Turning your company's social networks into a broadcast tool that helps you grow is a challenge. In fact, there are professionals who are dedicated to it, the Social Media Managers. If you are going to take the profiles of your business online, first read this series of strategies to improve the way you communicate through the social network.
Be advised that despite the lighthearted, fresh and personal tone that large companies demonstrate to have on social networks, communication in these large digital forums is something very serious that no one takes lightly. In social networks nothing is left to chance and every message is measured to the millimeter. You should do that with your business’s profiles as well.
Properly managing your company's social networks is, in fact, a full-time job that could occupy a person’s entire working day. Obviously, no business-owner can afford to be behind their corporate accounts 24 hours a day. Nor is it necessary. It is enough to have a clear series of ideas or a basic precept on which to build a solid business communication regime on social networks. Here are a series of key tips in this regard:
Communicate with a goal
Before even creating your company profile on Twitter or Facebook, it is imperative that you know exactly what to expect to get from your presence on social media. Think that you are going to dedicate a good amount of work hours, energy and even money - in case you decide to carry out paid campaigns - to your online presence. Make sure you are clear about the reasons.
For example: "I want to sell more" is not a valid reason. Of course, any new business wants to grow, get more customers and increase its turnover. But when planning your presence on social networks we have to convert that abstract goal to more acceptable and tangible goals. Some examples include:
- Improve the presence and knowledge of your company in your city or state/province.
- Create a powerful brand image that identifies with your target audience.
- To disseminate specific offers, promotions, products and services.
Of course, the achievement of these three objectives will have a positive impact on your balance of accounts, but that cannot be the goal of every action or message you raise on social media. You would need to have ‘filler content’ as well.
Also, ideally, each goal should be measurable. Because that is one of the keys to online communication: everything can be measured.
Plan every message, do not leave anything to chance
Professionals who manage social accounts of large companies rarely allow themselves to launch a tweet or message on Facebook that has not been previously planned.
Every action you take on social networks should have a clear goal, perhaps one of the ones we mentioned above or any other. Therefore, the planning of your communication on social networks must go parallel to that of your business strategy. Networks are, remember, one more tool of your business.
Taking this idea to a more concrete ground, we can offer one of the techniques of communication in social networks that are used more frequently and that is known by the acronym RACE. This technique proposes dividing each action on social media according to its purpose. Let's see how:
- Reach - These actions are intended to reach the widest possible dissemination, so that our message is consumed by the maximum number of users possible. For example, viral messages with GIF or Memes could be cataloged in this section.
- Act - These messages attempt to get a response from the user. They can be an invitation to subscribe to a newsletter, to participate in a contest...
- Convert – Convert messages on your social media to sales. This section would include sharing your products or services with a direct or indirect urge to buy.
- Engage – These are actions designed to improve the image of your brand or business by creating a positive feeling for the user. These messages also serve to drive interaction with the consumers.
With these four categories you can start to plan your messages based on the result you want them to give.
Examine each social network and learn its language
In the same way that you adapt your language and way of communicating depending on who you are chatting with, you must do the same in regards to social networks.
For example, Instagram is a great social network for photographs and has a large young audience. However, it does not allow you to embed links in caption texts, so if you really want the users who follow you to visit your store, you should add something like 'more information in the bio'.
While on Twitter the best thing is to add 1 or 2 hashtags due to spatial constraints while on Instagram you can saturate your posts with tags!
As you can see, the details that make the difference are small but impactful. So ,when you are clear about the social networks you are going to use, learn their operation to get the most out of them.
Choose your style and stick to it
Many companies choose to launch their messages in a very relaxed tone, with GIFs and Memes, even with visual creativness. Others are much more serious and convey an image of order and rigor.
It is in your hand is to choose what the tone of your messages will be. And it is an important decision because once chosen, you must keep it for all the communications that you make. Simply to give you a uniform, recognizable style that pops out on your users feeds.
As a general advice, regardless of the style you decide for your messages, be sure to always include images or videos. Plain text goes completely unnoticed on social networks.
Remember that on social media, communication is bidirectional
One of the best features of social networks is that they allow you to interact with your users and clients, to know them firsthand and answer their queries. And you always answer, because there is nothing worse than getting your fans or followers to interact with your social media messages and then ignoring their feedback. Sometimes, a simple 'like' will suffice. On other occasions you could reply with a comment.
Steer clear from controversy
Nothing like a good Twitter controversy to destroy all the brand image you've built carefully for months or even years! And it can happen to anyone, because social networks are hotbeds of misunderstanding and confusion. What for some is a joke may be an almost unforgivable offense for others.
That is why in your corporate profiles you should avoid certain issues, such as politics or sports and focus on launching messages that are linked to your business. The rest is to tempt fate.
Be patient
Numbers are important on social networks but they are not everything. Sometimes, it is more valuable to have a small community of followers with whom you can actually interact with and they in turn eagerly consume your products or services, than a large mass of followers who almost do not know what your business is dedicated to.