3 Things to Keep in Mind When Using Social Media for Your Business
At this point, everyone knows that there is almost no better way to advertise a business than by using social media. The extensive range of platforms allows you to reach an almost unlimited number of people in the world. Whether it's your neighbor, or someone who lives halfway around the world -- chances are, you can reach them on social media if you use it correctly.
Despite this, there are still many businesses out there that can't quite connect with their audience. Whether it's because they post content that doesn't connect with their readers, or because people just aren't interested enough to read or share it -- some businesses find themselves shouting into an echo chamber when they post on social media.
Most businesses don't understand how to engage with their audience correctly -- either they spend too much time pandering to an audience that can see it a mile away, or they only post content that they think will entertain, but that in reality has no substance. A savvy social media user knows how to balance these two things in order to hook in audience and expand it further -- as well has how to adapt their approach to fit the content and their specific audience.
Know Your Platform
An essential step to using social media to the best of your ability is to know your platform and what your audience will expect on that platform. Knowing where to post light-hearted, easy content versus long-winded technical content is a must.
Some sites can be used for all types of content -- Facebook, for example, would be a good idea. Funny video clips or anecdotes can be shared widely by your Facebook friends and followers, bringing more traffic to your page and your website, if possible. But you can likewise link to lengthier, more technical content on Facebook, because people spend enough time on there that they are more likely to actually take the time to look over it.
Other platforms can't always be used for this -- if you link to something more dense on Twitter, for example, you may find that less people take the time to read it. Twitter is a very short and sweet platform because of their word limit on Tweets, so a lot of users won't bother with longer content because they don't want to take the time. So something a little lighter and shorter would be better for Twitter.
Information or Buzz
There's an important distinction you need to make when you're designing content to be posted online: the distinction between content that tells your audience something about who you are and what you want to do, and content that is entertaining and will be spread far and wide across the internet.
Both of these serve very important purposes, of course. But you need to know how to strike a balance between the two of them and what both can accomplish before you move forward. As George Sink Jr., Attorney and Marketing Director at George Sink, P. A. Injury Lawyers says, "You need to have a balance of pieces that spread information and content that causes buzz. You can't use social media properly if you don't. Buzz draws people to you. Information tells them what you're really about."
Generating buzz is always a good thing -- it brings more people to your page and website, and people are more likely to remember something that entertained or shocked them, so the name of your business will likely stick out in their minds. But if you only generate buzz and don't put any information out there, you may find that you get lost in the noise. So try to strike a balance between content that entertains and creates buzz, and content that actually tells your audience about your business. Share your goals and your history - tell them exactly what you want to do. Once you've captured their attention, your audience is more likely to listen to something of a more informational nature.
Of course -- it's possible to have content that is both informational and creates buzz. The key is finding out the right balance between the two.
Advertising or Engaging
Another balance you have to find is the balance between buying advertising space on social media websites, and actually posting and interacting with your followers on those sites. Pages that only post promotions will likely be blocked by irritated followers sick of you clogging up their feeds.
Instead of only promoting yourself and your brand on your page, make sure to mix it up with content that your audience will really like. Whether this is getting them to engage with your content by asking a question, or simply posting something that you know people will enjoy and share - don't take your audience for granted. If you do, you may find
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