Did you know your social media presence can actually hurt your brand?
“But we have to be online!”
Of course you do. An online presence is vital in today’s always “on”, digital everything society.
But so is an awareness of social media etiquette. Knowing the “do’s” as well as the “don’ts” can mean the difference between gaining traction in your industry or slipping off the radar.
We’ll focus on the do’s this week and zero in on the don’ts in the next post.
The “Do’s”
1.Actually USE your social media accounts. Simply having a Facebook page or Twitter account is not enough. If you want to benefit from social media, regular posting is a must. And “regular” in social media jargon does not mean monthly or quarterly. The appeal of social media to the masses is the instant access to up-to-the-minute information.
2.Complete every feature of each platform’s profile. The “bare bones” approach to social media profiles won’t help your cause. Leaving sections blank will send one of two messages—and neither will shed a positive light on your company. Either you care too little about your company’s presence on said site to complete all profile entries OR your general approach to business falls into the hap-hazard, less-than-professional category. Dot all “I’s” and cross all the “T’s” because you want to leave the best possible impression.
3.Go easy on the sales pitch. The goal with social media postings should be to inform and entertain with valuable, shareable content. In other words, don’t toot your own horn too much. Consider the 80/20 rule: focus 80 percent of what you post or share on entertaining and/or informative content, with no more than 20 percent of your communication directly related to the goods or services you provide.
4.Be visual. Photos and videos are a proven strategy on many social media platforms as this sampling of stats demonstrates:
*Tweets that feature images earn 150 percent more retweets
*Content with relevant images gets 94% more views than content without images
*Colored visuals increase people’s willingness to read a piece of content by 80%
*The majority of marketing professionals worldwide find video to be the content with the best ROI
Visual content is almost always more “memorable” than text alone, proving that a “picture really is worth a thousand words”.
5.Interact with your online audience as if they were real people. Wait a minute. They are real people. That’s why even the most entertaining and helpful content must be paired with interaction—the component that distinguishes social media from other forms of marketing. Social media is all about creating relationships and nurturing connections. An effective social presence has to include both answering and asking of questions, jumping into discussions, and in general being a “live” presence. Network online just as you would in person.
ASJ Partners can assist you in understanding the scope of what each social platform can do for your company. Allow our social media team to create targeted strategies for getting the most from your online presence. Contact us today.
