My best clients are always those that are the most educated on social media. I can talk in short form and not get bogged down in the details. In other words, this kind of client moves faster.

My goal is of course to help each of my clients become my very best client or as close as they are able to get there. So I make sure to spend part of my time with each of them giving them the education on social media that they need to make good, smart decisions as we go along.

What does that look like? Well, it changes from client to client depending on their interests and capabilities. Because, to be frank, not every client wants to learn more about what I do. So I will never force it on anyone. But for a client who is open and wants to know more? Let’s take a look at what I will do.

Have a social media news section in their monthly report

This is relatively easy to put together. For each network, I come up with one news item that will affect our strategy or could affect our strategy. I keep it as brief as possible. Just a few sentences of what the client needs to know. The first sentence introduces what the news is, whether it’s a new feature, a court case or something else. Then the next couple of sentences are just an overview of how I am approaching this or will be approaching it in the future.

In some cases, it’s information the client has already received. I regular send it to them as it comes up. So this is more of a way for them to introduce that information to their board. If the client doesn’t want to receive this information and it’s the first time they’re seeing it, then I might provide more context. But likely if it’s only a bigger news item that has a lot of implications for them. And of course, I’m always available to answer any questions.

Bring social media news to meetings

Honestly, I love bringing this kind of information to client meetings. In this case, I don’t bring up news in terms of each network, because, to be frank, not every social media network has a pressing news story every week. I just pick one or two that my client might be interested in. We then have time to brainstorm together if it’s something we should be working on. It helps get us towards working collaboratively rather than having me be in a silo.

I also take the time to share my favorite social media story from fans. Maybe they shared something that was really helpful or they complimented my client on something they did. It keeps the client more in touch with their social media and better able to see how it’s affecting the fans in a way the numbers don’t always talk about.

Share social media news over email

This is a lot like bringing news to meeting if I’m being perfectly honest. Sending a client one to two articles they should read weekly helps them narrow it down, instead of trying to get through the complete deluge of social media articles out there. You can also give some written context for them to refer to, which can sometimes be preferable for certain clients. And just like with a meeting you can include the stories from social media.

I think having a cadence of doing this once a week is a good one, rather than doing it anytime news comes out. Yes, there is social media news that needs to be brought to a client immediately, but for the most part, giving them in one dependable email they expect every week is much easier for them to digest. It’s not too much nor is it too little. It should also be scannable in just a few minutes, so they don’t wander away from it.

And it’s good to include those sources. Every once in awhile, a client needs another source or they need to explain it to their board. Those articles from a trusted social media news source helps them know that this is definitely happening and have something to share with their board.

Sharing sources

This is probably my least favorite way of sharing social media news but I will do it if a client asks. In my case, I purchased a subscription to Feedly and can easily just share a list with them that they can go through every day if they like.

Why do I hate this? Because my list is large and I follow blogs that are sometimes a little left of what I do just to make sure I’m capturing everything that might be of interest to me and my clients. That means there are quite a few sources on there that may or may not be of interest to a client. And not every blog that is relevant is always posting just what is applicable to my clients. That means there are a lot of articles in there that are just cluttering up their stream. And a cleaned up list would make little difference. When it seems overwhelming, a client isn’t going to reliably stick to checking it.

So basically, it’s nice if you provide this to clients, but don’t expect them to ever read any of it. I would still give them relevant articles to read and summaries to help them actually keep up.

If your client is able to keep up with the bare minimum of what you provide them, they are an above average client. They should be protected at all costs. That sounds silly, but a lot of clients will completely ignore this information even if they asked for it. Don’t feel bad about it, and don’t stop providing it. Those few times they actually read what you send them will be worth it.

How do you keep your clients informed about social media news?