they enjoyed the content and didn’t just skip it over with the other “noise” out there.
What do you think the main obstacles have been for achieving the goal of reader engagement?
EP: As a whole, less than half of our audience uses social media. (See page 25 of our latest Media Usage in Manufacturing survey (http://gardnerresearch.epubxp.com/i/282307.)
EP: As a whole, less than half of our audience uses social media. (See page 25 of our latest Media Usage in Manufacturing survey (http://gardnerresearch.epubxp.com/i/282307.)
As a whole, less than half of our audience uses social media.
Have you (or the editorial team) considered using social media as a way to find story leads?
EP: To a small extent, yes. At the end of the year, I always take a look at our top 10 blog posts to see if I can discover any topics/kinds of content that performed better than others. For example, the top 10 blog posts of 2014 showed a high interest in additive manufacturing. This helps us know that we are on the right track writing stories of this nature. (I also saw that video performed extremely well, so it’s worth our effort to produce or find video content.)
Our LinkedIn group probably has provided the most story leads for Pete and Derek. If we find someone has talked about an interesting topic in that group, they will contact that person to learn more and find out if they would agree talking about the technology at hand.
EP: To a small extent, yes. At the end of the year, I always take a look at our top 10 blog posts to see if I can discover any topics/kinds of content that performed better than others. For example, the top 10 blog posts of 2014 showed a high interest in additive manufacturing. This helps us know that we are on the right track writing stories of this nature. (I also saw that video performed extremely well, so it’s worth our effort to produce or find video content.)
Our LinkedIn group probably has provided the most story leads for Pete and Derek. If we find someone has talked about an interesting topic in that group, they will contact that person to learn more and find out if they would agree talking about the technology at hand.