You have your business set up on social media and you have been blindly posting information. Now you are ready to move forward, to create targeted content and actually reach an audience. Here are 6 tips to stop making generic noise and stand out in the social media crowd.
1. Choose the right platform
The point of using social media is to make an authentic connection with your audience. Not every social media platform will suit your business and it’s better to choose the right platform and put 100% of your effort into doing it well. Now the question is, how do you choose? Knowing the facts is the first step. Here are a few facts for 4 of the biggest platforms.
Facebook
- 1.66 billion monthly active users on average for September 2016 source
- Everyone on Facebook is connected to one another by an average of 3.57 degrees of separation source
- 313 million monthly active users on average as of June 2016 source
- 1 billion unique visits monthly to sites with embedded Tweets source
- 600 million monthly active users on average for September 2016 source
- Instagram is used by 28.8% of brands-a number that is expected to rise to 70.7% by 2017 source
Snapchat
- 150 million daily active users on average for December 2016 source
- Snapchatters watch over 10 billion videos per day source
Now you have an idea of the potential reach of your content. To help you figure out which you should use ask yourself the following questions:
What Platform am I comfortable with?
If you are a small business, start with the platform that you fee the most comfortable with. Once you are feeling more confident, you can expand.
What is the competition using?
Take a look and see whether their social media platforms are working. You can then look for opportunities to improve or for platforms that will work better for your product or service.
What kind of content do I want to produce?
Base your choice of platform based on the content you are planning on producing. Are you creating short videos, images, text?
2. Use Humour
Authentically appealing to your audience is easier to achieve through humour. It is a great way to jazz up a “boring” brand or to create content that is more likely to be shared. Try to relate to current pop culture, use cartoons or a witty punchline. Check out some brands that have it figured out and follow Plan B on Facebook to see the creative ideas that are produced by our very own Hiilite team.
3. Simplify
Your audience is using social media on their downtime. Simplifying the language that you use in your communication will make it easier for the reader to digest. Taking it a step further, using great visuals and videos will be more appealing to your audience. You can always give more details in a blog post, or on your website, but to gain the attention of your reader, you have to keep it concise and to the point.
4. Provide Freebies
You are the expert and you have so much information to give your audience. So give it away freely, no strings attached. Your social network will appreciate learning from you and that makes you a much more desirable brand. Consumers are tired of being ‘marketed at’ they want to consume content they enjoy without being bombarded with sales pitches.
5. Choose Titles Carefully
Grab the attention of your readers with splash words, something that makes an impact. Peak their interest with words such as: best, worst, top, secret, breakthrough, amazing, shocking, facts…
Create urgency and intrigue to engage your audience and encourage them to consume your well thought out content.
6. Consistency
As with everything, consistency is key. We know that as the world of social media becomes louder, competition to be seen through all the noise is getting more difficult. Posting consistently will increase your overall reach to a larger audience. Develop a plan and execute accordingly. Having a regular schedule is easy to achieve with social media management tools.
If you need support in the area of social media, reach out to our team and we can help you create meaningful content for you business!
