If you scroll down and look at my last blog post, it was about a month ago. That’s an eternity in blogging timeframes and I’m a bit embarrassed to be pointing out that little fact.
What on earth have I been doing for the last month? Well, I could tell you how busy we are with client projects or how many articles I’ve been writing for other publications, but the truth is, there is only one thing to blame: Twitter.
I’m a big big fan of Twitter. I’m super excited about how it can be used for benefits communication and I’ve been amazed at the interesting and valuable people I have “met” via short conversations on the site. It is an unbelievably efficient and easy way to learn about our industry and what’s happening in the social media space. And, it is really really fun.
And, the time that I would usually invest in my blog articles, I have transferred over to Twitter, where I’m much more frequently posting links, ideas and quick tid-bits of information. And, thus, my blog has been neglected.
I’m a great example of how easy it is to get distracted from your social media strategy and abandon what is tried-and-true for what is fun and new. The problem is, consistency is key for social media—especially for employee benefits communication. Employees will not respond well to your whims, so your social media strategy needs to be something you can stick with—for the long term.
Social media needs to be monitored, updated and nurtured year-round. You can’t throw up a Facebook group only for annual enrollment and you can’t just have a blog for the three weeks that you want to announce your health risk questionnaire. Social media is about developing and maintaining a long-term relationship. And, that will be one of the most valuable parts of it for benefits communication—creating channels that can be frequently and easily updated throughout the year—and channels that engage employees and families year-round.
So, when you’re thinking about which social media tools to use for your employee communication, always start with your objectives (what are you trying to achieve?) but also keep in mind what is feasible to maintain and monitor over the long-term. Consistency is key.
Luckily, social media is also something that can evolve and adapt quickly too. So, don’t be afraid to make changes once you have dipped your toe in the water and start to see what works for your employees and their families. Here at Benz Communications, we’re going to make some simple changes to keep things more consistent. Namely, the rest of our amazing team is going to start contributing to our blog—so you can hear from more of us—and so that I can keep up with Twitter!
Jennifer Benz, SVP Communications Leader, has been on the leading edge of employee benefits for more than 20 years and is an influential voice in the employee benefits industry.
