Everyone, including businesses, uses social media differently. That’s what makes it so endlessly interesting.
It has brought out the best, and worst, in all of us.
Brands still struggle with a basic question: how much to post on social media. They live in fear of chasing away their own fans by erring on the side of too much.
This shows a flawed understanding of how social media works, or how exposure works in general. We assume if we buy a full-page magazine ad or a handful of 30-second TV commercials that everyone will see them. And we assume that everyone will remember them.
Thankfully, people don’t work that way. Imagine how confused we’d be if we retained the messaging of every ad we see and hear, from Pandora ads to billboards to Facebook promoted posts. Thousands of jingles and pitches pinging around our brains — yikes!
To reach people in their busy lives, we must embrace attributes that might make us uncomfortable. Blending in is easy — standing out is tough.
Attribute No. 1: Talkative. A quiet social media account doesn’t have to worry about offending anyone or driving fans away with too many updates. It also can’t grow or transform fans into customers and advocates.
It just sits there, like a one-line entry in the phone book.
If we’re going to actually have a Facebook page or Instagram account, we owe our fans a daily update of all the exciting things happening in our company and in our niche.
Attribute No. 2: Interesting. Consider all the things we skip past every hour of every day that don’t catch our interest. It might be the topic, or the messenger, or the format. We know why a cat video shared by a friend might be more interesting than a 10,000-word description of a cockroach trick shared by a stranger.
It’s our responsibility to find and share interesting things with our audience. Those things must align with our marketing message, of course, and we must package them for easy consumption by our fans.
For example, if I want to share an article about the 10 best 360-degree videos on Facebook, I can add a screenshot from the craziest video to go with the tweet.
Attribute No. 3: Attractive. These social media updates need to be attractive in two distinct ways. First, they must attract attention so fans will look, read and interact. Attractive posts get all the attention; plain posts do not.
Second, they must attract new followers, specifically more new followers than departing followers. We always face churn in our social channels. Once we make peace with that simple fact, we can set about working to add more followers than we lose in any given week or month.
Being attractive on social media means fresh content, a clear focus on fans and a willingness to do a little more than our competitors.
Attribute No. 4: Confident. When we’re confident, our voices are louder. We exude passion, making us more interesting and attractive. And we easily brush off those who aren’t interested.
A little confidence goes a long way in social media.
Those brands confident in their social media strategy share without worry, giving their fans the very best ways to solve problems or forget their troubles. They don’t worry about how much they post — they worry about giving enough info to arm their fans with options to make decisions and take action.
It’s not how much we post — it’s how much we’re seen and remembered, how much we can help our audience. In that case, more is better for social media, if we share really good stuff all the time. And if we bring in more new fans than we churn through.
Post often, post fearlessly, and keep the audience in mind at all times.
•
Follow Y’all Connect on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
