In parts One and Two of the Social Academy we looked at both the foundations of a social culture and also the social voices needed to bring that culture to life. In this chapter we are focusing on the social content tactics that can really bring your social media to life.
Social media doesn’t work without something of value to say. More often than not we are more concerned with numbers and quantity than we are on the value of what we’re saying. In many instances time restrictions mean that half thought-out campaigns, cobbled together posts, and thoughtless band-wagon jumping can take over your feed.
I have found that there are three essential stages to any social media strategy; attract, engage and convert, and more often than not we try to get one piece of content to do all three. Let’s stop doing that eh?
So what tactical content should you be thinking about?
Brand messages
Pride in a brand is contagious. Just look at Apple! If you’re not proud of what the brand has to offer, what it stands for, or it’s culture then there’s no point talking about it anywhere. This goes for all social the social voices talking about you online. Social content focused on branding is essential. This can include company culture posts, humour, case studies, anything that shows what your values are about and what your brand offers.
Added value
A few years ago you wouldn’t have dreamed of sharing your tips, tactics and secrets with the world. Now, this is absolutely a given. Social content (especially marketing) should be about potential customers, advocates and followers finding what you have to say of interest on a deeper level. This is especially important in B2B where purchases rarely take place directly because of a social media interaction. The users of social content in this instance are for research, peer to peer sharing and fact building. That’s not to say it should be dry and fact based but it certainly shouldn’t be “salesy” in my opinion.
Share and share alike
If what you have to say is valuable it is only natural that it will be shared. However, organic amplification methods can be utilized too. By sharing the content you feel valuable and promoting the efforts of key influencers you can encourage that behavior with the content you create. Don’t be afraid to share to other people’s content it promotes trust and openness. Two tips though, don’t simply retweet, and make sure you read and comment on the post.
Visual content is still doing better
This isn’t always possible but get creative! Visual content will out perform text in many instances. This gives you a great opportunity to get thinking about how you present your valuable content.
By taking time to think about every post you send or every piece of content you share you can quickly and effectively begin to create a more stable social community. If you don’t have time to post something of worth…don’t post. Wait until you can say something valuable, something sharable and something that does your brand proud.
Visit parts One and Two of the Social Academy here for a deeper look at the bigger picture of B2B social media.
