I’ve undertaken a fair few social media audits of late, and without exception, one of the things that leaps out time after time, across all platforms, is that businesses only tend to post about themselves.
OK, I appreciate that that’s better than not posting at all, but if you’re looking after the social media activity for a business, try to remember the 80/20 rule of thumb: social media is not an extension of your sales funnel, so in an ideal world, only 20% of your outgoing content should be about you and YOUR business.
So, what should you post?
- Be educational. Share content relevant to your business/industry sector.
- Share your knowledge. What seems like part of the everyday to you could benefit someone reading your social media posts – think #TopTips! Sharing your knowledge will also help to make you a “go to” source when someone has a need for something you’ve been posting about.
- Look out for awareness days/weeks/months – these can be a great way to join in with daily trending topics and grow your audience.
- Be current. I recently had a frenzied three hours on Twitter on behalf of a client, Tweeting on their behalf during the final of BBC1’s The Apprentice. As a result, their website crashed due to the increased demand in traffic (on a Sunday night!) and they had a spike in online orders. All because I was being them, on Twitter, whilst watching TV.
- Don’t be afraid to start conversations. Twitter and Facebook polls are great ways to nurture engagement. Ask questions. It’s human nature to reply.
In summary, don’t be like Donkey. If you take the “pick me, pick me, pick me” approach to your social media, you’ll soon lose Followers and the Likes will dry up. Be engaging, be educational, be amusing – and they’ll keep coming back for more.
If you’re still struggling, and would like to book a Social Brainstorm, get in touch and let’s see what we can do!
