Written by Jamica Whitaker | Adalae Consulting | KNOW Raleigh
Social media is a staple in every communications strategy. From choosing platforms to developing appropriate messaging, social media allows for a direct conversation with your clients and potential clients. Here are 5 ways to make the most out of your social media presence.
- Begin with your ‘why’. It’s important to remember why you’ve chosen social media as a vehicle for your messaging. There’s something about the type of message or that specific audience or that platform that makes it optimal for you and your organization. Make sure that all of your social media content maximizes the platform and reflects your ‘why’.
- Find your audience online. Unless your audience is all of the 3 billion active social media users, your audience is not everyone on every social media platform. Talk to your clients and ask what social media they refer to when making purchasing decisions. Be sure to incorporate the most relevant and frequently used social media platforms in your communications strategy.
- Develop your message. Now that you’re in “the same room” as your audience, determine what you want to communicate. Develop messaging with your goal(s), or your ‘why’, in mind. You may use specific platforms for specific messaging, so make sure the messaging on each platform is consistent. For example, all of your tweets should have consistent messaging.
- Create platform appropriate content. The content you’ve created for Facebook shouldn’t necessarily be packaged the exact same way for LinkedIn or YouTube. Each platform has its own digital sweet spot, so maximize it by creating content that is guaranteed to shine.
- It’s a conversation not a lecture. You’ve invested a lot of time, energy, and effort into developing messaging and creating appropriate content, so don’t forget to engage with your audience. Have the conversation you wish you could have face-to-face. Explain what makes your company or offering unique. This is also an opportunity to engage with other relevant organizations and industry influencers. Continuous engagement will keep you informed, preventing your content from being tone deaf or insensitive.
An engaging social media presence and relevant content can help build a positive and memorable customer experience. Don’t try to take on every platform at once. It’s OK to create one account, post consistently, and build an audience before branching out and adding another platform.
Understanding why you want to use social media for your business, going where your audience is, developing precise messaging, creating content that’s best suited for each platform, and engaging in a conversation with your audience are keys to an effective social media presence. Keeping this in mind when you strategize your social media presence will help keep you engaged with your audience and grow your business.
