Top Tips for building a Social Media account
In the latest addition of LEEA ‘Be my Guest’ series we speak to Katie Kelleher, technical and development director, Construction Plant Hire (CPA UK), who is active on social media and has an Instagram account called katie_cranes.
Here Kelleher gives members her top tips on setting up an account and making the most out of social media.
“I’ve been at CPA for over a year now. A lot of the work I do revolves around technical documents around safety guidance. I sit on Interest Groups including the Crane Interest Group and I also have a lot to do with the Industry Lifting Lead AP Group (ILLAPG). I started out as a crane operator 10 years ago and I am still very much in lifting but more on the technical side now,” she said.
“For people that want to get set up on social media, the first question they need to ask themselves is what do they want to get out of it? Are they representing a company or is it personal? and I've seen really great examples of both and some of them mill together quite well.
“I like Instagram because I'm a very visual person. I like photos and it's a nice way to showcase what you do, so if you're a crane company, if you're a lifting accessory company or you're a Slinger or crane operator, you can take photos of these magnificent pieces of plants. These great things that you're doing, and you can talk about them on there and it's very easy for people to relate to.
“For me, I started out because I wanted to showcase what I do to other people, I wanted to get more young people interested in construction. I was big on apprenticeships and showcasing women doing interesting jobs. I thought social media would be the perfect platform to do that and as well as Instagram I use YouTube and LinkedIn among others.
Kelleher’s top three tips to get started on social media are;
#1. Branding
Distinguish between setting up a company or personal account. Think about the branding. Have you got a podcast or YouTube account and do you want to promote that.
“Who do you want people to see you as? For example, some people use Twitter or X to voice an opinion on something but if you’re looking for brand sponsorship it could be too political.
#2 Posting regularly and make it engaging.
“You don't want to post the same thing over and over again. You want to make it more engaging. That's how you build your audience.
#3 Good Content.
“It's important to have good quality photos as more people will be invested in what you are doing, and it looks goods. It might take a little bit of time, it might be the case that you're sat down editing videos and you might need to learn a bit of skill on that. But photos work just as well.
A good photo works just as well as a video, and I think it's a really good way to get started.”
Click HERE to watch the video on LEEA YouTube channel.
