It might sound like an obvious point to make, but there is an ever-growing need for companies to be more social on social media.
We’ve all been there, you’re doom-scrolling your way through your evening, and you’re met with posts that are too salesy, followed by an ‘inspirational quote’ and posts with *insert awareness day support here*. But are they the posts that you, as a social media user, interact with? I’m guessing not.
So why are so many companies still getting it wrong?
If you consider your interactions on social media, what is it that you interact with? Is it cute photos of dogs, informative and engaging long-form posts, funny memes, or all of the above? This inward look at who you are as a social media user is a great basis from which to start understanding and recognising the sort of content that you should be posting out from your company pages, and how you should be interacting.
Granted, you may not fit the demographic of who your target audience is - but the likelihood of anyone interacting with seven posts in the same week about the price of your products or your opening times is almost zero.
Your social calendar needs to include some variety, and ultimately needs to be full of thumb-halting content. Attention spans are only dwindling, and so if you’re not catching your audience's attention within the first second, then you’re probably not going to catch it at all.
Although potential customers and clients will need to know about your services, it isn’t always necessarily what you should lead with on your social media channels. Take Coach Hire Comparison, for instance. Their main demographic is groups of people looking to travel by coach. It’s a broad demographic, but their social content isn’t necessarily reflecting their position as a coach quote provider, but as an inspirational travel consortium.
They use their social channels to inspire people to travel - or at least think about travel, and this type of content could be the inspirational piece that leads someone to book a coach to the airport, or a minibus for a break with their family. Their channels are also full of customer reviews, quizzes and games - all of which are intended to drive engagement, and brand recognition.
But the content you post is only half of the story. There’s a clue in the name here - it’s called social media because it’s for social interactions. Which is why customer engagement is so important.
If you’re starting a conversation - such as the one above, you need to make sure that you’re responding to your customers, so they feel like the brand is less of a brand, and more of an identity.
Has there ever been a time that you’ve replied to a brand’s social post, or contacted them directly via social media to get an answer to a question? These interactions are arguably even more important than the content you post out on a daily basis. They’re the interactions which form relationships between customer and brand.
Take this interaction from National Forest Adventure Farm for example. They’ve responded to a customer comment which wasn’t even intended for them, but has helped the customer to get one step closer to booking tickets. It’s a small gesture, but lets your audience know that you’re willing to help, and answer any queries they may have. And all that does is build trust - something which is key in maintaining a dedicated customer base, and creating new ones.
It’s crucial to measure how your audience is reacting to your content. If you’re met with an abundance of positive engagement, then you’re doing something right. If your feed is full of negativity and complaints, it’s best to switch things up. Ultimately, your audience will significantly help to mould your social strategy the more you listen to their feedback.
Whatever you do, don’t just post content for the sake of it.