So you’ve decided to take a look at your social media presence online. You could be brand new to this world, or you may already have accounts and post “pretty regularly”, but either way, you’re not seeing the results you want. And you’re especially not seeing the results you’ve heard about. With where you are now, the only way you’ll be “going viral” is by high fiving a coworker’s suspiciously sweaty kid…not your content strategy.
Using what I cover below, you’ll be able to answer with the most important questions in planning any social media content plan:
- Why the heck am I doing this?
- Why the heck should I want to?
What The Heck Am I Doing Here?
Let’s face facts: social media CANNOT be ignored. You have your choice of platforms, sure. There’s Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc etc. But you must understand that social media cannot be ignored. Here, I’ve made this motivational wallpaper just for you.
Remember the adoption curve for websites? At first, most businesses felt that they didn’t need one, then at some point the businesses that had a website were rare and saw such a positive ROI that all businesses wanted one, and now a business that has a website isn’t special.
The uncommon has become common, and when that happens, real winners differentiate themselves. This is where things like web design and SEO really set websites apart from one another.
This is what we’re seeing in the world of social media. We are now at the point where just having a social media account is not special. You need to use it in a way that sets you apart. And to do that, you need to know why the heck you’re on social media in the first place.
You are on social media to make a connection.
Every other social media tip, hack, tactic, or strategy you come across should stem from the previous sentence. You are present on social media to not just share your business promotions or break down your services or provide a “tip of the day”. You are there to meaningfully connect with your target audience. You are there to cut through the useless noise filling up their newsfeeds, and touch their mind or emotions in a way that creates a connection between you and the person reading your content. Think of it in this way, if you were at a networking event, which method would you think works best:
- Walking up to strangers and launching into a one-sided conversation about your work, your opinions, and all of your best features…or,
- Walking up to strangers with a handshake and an ice-breaker, then naturally falling into a genuine conversation about your services/products?
In both scenarios, you will definitely be sharing info on your business and activities, but what will do you think will resonate with your fellow networking event attendees more? Who do you think they’ll remember? The person that yells their agenda & features at everyone, or the person that connects and genuinely guides people into whichever service is needed most.
vs
Knowing that you’re on social media to make a genuine connection impacts your social media content strategy in interesting ways.
Knowing Your Audience – Whyyyy would you waste resources on trying to connect with people, before knowing who those people are? Identify your target audience. Then you’ll have a way of planning what kind of content you’ll produce on social media and how best to communicate.
Tracking Engagement – You need to pay attention to what content (e.g. social posts) your audience really resonates with. You need to always be asking yourself whether or not they care. Find this out by using your social platform’s engagement trackers! Likes, shares, comments, reactions, retweets, pins, clicks, etc. Look at what gets the most actions out of your audience and try adding a few more of these kinds of posts. For example, if you’re in the fitness industry and are always sharing exercise videos, recipes, and motivational posts, you may find that your recipe posts recieve the most shares and comments. That’s a clear sign to add more recipe posts! It’s that simple. You may be concerned about straying away from your “social media posting calendar”….don’t get so rigid. Remember the why; you’re on social media to make connections.
Find A Sum Greater Than The Above 2 Parts – Knowing your audience and tracking engagement will lead you to creating content you may not have expected. But as long as you are making a relevant connection to your audience that a) sets you apart and, b) achieves your business goals (e.g. email/messenger questions on your product, more website traffic, etc.), you’ll do well.
Why The Heck Should I Want To Be On Social Media?
The way I look at it, there are 2 main reasons:
- This is one of the most powerful opportunities for you to speak with and inform potenital customers about your offering, and
- If you’re not present on social media, you will be left behind by your competitors.
For all of the reasons I went through in the earlier section, social media will be your business’ most powerful tool to connect, inform, and nurture your audience into becoming fans of your brand. With this power, you could see your conversions rise while your cost per conversions drop. Inbound phone calls & emails go up, appointment bookings go up (while no shows go down!), % repeat purchasers increase, retention & lifetime value increases, top of mind awareness increases…the list goes on and on. Need I say more? Because if I really do, then you need to read the next sentence.
If you’re not their to get your piece of the pie, your competitors will gladly take if for you. While you ignore social media or just post memes that have no relevance to your audience, your competitor is out there hustling their way into your target audience’s hearts & minds. They will get to know your audience, they will connect & resonate with them, they will build relationships with them, and they will close them. And if you tell me that your industry isn’t on social media, then I’ll ask why you aren’t the business looking to get an edge on the competition while they sleep on this opportunity.
Here’s The Punchline
Use social media as if you’re speaking with a potential prospect. Introduce yourself, share some personality, set yourself apart, find their needs, listen to them, and ultimately guide them to your ask. If you do things correctly, they’ll be asking you about your services before you even get the chance.
