Using Social Media To Strengthen Your Brand and Connect With Audience
Social media has become one of the most powerful tools a business can use, yet many businesses don’t even know where to start.
There are two keys to a successful social media presence :-
- Building a follower base made up of your target market, and
- Providing social media content that provides real value to your followers.
It’s that second point I’d like to focus on here – how to create valuable social media posts in order to strengthen your brand and connect with clients.
The Content Must Match The Medium
Social media sites differ greatly from one another in terms of the types of content you want to publish. Here’s a quick look at the top three sites and how they differ in this regard :
- Facebook. Facebook has no character limit to posts and is very visually oriented. The most effective Facebook posts will be between 25 and 100 words and utilize a video or an eye-catching image whenever possible.
- Twitter. Twitter limits you to 140 characters per post. This means your tweets need to be succinct, headline-type and attention-grabbing.
- LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a format for professionals and your content should be written in a professional tone. 25 to 100 words is goof for a LinkedIn post.
What works on one medium doesn’t work across the board; tailor your social media communications to the medium - if you want to be successful.
Characteristics Of An Effective Social Media Message
Obviously, social media posts have to resonate with your audience. As such, there are some elements that compelling posts all share :-
- Confidence. Social media will help your branding only if your posts are confident and display your expertise in your niche.
- Well-written. Effective materials follow the rules of the language, mainly, spelling and grammar. They avoid passive language, too.
- Action-oriented. A good social media post entices the reader to take action - to do something. In most cases, it should provoke thought, encouraging the reader to comment thereby opening up a dialogue.
- There may be times, when the reader becomes so engaged that he will want to get to know what your business is all about and what you have to offer. This could lead to your prospect going to your website and making a purchase.
Regardless of which social media platform you’re using, every post should have the above three characteristics.
Creating Good Social Media Information
It can be a challenge to come up with valuable social media content day in, day out.
Fortunately, there are several resources you can draw from, in order to create effective content, including :-
- Recounting stories about your own experiences that readers can relate to
- Providing facts, figures and statistics related to your niche
- Re-posting or re-tweeting other users’ comments and quotations (making sure to attribute the source, of course)
- Offering brief, quick solutions to common problems
- Giving links to helpful information, both your own and others’, that provide answers to readers’ needs.
Sidenote - If
you’re at a loss and can’t think of any content to provide, here is a list of 50
quotes (including their author) to get you started.
Pulling from these resources and applying the characteristics of an effective social media communication while adapting it to the particular site you’re using, will grow your follower base, encourage customer interaction and strengthen your brand.
