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Doing Social – three ways not to mess it up

Social media has become a hugely effective part of the marketing playbook but it’s a huge space and covers a whole host of different applications. However, like it or not, Facebook is still the most popular channel, with 2.74 billion users in 2021.  It’s a useful tool to use for telling your story to a wide audience of existing and potential customers but, as with all marketing tools, it’s easy to make mistakes.  Here’s three traps to steer clear of: 


1. Do you think you’re talking to?

One really important thing to remember is why people use Facebook; to keep in touch with their network of friends and loved ones.  Make sure you sound natural, conversational and engaging - readers don’t want to commit to a huge opinion piece.  Keep your text concise for scrolling with a link to your website for more information. Your aim is to encourage interaction with your posts by liking, sharing or commenting and expand your tribe of followers who value what you have to say.


2. Decide on your destination before you start the journey.

Sometimes it’s hard to get into the right zone for writing great content. If it gets lumped into the “too hard basket”, you’ll either rush your posts or not do them at all. Quality content needs to be planned and written in advance. Schedule some time in your calendar every week to plan and write content for the next week using a scheduling tool like Hootsuite or Iconosquare. Also think ahead to any seasonal requirements or significant dates coming up for your audience but above all, ask yourself what you want your posts to achieve. 


3. Don’t be a bore - make your readers sit up, listen and share.

Be bold, command attention from the scrollers, be unforgettable and avoid TLDR (look it up). Mix up your channels, your media types and content subjects. Use video, photography, stories and animations to support your posts. Break up text so the first line describes what the post is about at a glance. Mix up your subjects and make them relevant to your audience. Ask yourself – is this stuff interesting or am I just writing stuff ‘cos my boss told me to?

 

Social needs to be part of your communication strategy but always remember it’s a conversation, not a broadcast. If you get too “salesy” or “spammy”, you’re going nowhere. Nobody wants to talk to the needy, self-absorbed dude at the party. Be confident, fun and engaging then once they get to know you, your audience will want to hang out more.

Here’s some more tips if you want to dig deeper:
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/building-social-media-presence/

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