get asked this question a lot. Sometimes directly, often, indirectly. So many clients I have worked with are unsure about what content will have the most value, pack the most punch and yield a good result for you and your brand presence.
I think the first, and most important thing to really look at are your goals, targets, whatever you want to call them. What are you really trying to achieve on social media? To be fair...and honest, many won't even know that. And I say that will all respect but it's true. You all know you should be on social media, so you jump on...but then struggle to really make the impact you see others making, and ultimately make very little difference to your brand presence and awareness initiatives. Well, this is normal I think. Social media makes marketers of us all, and some better than others. But don't worry. By the time you have finished reading this post you will have at least two or three things you can get started on right away to make a positive impact to your social following and their needs.
Do you sometimes feel like you are talking to someone who isn’t there?
So, let's look at a few examples of some goals and take it from there:
- Increase brand awareness (technically this whole list will do this but all marketing does, so try not to get too fussy about this point).
- Build strong, long-lasting relationships with your audience.
- Develop a front-of-mind status with your audience.
- Develop transparency and insights into your working culture.
- Showcase your brand and business as an industry leader.
- Have fun, explore, experiment, learn and be brave.
You know what I'm going to say don't you...yes, the best social strategies will encourage all of these to ensure you are reaching the right people, in the right way and adding value to them and to you and your team. But let's just focus what content works best in each instance and how these matter to your followers.
Increasing brand awareness is a given and goes hand in hand with any outward facing visuals you are willing to share. In a recent blog post What Content Should I Be Posting To Win My Audience Over? There are some simple examples of getting started on social media so make sure you check it out. But essentially, anything is better than nothing. I won’t repeat myself here but go check out the blog post. Being present, will increase presence…obviously.
The quickest way to build a relationship (with anyone) is to add value to that person’s life…or experience. As a business you need to give your audience simple advice, guidance, support, inspiration and answers! This last one is a great hint on where to start with this strategy. You need to answer your audiences’ top questions.
The real magic is adding value
One of the biggest mistakes to make early on is expecting engagement. Most social media users will likely enjoy your content (if you stick to a rough version of the strategy explained in this post) but will not let you know they did. They will not like, comment or share. But this really doesn’t matter. Metrics are great but they don’t show a true reflection of your brands value. Nor do they measure awareness by groups or individuals accurately, or at least right away. So don’t stress about it. All is well.
By being regular, consistent, and useful, you will find value…or rather, your users will find value in your content. The list above will essentially all point to the same thing. Add value through being honest, consistent, helpful, positive, responsive, and relevant.
"Social Media is about the people. Not about your business. Provide for the people and the people will provide for you". - Craig Davis, Matt Goulart, Founder, Ignite Digital
So finally, I’m hearing you all asking, “What do I need to do?”
Follow these simple steps to really start adding value to your followers, grow your audience and increase your brand awareness. But be patient, social media is a slow burner almost 99.9% of the time:
- Start at the beginning, create a list of some of the most frequently asked questions from your customers or followers. If you don’t have any FAQs then look at the most popular services/products you sell, repeating issues that arise…any patterns of behaviours you think are worth exploiting.
- Then simply create content to support these points, answer the questions, drive further exploration into repeating issues arising. Use testimonials, quotes, customer images (user generated content) your own images. Use your phone to take the pictures.
- Pick just one or two platforms to focus on. Generally, almost all audiences use Facebook and Instagram with younger audiences also using Tik Tok and Snapchat. I would say the best starting place is Facebook and Instagram. Keep it simple and start small.
- Try to post no-less than 2 times a week but also don’t overdo it at the start. The idea of posting daily is great but it’s not always possible…or needed.
There is so much more to consider but let’s just start with baby steps. Get into good habits and think about what your customers really need. Or want.
Your audience is out there…somewhere 🤔
So, if there is just one or two things for you to take away from this, make sure you have a go at the above basic strategy and check out my previous blog post. Both posts cover similar areas as you will see but this post is more about the how and the why, the previous post is about the what, with a few examples of some client’s content too.
I really hope you find at least some of this useful and if you ever have questions, just shout.
#createwithpurpose ✌🏻
