For leaders who grew up in an analogue age, working in a digital world presents its challenges. The ever-changing landscape of new apps, trends, and language can conspire to overwhelm us. Yet we have all adapted in our own way to the presence of social media in our lives.
At its best, social media enriches, informs and connects us - to people, organisations and ideas. Reaping the benefits of social media for our brands requires leaders to answer three key questions in order to inform the development of sound social media strategies.
1. What is the business goal you are trying to meet?
The use of social media to grow the number of people interested in your organisation (building awareness, or stimulating interaction) requires potentially different tactics than if you wanted to attract a smaller number of higher value customers (landing conversion). Being clear on the goal helps leaders shape the tactics required.
2. Who is your audience and where do they congregate online?
Who is your tribe? What are their desires, needs, and habits? To fulfil those problem-solving or entertainment-seeking needs, where do they do go online? Are your audience interacting on WeChat or WhatsApp - or are they part of the Twitter commentariat? These questions help to refine your options. If you are chasing a millennial crowd, Snapchat may hit the mark better than Facebook. If your crowd is visual, consider Instagram or Pinterest - if it's business-related, LinkedIn could be your answer. The strategy needs to take account of the behaviours of your audience.
3. What content will engage your audience best?
We've seen it before on our Facebook feeds - a picture of a political leader in a suit accompanied by a caption saying it was "great" to visit a particular group of people today. This is lazy social media. Simply posting a nice photo and some text each day is not going to cut it – organic reach is arguably dead in Facebook, and trends indicate a desire for authentic live video content, real interaction with users (making social media truly social), and telling stories that build an intriguing behind-the-scenes insight into your brand.
Like all business strategies, for them to be meaningful, they to be regularly revisited, not least because social media changes frequently and leaders need to be agile enough to pivot when required. Look at the outcomes you are achieving regularly. Evaluating your techniques, experimenting with new approaches, and using test data to make robust decisions, will help get the most out of your social media spend.
Tip - Need help to get your message out? You could also consider Stakeholder Engagement forums.
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