Don’t bore your followers on social media; use an engaging strategy to propel your brand
After auditing your company’s social media activity and comparing it to some of your competitors, you may find that your social media engagement isn’t effectively telling your brand’s story. Your posts are coming out more blah than brilliant. More sigh than sassy. More flat than fierce. You need to up your social media game.
Social media is everywhere, so it’s important that your business is active on at least a few key platforms. At 1.87 billion active users, Facebook is still the most popular social media outlet and the best option for long-form content. With 317 million users, Twitter is the platform you’re most likely to see in the news. For example, fast-food restaurant Wendy’s witty responses have earned features on multiple news sites.
Even if you aren’t striving to be at Wendy’s Twitter level, you can still liven up your social media feeds. Here are five of our top tips and tricks.
- Establish a voice.
Establish a consistent voice that everyone on your social media team uses to ensure authenticity and to strengthen your message. Everything appears under the same icon, so it’s important that when various people post, it all still works together. You don’t want your followers to be able to tell different people are posting on different days. Consider the tone of your social media engagement. Do you want your brand’s voice to be more business professional or more playful? This determines the kind of posts your company makes online.
- Change it up.
Having a consistent voice doesn’t mean every single thing you post must be exactly the same. Each channel should flow. Providing different content on each platform gives consumers a reason to follow you in different places. If you’re posting the exact same thing on Twitter and Facebook, why would someone follow both? Make unique content for your different accounts.
- Interact with followers.
Social media is meant to be interactive. You shouldn’t simply throw messages into the void of the internet and hope someone likes them. The brilliant part of all these platforms is that your consumers can tell you exactly what they think of you whenever they want. While this can certainly have its drawbacks (make sure to monitor how people review your company on Facebook), it gives you a direct connection to the exact people you want to share your products and messages with. Ignore your audience, and they’ll ignore you. Interact with them, and they’ll remember you.
- Use visuals and polls.
Just about everyone is on social media these days. When people scroll through their feeds, they’re bombarded with messages from friends, family and different brands. To make sure you stand out, have an eye-grabbing visual. Or, on sites such as Twitter, try using the poll function. This interactive tool can help you gauge how your audience feels toward something. One brand successful at incorporating this feature is Denny’s Diner. Denny’s CMO, John Dillon, said his social media plan for the company is to be an online extension of the Denny’s booth. Creating fun, silly polls makes Denny’s more relatable to its consumers and opens up conversation.
- Have fun!
The reason most people have social media in the first place is for entertainment and fun. In fact, the brands that are most playful online receive the most recognition and interaction. When Arby’s randomly decided to tweet about Pharrell William’s hat looking just like their logo during the 2014 Grammys, it became one of the most popular tweets on Twitter and even garnered Twitter praise from other large corporations like Pepsi and Hyundai. So look at what’s going around on the internet and see how your brand can play along.
Whether you have a dedicated social media team or one coordinator flying solo, it’s important that your brand’s online presence isn’t boring your audience. Axia Public Relations can help you develop a social media strategy that will grow and enhance your brand. Download Axia’s e-book The Essential Social Media Management Guide today to get started.
Macey Wilson is a senior at the University of Florida majoring in public relations and minoring in theater. This fall she will serve as vice president of public relations for PRSSA as well as work as an account executive for The Agency at UF. She will also be the director of special events for Florida Players, a student-run theater company. Follow her on Twitter @MaceyPWilson.
Featured image credit: 123rf.com
Topics: public relations, shared media
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