Let me be frank (rather than me) for a change… well, I thought it was funny! Ok, maybe not. I did think about starting with a joke as an icebreaker, as I do feel people can get stressed worrying about using social media for business. I do get asked by business owners “What can I post on social media?” I try to reply simply with “Here is what you should and shouldn’t do…..”. As when it comes to social media for business, it is different to your personal social media. Well, are your customers interested in what you had for dinner?
So what do you think you shouldn’t and should do?
Not sure, well think of it this way, you buy a magazine, the cover looks great and you bring it home. You get comfy on the sofa with a really nice coffee and pick up your new magazine and start to look through it, but the more you go through it, the more surprised and maybe even shocked you become, as the content is not what you expected! Quite disappointing really. So you decide, I’m never buying that magazine again. Same can be said for your social media presence if your audience becomes less engaged, then they more than likely will decide they not interested anymore in what you are offering and off they go… People’s behaviour, as in buying patterns, decision making processes and engagement is increasingly influenced by social media. People buy from people they know, like and trust, so what you post really is important. Think of it this way, before social media, people would get first-hand recommendations from family and friends, they trusted that, true? If you are like me, I like to know “the full picture”; for example if you are posting something on an event which you are promoting, people like to know where it is, who is at it, what the event is for, so it’s important that you mention all involved, nothing worse than leaving out important names and details. Remember to always ask the person or business is it okay to mention them. And another thing to keep an eye on is comments, it is important to remember to make sure you reply keeping your tone of voice positive. All in all, it shows your audience that you are trustworthy and that you care. So, what is your (USP) unique selling point? What makes you stand out? What do you think would be relevant to post regarding your business? You need to look at what your business is about, see what your competitors are doing, think like your target customer and that way you can start to see what would work for you, i.e: would it be a blog, a video, an image post, a special event or something else?
What can I post – in a nutshell:
- Watch what you share to make sure it’s appropriate.
- Who you mention, as in who you tag.
- How your post looks as you want it to engage your audience.
- What you say and how you say it, to make sure you project a positive vibe.
- Keep an eye on comments and always reply.
- Always get permission to use images, videos etc… from people in them.
- And keep things relevant to your industry (e.g. avoid posts of what you had for dinner).
Did this help?
Hope that helps with guiding you along the social media path and don’t worry if you stray from it, as remember, all the best stories have an interesting ending! Also, look at what your competitors are doing on social media, as in what images, videos, quotes, podcasts, and posts? And then think what would your audience expect and keep in mind the points above, and you should be on the right road. Now, that reminds me, I have an audience to attend to, I have a bedtime story (I mean a bedtime blog) to go read my youngest…
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