by SeQuoya Addison
I think we can all agree that social media effects our day, everyday, in one way or another. We use it for personal reasons, business reasons, as a source for research and to get our daily news. With the power and reach social media has, it’s important to know how to use it to your advantage. It’s paramount to have a social media strategy for your business.
The content you post speaks volumes about your brand and how well you know your customers. Social media is a great way to reach your target audience. Why you ask? You can see who they are, what they like, what they hate and what will get them to buy. You’re able to reach your audience where they already are.
Humanize Your Brand
Let’s think for a second. You’re at a networking event in town and a nice person approaches you. You begin to chat and immediately notice they’re a chatter box. By the end of the 10 minute conversation, you learned, literally, their life story.
You know their name, what they do for a living, who they like and don’t like at the event, how many times they’ve been married, and their cat’s everyday problems… you get the point. But, you barely got out a full sentence, simply because they never really asked you anything. The conversation was about them.
Now let’s think again.
You’re at the same networking event, but this time, you’re refilling your drink and realize you and someone else reach for the same pitcher together. You both laugh, and realize you have a similar interest in the fruit punch, even though everyone else was going for sweet tea. This breaks the ice and you two converse more, realizing there’s so much more in common. You attended the same high school, both love traveling and are realizing it’s each other’s first time at this event. You ‘click’ because you share common interests. It was easy to be interested in one another.
Now you may be wondering, “What does this have to do with my social media strategy?”.
A lot!
Treating your businesses’ social media strategy like the first person you met won’t get your business far. People will become uninterested and slowly stop paying attention. (You just lost a potential client.)
The second person, however, is exactly how you want your social media strategy to be. You want it to be relatable, easygoing, engaging, and knowledgeable. Humanizing your brand will help your business gain loyal customers because they trust, relate to you, and most importantly, they like and agree with what your business represents.
Your Social Presence is Not About You
It’s not. When you started your business it was in hopes to help someone solve a problem. It could have been to help someone buy their first home, give someone proper childcare, or help someone through a sticky divorce. All those things directly relate to your customers and their needs. Think about your audience and what would benefit them. You have to think as a consumer.
Keep Things Interesting With Your Social Media Strategy
We can be honest by now, right? Posting consistently is a great thing, it’s one of the most important things for your marketing strategy. But, posting consistently about the same thing is… Oh what were we talking about again? Boring!
As a business owner, you appreciate the people who follow your social media pages. They support your business! Keep them engaged by posting frequently, and posting diversely. The 80/20 rule is a common tactic when it comes to your social media strategy. It states 80% of your social media posts should inform, educate and entertain your audience, while only 20% should directly promote your business.
It’s a great idea to keep your social media content relevant to your business in one way or another. But that doesn’t mean every post has to say “Check out my website. Call me today!”.
Instead, here are some post ideas to keep your business relevant and interesting:
- Post about community events and how your business is participating
- Acknowledge holidays
- Give helpful advice for the services you offer (this builds your trust and expertise on the topic)
- Ask questions- Ask what their needs are and what they struggle with
- Entertain your audience (share a funny moment in the office)
Make sure to pay attention to the type of posts your customers enjoy and engage with the most. This will help you create a social media strategy that works for your audience.
Don’t have time to worry about your social media strategy? We can help!