You know that in order to have credibility as a business, you need to be on social media. You've built out a content calendar and have content regularly scheduled to be posted on all the major platforms. You're sharing blog posts, pictures, and showing off your expertise in the field. But in spite of all the time and effort you're putting into social media, you're just not seeing the engagement and ROI you know is possible with a rock solid social media strategy.
So what gives?
The good news is that you already recognize the business value of having a social media presence and you've done the hard work of establishing that presence and getting into the habit of posting regularly. Now you just need to audit what you’re doing and tweak your strategy to get your social media to soar.
You're Using the Wrong Platforms
While it's important to have a presence on social media channels, you shouldn't necessarily be on every social media channel that's out there. It's better by far to engage your prospective clients on the channels that they're already using. Go review your buyer personas and make sure that you're sharing on the social media platforms that your target clients are actually using. Instagram is a fantastic platform and has a lot of benefits, but if your prospective clients are all using LinkedIn, your time is better spent creating content for that platform.
You should also consider which platforms lend the most credibility to your brand. It's pretty important to have a Facebook page, as roughly two-thirds of U.S. adults (68%) now report that they are Facebook users, but will having a Pinterest account enhance your customer’s experience and understanding of who you are and why you’re amazing at what you do? Taking the time to evaluate the social media channels that will allow your brand to shine.
You're Sharing the Wrong Content
You can post a dozen times a day, but if your posts aren't relevant and compelling, people will, at best, ignore your posts, or at worst, unfollow you entirely. Make sure that you’re sharing content that your followers will find valuable and make sure that it positions you as a leader in your industry. Additionally, you’ll want to ensure that you’re posting the right content on the right channels.
Need a refresher on what to post where? Here's a quick summary from Buffer on the best content to post on each channel:
Facebook: Videos and curated content
Instagram: High-res photos, quotes, Stories
Twitter: News, blog posts, and GIFs
LinkedIn: Jobs, company news, and professional content
Pinterest: Infographics and step-by-step photo guides
Google+: Blog posts that you want to rank on Google
You're Only Posting Promotional Content
Social media influencers are so successful because they know that their value is driven by the fact that they are valuable and trustworthy resources for their follows. A 2019 brand content survey done by Adobe indicates that half of consumers would either stop paying attention to a brand or would not make a purchase if the content was not contextually relevant. If your social media content is purely promotional, you're telling your followers that you only value them for their wallets, not that you want to make their lives better by solving a specific problem for them.
Make sure that you're tempering your promotional posts with content that shows off your expertise in the field. Try to share relevant content regarding your industry on a regular basis and make sure that you're sharing this information with a short piece of analysis about why you found it interesting, your biggest takeaway, a quote that resonated with you, or a question to your followers about what they found compelling.
Alternatively, if you're not posting promotional content on your social media, why are you on social media at all? Unless your business is solely content curation, you're not going to see a lot of website traffic driven from social media without sharing posts that link directly back to your website. If you're relying on your followers to find a link to your website in the "About" section of your profile, you're not going to get the referral traffic you're after.
You're Using the Wrong Voice and Tone
Social media allows you to have conversations with your customers in a real and authentic way, so go ahead and let your humanity shine through in your post. Again, go back to your buyer personas and get intentional about creating a voice and tone that will draw your customers in and make them feel like they're interacting with a brand that they can relate to. Once you've created a consistent voice and tone, go a step further by adjusting those voices for the channels you’re using, as each channel is subtly different.
Take a page out of Buffer’s guide for developing your brand’s voice and tone and review their three C’s of brand voice:
Culture – What does your company stand for? What makes you stand out from all the others who are after the same audience? Your unique qualities make your culture special, and these should be a pillar of developing your voice.
Community – Listening can reveal how your community speaks and can help you speak easier with them and to them. You can use their language and meet them on their terms.
Conversation – Personality and authenticity are key here. What do you want to add to the conversation? As you think about what you can offer, you’ll start to see a better picture of where your voice might fit.
You're Using the Wrong Account
Generally, it's a good idea to keep your business and personal accounts separated. However, if your business accounts don't have a very big following, it can be worth while to leverage the connections you have on your personal accounts. Cross-sharing posts from your business's social media pages will help you create a more well-rounded online identity and can draw prospective clients to those business's accounts. An important caveat with this is not to alienate your existing followers by turning your personal accounts into promotional accounts. Make sure that you're continuing to be yourself, just with a more professional edge.
Worried about your business contacts seeing your personal posts on channels like Facebook? Try taking advantage of filters so that only your friends and family can see when you're sharing vacations photos.
You've Stopped Iterating
Social media is a constantly changing landscape and you need to pay attention to ensure what you're posting and where you're posting it is still relevant. HubSpot’s Isabell Hahn says in her article 10 B2B Social Media Strategies That Work For Any Industry that “experimenting with your content is how you figure out your own best practices, which will always be more personalized than industry standards.” You'll also want to make sure you're auditing your social media engagement on a regular basis to ensure that you're still sharing the right information on the right channels at the right times. This is a great opportunity to take note of the channels that have the most engagement and the posts that have driven the most traffic to your website and make sure you're utilizing those channels and types of posts more strategically in the future.
Social media seems like it should be easy, which means that it's easy to skip the strategic thought that goes into making it successful. Creating a great social media strategy that aligns with your overall marketing goals takes time and effort, but it can be incredibly rewarding. If you think you're doing everything right and still not seeing the results you want, schedule a consultation with us! We'd love to do a deep dive into your social and put you on the path to social media success.
