Seven years ago, I launched a Facebook page for my blog. Although I created it out of a deep necessity to connect with people going through similar life experiences, it slowly morphed into a personal testing ground. It was a safe space, free from any brand guidelines or approval requirements, where I could see what kinds of content drive success on social media.
While most brands can’t afford to post stories about misbehaving children and bathroom accidents, there are some common themes which companies can take away from my experiences. These insider secrets will power up business social channels regardless of which platform they’re using.
#1 – Will anyone care about this?
I had a former colleague over to dinner one evening. We spent the entire meal telling stories, talking about people at work and commenting on the latest products and innovations. My husband’s eyes glazed over around minute 3, but he had to sit there stoically and fake interest for another 2 hours.
Company social media followers are NOT like my husband. They aren’t obliged to remain at the social table and follow along with a conversation. My colleague and I should have stopped and asked ourselves whether my husband cared about anything we wanted to discuss. We could have made more of an effort to tailor our stories or thought about how to make product discussions interesting for him. Businesses need to go through the same process.
“Will anyone care about this?” “Am I using too much technical jargon?” “Is there any way to make this more relevant to my audience?”
The most important question is: Would someone care about this if they didn’t work here?
If the answer is no, don’t post it.
#2 – Is anyone out there?
Social media shouldn’t feel like you are shouting into a vacuum. The proof is right there in the name: social. It implies that two or more people are engaging in an exchange of ideas or in similar activities. And yet many businesses forget to be social. Bloggers never forget that there is another person on the other end of the line.
How much of the content should be designed to drive follower engagement? 100% of it. Everything we put out there should be worthy of a like or click or a view more. Once we’ve met that baseline, companies can take a smaller chunk of content and design it to drive the magical engagement factors which power them up the algorithm.
Comments. When I notice my blog links and meme posts are starving for interaction, I always throw up a comment thread. Comment requests don’t have to be scary. Companies don’t have to ask for product reviews or a write-up of a customer’s worst experience. Ask followers where they are from. Ask them how they take their coffee in the morning. Ask them what advice they’d give to a new employee. Ask them to use only emojis to describe their day. All of these things require comments, and algorithms love a good comment thread.
Polls and voting. Companies can use polls and voting for quick-turn, budget friendly market research. For example, at Opus Energy we used twitter polls to gain insights into what our prospective customers were thinking. Another idea is to use polls and voting to showcase charitable activities. Companies can ask followers to select their fundraising activity and then report back on how it all goes. It makes followers feel vested in the fundraising activity and its success, even though they cannot take part.
Hashtags. Hashtags are typically viewed as a way to get our own content seen by others. But why can’t the reverse be true as well? Brands regularly hashtag campaigns and invite others to participate as well, so that they can build up a repository of user-generated content they can use on their social channels.
#3 – But what does it feel like?
In my own experiments, some of my most successful posts were ones that told a story. What made them work well was their ability to bring the reader into the situation and make them feel like they were a part of it. They turned my personal adventure into a shared experience.
This same concept can work well for companies and provide a whole new avenue for content ideas. Sure, you can talk about your products and services…but how about talking about the experience as well?
I recently met with the owner of a healthy snack company. Their social feed is full of product photos, images of the packaging and happy people. I suggested he think about how he could bring the experience of eating his snacks into their feed.
“Yes, people feel full, but they also feel no guilt, feel healthy and feel a sense of accomplishment because they avoided junk food. Let’s think about how we could illustrate that on social media.”
Thinking about the experience has an added advantage of immediately making a company feel more human.
#4 – Don’t disappear
My final piece of advice for social media is to be consistent. Whether you use a mini-content calendar or have a single person manage the account or get everyone to follow the same guidelines, be consistent. My second worst performing posts were those that seemed completely out of line with my persona. My worst posts were those I never got around to putting up, letting my channels sit abandoned for days on end.
Companies shouldn’t take followers for granted. They also shouldn’t expect the social media platforms to do the heavy lifting for them. Social media can drive customer loyalty and act as a source for new business leads. But companies typically get out of it exactly what they put in.
What efforts are you putting into your social media?
(Get in touch if you’d like help powering up your social media. We offer bespoke DIY guides and content calendars through to full-service account management.)
