These days it is commonplace for businesses to have a presence on social media. Usually this comes about when someone in the company thinks that it would be a good idea, with the added benefit of being free. This has led to an inundation of generic content, used to talk at people, only being updated on a sporadic basis.
So how can marketers break through the plethora of status quo corporate updates on social platforms?
Ensure that your presence on social media is:
1. Targeted
Ensure you have a clear plan for what you would like to communicate with various stakeholder groups, and where.
Ask yourself: who are the audiences that you want to engage with? What sort of content would appeal and be of value to these groups? Which social streams would be most appropriate?
2. Topical
Social streams need to be regularly updated with relevant, timely pieces that would be of interest to your clientele, staff & industry contacts. Aim to post at least once daily to most sites.
3. Adding Value
There are 3 main content sources:
- creation (in house),
- regeneration (repurposed from other existing content), and
- curation (reposted from relevant industry sites).
Everything that you post must be relevant & engaging (interesting, informative, amusing, etc.) It needs to serve a clear purpose to the audiences that you are targeting. Ask yourself: does this add value to our followers?
4. Interactive
Your company's social media pages aren’t an appropriate place to post an ad campaign. They are an open forum, which allows two-way communication. It is crucial to allow for feedback and to engage in social listening (how is your business perceived?) and then responding when appropriate. If you want advertise, look to run sponsored content and/or lead generation campaigns.
5. Visible
The old adage share and share alike very much applies here. Ensure that staff members, clients & industry partners are interacting with your posts and vice versa. This is very much a numbers game – the more times posts are liked/commented on/shared, the greater your company’s visibility. If interaction is low, this presents a good opportunity to ask why this may be.
There is no universal solution for social media success, but the above 5 tips are a good place to start. You can grab some help from us by shooting us an email.