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protect the image of the store. If you have a large enough staff, you might assign one social-media site per employee. However, it might make more sense to give one, two or three sites to individuals to manage. But your responsibility doesn't end there. In your regular staff meetings have each social-media coordinator report what has been posted, any engagement (likes, shares, reposts and comments) with the public that has taken place and what the plans are for the next two weeks. By doing this in staff meetings, it keeps everyone apprised of what is taking place online and on mobile devices. This way, associates aren't surprised when they hear from a customer, "I retweeted your post from this morning and my friends will likely be in the store later this afternoon." ARE YOU INTEGRATED? The other advantage to every team member being aware of what has been posted and what will be posted is that you can fully integrate everything you do. One key to social-media success is tying everything together. Think of it in terms of a great circle of connections. Your YouTube videos should include a reminder to like your store on Facebook. Your Facebook postings should entice customers to go to your website and your website should carry links to your YouTube videos. This same circular cross-promotion should be used for all your social-media sites. As for the timing, quantity, or wording of your posts, it can vary widely. You certainly don't want to inundate your customers with constant posts, but you don't want to be so infrequent that they forget about you. And the last thing you want to do is virtually slap your customers in the face with sale after sale. Striking a balance is tricky but it can be done. For example, you might test run three Facebook postings per week and see how they do. Do you get a significant number of likes, shares and comments? If so, you might attempt five postings per week. The same can be attempted with Twitter, although the lifespan of a tweet is far shorter than a Facebook post. Once a day on Twitter is a very achievable goal. And remember, while you're integrating all your online efforts that the mantra for social media is to be interesting and not necessarily informative. This means that if you can make your customers appear humorous or more intelligent to their friends, you have achieved something special. Think about the items you repost and share—they're often the ones that you think are funny or that others will enjoy. For example, rarely as consumers do we pass along that a store we frequent is having a 10%-off sale on styling gel. will ensure that you have a social-media campaign that is on-target and efficient. The best source is to go back to your original goals. By reexamining what you initially wanted to achieve, you can set targets and see how you're performing on either a monthly or quarterly basis. Short time frames will permit you to adjust your strategy as needed. Sharing not only the goals but the results as well with your team gives everyone insight into how the store is doing in the social-media realm. They may have ideas and suggestions for ramping up the numbers. After all, most of your team probably is already using social media as a consumer in some capacity. Involving the firsthand experiences of your associates helps your social-media strategy improve. ■ HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT YOU'RE SUCCESSFUL? Dr. Steven Austin Stovall is professor of management at Wilmington College in Wilmington, OH. He can be reached at steven_ stovall@wilmington.edu. OK, you've done all of the above. Now what? Knowing your measures of success Beauty Strokes® Beauty Strokes® is a full service brush supplier from streetware to prestige Over 100 sku's A brush for every application Retail friendly packaging (IÀFLHQWVSDFHVDYLQJGLVSOD\V Economically conscious pricing schedule www.beautystrokes.com · email: info@beautystrokes.com · phone: 718-821-5939 40 September 2013 | beautystorebusiness.com