By Willona Sloan
One reason people don’t connect to brands on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and their other social media platforms of choice is that they don’t want to be marketed to all day long. It’s the same reason people fast forward through commercials, hit “Skip Ad” on You Tube videos and change the radio station in search of another song to keep the music going.
When you’re trying to reach your customers, remember that their attention is a gift, and when you’ve lost it, it’s gone. Your social media followers are individual people with ideas, passions, interests and needs. They are people with husbands, wives, children, jobs, parents, bills, worries, fears and hobbies.
They like good news. They like to have fun. They feel anxious about things. Communicate to them about things that will enrich their lives (or at least improve their mood for the day).
The Golden 80/20 Rule
Communicate like a person and not a product to build trust with your audience. That means use the 80/20 rule: 80% of your social media content should not be about you, your brand, your upcoming events, your successes, your news. That’s a hard thing to wrap your mind around when you have information that you want to push out; however, this is one of the most important rules of social media engagement.
Be Relevant
What do you do with 80% of your content? Make it relevant. Communicate information that relates to your line of work so that your followers will see you as a knowledgeable resource. Ask your followers questions. Post inspirational quotes, videos, photos and other fun content just like a real person would do but stay on track with your messaging strategy.
Pay Attention to Style
Don’t try too hard to be the cool kid. It’s true that each social media channel has its own language style, slang and unwritten rules. Twitter abbreviations don’t really fly on Facebook. Quick pithy captions work best on Instagram and so on. Use a tone and style fitting for the channel without abandoning your own voice. You want to create consistency across your channels because if your customers like you enough they might be connected to you in more than one place, which means your persona should not be radically different.
Remember, to keep your followers engaged, liking your posts, sharing your content and coming back for more, build trust. Communicate.
Have fun. Be authentic. Be yourself.
