Whether you're a millennial, a zoomer or even a boomer; you’re bound to have at least one personal social media account of some sort, most likely more. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest - the list goes on. And.. you might have one hundred followers - heck you might have thousands!
So if it’s easy to run a personal account how hard can it be to run a successful business account?
It doesn't have to be hard, but it is very different.
Successful social media for business is much more than a social profile - and here’s why...
You need branding that truly reflects your company values
It’s more than pretty photos and emojis. You need a branded identity that is coherent across all your social platforms. Ask yourself questions like is my brand voice consistent and does it truly reflect what my brand is all about? And if you don’t have a brand identity figured out yet - work on that before you start pushing out content. If you want to attract an audience - you need a brand voice that is real, has something unique to say and resonates with people.
‘Innocent’ has got this bang on. Their brand is fun, light hearted and a little bit cheeky - and this is reflected in their entire content strategy.
Read up on more social media tips for business owners
Great storytelling is copywriting and design, driven by vision
Unsurprisingly, storytelling is the art of telling a story. It’s the perfect composition of carefully curated copy, and thoughtful design elements driven by a vision of what you want to achieve as a brand. You want to create awareness by Telling your brand’s story effectively using different media, in order to provoke emotion and catharsis in your audience. In other words, you want to create a solid foundation in order to create a deeper relationship with your audience. Marketing is not just about selling - it’s deep stuff!
“Away” is another great example. Not only does their feed look phenomenal, but each post also has its own little story. They're not selling a suitcase, they’re selling you the dream of the holiday and that’s what keeps people engaged.
It needs to work with your overall digital strategy
Your social media efforts should work in conjunction with your wider marketing efforts, whether that’s Pay Per Click advertising, SEO or even offline marketing measures. Depending on your business, your channels should work together to be the driving force behind your results.
If you are only focusing on organic social: Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram posting; you should consider if Paid Social is a viable option for your business. And we’re not just talking about a few boosted posts - you can utilise messaging and assets from your organic posts to create paid campaigns specifically targeted to your audience. Find out more about how Paid Social works.
You have to focus on long term vision and not vanity metrics
Believe it or not, it’s not just about ‘Likes’. Yes, Facebook likes, comments and engagement are an important part of determining what social content is working for your brand - we call these vanity metrics because on their own they don’t tell us much. That's why they shouldn’t be your sole focus when it comes to gauging how successful your social marketing efforts are. Instead, you need to look at the long term results of your content strategy and use learnings from interactions to create opportunities to drive more traffic to your website.
So if you’re wondering why your social media activity isn’t helping grow your business, feel free to reach out. We'll happily talk you through how best to approach social for your business.
References: