To whomsoever it may concern (Because we aren’t sure who rules the Social Media Club right now). Earlier, we needed to crack our brains for 2 questions: Who are our customers and what would they like? Thanks to your club, we now have to figure out which one of you moved our customers and what would they like over there!
So, could you please enlighten us about the current updates in your social media circle?
Thank you!
- Yours sincerely,
Every brand ever!
Dear brands,
Thanks for writing in. And extremely sorry for all the confusion!
Do not worry, I’ll tell you from where it all began (Okay, not from the very start. From 21st century. Since that is the time, I started having real friends who stayed!). By the end of this, you will know what to do for your brand. Trust me!
Before I begin, I appreciate you spending a heavy amount of your marketing budget on us, the social channels. Wise decision, honestly! Because your audience is spread across my friends, and even better, they are spending time on us more than ever, which is nothing but good news for you.
When 21st century began, social media was just a medium for content distribution for many brands. But soon, with many of my friends joining the club, people had multiple options to explore according to their individual interests. LinkedIn came in with all its professionalism in 2002. The mighty giant of us all who is still intact with its popularity, Facebook entered in 2004. Tweets started happening in 2006. And for the teenagers, we had Instagram and Snapchat in 2010 and 2011, respectively. We became like one of those buffets where people can choose from a variety of dishes!
But I understand what we did to you. We kept moving your cheese; your customers making you run in a maze, trying to understand what works where and how.
For brands who haven't understood the fuss, here's a gist.
Its’ simple. Imagine a movie theatre in Tamil Nadu where a Bollywood hero is trying to entertain the masses. Or another theatre in Delhi, where the likes of a South Indian actor is trying to please the audience with his heroic dance moves. Do you think both the movies will receive the usual hooting and applause? A definite no! There’s a reason why remakes are done in different languages with different actors. Likewise, brands need to have the same line of thought. People have varied intents while using different social media platforms and hence, they have different responses to brand content everywhere. So, while planning a campaign strategy, be well aware of the social media platform your target audience is currently active on and create content accordingly. If not, that Eureka moment you had when you had that awesome campaign idea in mind will go in vain. Also, you don’t want to look like you are spamming!
Here’s a glimpse of what type of content works on each platform:
LinkedIn: Be Original
Original content like your experiences at work, an opinion about a current industry trend (one of the top two types of content most shared) or anything that is relatable and revolves around your industry is the winner when it comes to LinkedIn. Your posts could focus on productivity, inspiration and professional success since a LinkedIn survey of more than 9,000 members revealed that 44% of them said the last piece of content they read on the platform was inspirational and straight to the point.
How-to and list-style posts help you to pose as a brand that helps your readers and cares about their overall wellbeing.
Establish an expertise in your industry through thought leadership content and also know what other industry experts are talking about since about 45% of readers are company managers, VPs, CEOs, or other senior management. It could also be a great platform to showcase your company culture and milestones, attracting potential customers and new talent.
Yes, LinkedIn is of the professional B2B nature, but it does not mean you leave behind images or videos. Images with statistics are shown to perform well on LinkedIn!
Facebook: Be Creative
To get started, it is the easiest platform since you can experiment with different content formats and impress a wider audience. Try to fit into the personal atmosphere created by Facebook and do not make it solely about selling, since people use it to connect with their friends/family. So how do you attract eyeballs?
Develop a content strategy that includes more videos as compared to image posts and links. Although adding links or CTAs proves beneficial for all kind of content. Because in Facebook' s ranking algorithm, engagement tops the list of factors and surveys reveals video posts (with a duration of 3-5 minutes) get at least 59% more engagement than other types of posts.
Engage audience with emotional, humorous, or any other genre of content that suits your brand and attracts higher engagement. Because if you get it right with your audience, it will increase your chances of appearing in others’ timelines as well.
In the array of features provided by Facebook, Facebook ad is something you do not want to miss out on since it helps you to deduce buyer demographics thereby allowing you to invest your advertising budget on people who are really interested in your product/service.
YouTube: Be non-commercial
On YouTube, the second largest engine after Google, more than 50 million content creators are trying to add value to people's lives. Undoubtedly, the competition is tough. Do you know the secret ingredient of a quality video? Do not make it look like a commercial. Take notes from Red Bull which has content around activities that creates an adrenaline rush or Lego whose content caters to the younger population.
How to guides and tutorials, product reviews, vlogs, educational videos and emotional videos make a huge impact on the subscriptions.
While you post value-addition videos, also optimise your videos in terms of Google search and according to the devices it will be watched on, especially mobile phones. A relevant idea, brilliant execution and a compelling video description with links to your social media sites and websites, will make your video trend on YouTube and your Google search ranks will be hitting the roof!
If you can get an influencer who resonates with your brand on board, you can make the most of Influencer marketing. Because according to Google, 60% of YouTube subscribers trust the opinions of their favourite influencers.
WhatsApp: Be at their service
The ease with which WhatsApp allows you to communicate has shifted its purpose from merely talking to friends/family to have proper business transactions! WhatsApp has upped its game by making it a reliable platform for businesses as well.
According to a survey, people prefer text over calls for communication with businesses and where they can message directly.
Businesses can facilitate such customer interaction at an affordable rate using WhatsApp. BookMyShow, HBO India, Vodafone India have already joined the bandwagon of businesses collaborating with WhatsApp, best tool for customer support.
Broadcast messages about your products/services and receive responses from interested leads only!
Instagram: Be visually appealing
Today, where visual content is shared more than text-based content, here is a platform where you can represent your brand visually. You have the creative freedom to display your brand’s personality in the best possible way. If you are looking for content, Instagram has trending hashtags of its own and also you can create content around upcoming important dates. It is not necessary that is directly related to your business.
Get your creative juices running and create unique content around those days. Instagrammers are interested in discovering about your brand and bond with it. So, sharing something personal about your team, business and company culture could be a nice idea.
Also, sharing content generated by your users nourishes a sense of connection between you and them. Post content that is meaningful, relatable and visually appealing because that is what Instagrammers are scouring for. A nice typography would do wonders on Instagram!
Twitter: Be updated
Can you make your point with as less as 140 characters so that people stop scrolling and click on your link? Then, feel free to step into Twitter, where the world discusses everything in real-time!
Share a video around a live event because it is observed to increase brand favourability by 63%. Make the best use of this universal customer service platform to stay updated about the issues faced by your customers.
At the same time, retweet complimentary tweets and quotes because users who tweet quotes have 43% more followers. Conduct polls, ask questions relevant to your brand and make your presence felt on Twitter.
Befriend hashtags, your saviour on Twitter, to understand what your buyer persona is hash tagging. Even better? You could also create a unique hashtag and make it trend by encouraging your customers to promote it.
I know it’s a lot. But I am sure with all this information, you are now equipped to take the right decision! Hope you get showered with likes, comments, shares, subscriptions, tweets and everything else my new friends bring with them!
Thank you.
- Your true friend,
Social Media.
P.S.: 1. There’s no President amongst us. Whatever works for you and whichever is aligned with your business goals, is your winner.
2. You don’t have to be on every social media site. Just be present where your cheese is.