Brian HoldsworthWhy is it that some social media pages have thousands of followers, while others struggle to get 30. We are constantly asking questions like this to improve our content and more effectively engage our audience. Although we admit we are not super stars in the social media world, we have come to understand some things that we should and shouldn’t be doing on social media. Here are just 4 things that we know for sure:
1. Avoid posting “advertisements”
Ten years ago, using annoying commercials to communicate your message was effective. There was little the end user could do other than walk away or change the channel. Today, these advertisements are easily avoided by using things like PVR’s, or avoiding adds altogether with paid services like Netflix or XM Radio.
In the case of social media, it is even easier to avoid annoying content. If peoplve don’t like what they see, all they have to do is click “unlike”, “hide”, or “mute”. If they simply hide or mute your posts, not only do they not see what you post anymore, you don’t even know that you lost someone in your audience. If you constantly post “advertisements”, there is a pretty good chance that not even your followers are seeing your posts.
2. Be consistent
Consistently posting content lets your audience know that you are active and accessible, reminding them that you are there when they need you. If you don’t post content every day don’t sweat it. As long as you are making a consistent effort to post relevant and timely content, your followers will appreciate it a lot more than if you posted 3 times a day about stuff that they don’t really care about. Just remember if you forget to engage your followers, through email, phone or social media, they will eventually forget about you and switch their attention to someone else who will fulfill their needs.
3. Get help.
Creating content for social media should be an organic process. This requires a thorough understanding of the organization, the target audience, topics that are trending, and countless other variables. Since we don’t have computers for brains constantly scanning for information and synthesizing them into single posts, we can benefit from other people providing us with relevant information.
If your pages aren’t gaining the momentum you want, ask for some help, read some articles, and follow other relevant people and organizations to help provide you with other resources.
4. Don’t be a snob.
The end purpose of having a social media presence is to engage an audience that will accomplish your goals of increasing sales, gaining supporters, or creating awareness. With this message constantly ringing in our ears (sometimes literally from our bosses), it is hard not to only share content that is directly tied to that goal by only sharing things from your own site.
Sharing content from other people enables your organization to avoid the persona of someone who is stuck up and only talks about themselves. Like any relationship, talk about a variety of topics that are interesting, informative and entertaining so that when you do share something about yourself, they actually listen.
Your Turn
What have you found to work to communicate your message on social media? What areas do you struggle with?
Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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