Over the past several weeks, I have been working with a client to redefine her company’s social media presence and engagement across its Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube channels. While the company has been actively sharing content on these platforms for more than two years, it wants to amplify its presence to drive further awareness and engagement among key influencers.
Like other managers often ask when launching – or broadening – their company’s online engagement, my client asked “what should we be doing and what type of content should we be sharing?”
Unlike other traditional marketing tactics where you broadcast your company’s message to an audience, social media is all about engagement. With social media, it is important to share compelling and credible content, but even more importantly, that content should be shared in an authentic, genuine way. Your followers on these social media platforms are human beings who are seeking a human connection with your brand.
I’ve recently noticed the topic of creating “authentic online engagement” trending among a few of my go-to online sites about social media, including Mashable.com. In a post written by Valerie Buckingham, who is the Head of North American Marketing for Nokia, she shared some great advice on how brands can keep social media outreach authentic. Below are the key takeaways:
- Identify a Variety of “Individuals.” In her post, Valerie stresses the importance of having a variety of individuals who work within the company participate in its social media engagement. Leveraging the bench strength of other experts within the company is also one of the recommendations I shared with my client, particularly when developing blog content or participating on LinkedIn. By doing so, it provides the company’s followers with a glimpse into its leadership and culture as they share a “real human perspective” on a topic. Valerie also shared the importance of the “individual” when thinking about your audience, and not to “assume they are a homogeneous mass.” She offered, “as you develop a social communications plan, take into consideration whether this audience is just getting to know your brand or if they are loyal customers.”
- The Importance of Listening. As discussed in countless industry blogs, articles, case studies and at conferences, listening to your audience is essential when it comes to social media. Knowing what interests your audience will help you in the development of meaningful content and engagement. You can learn what is important to them by monitoring discussions about your brand or simply posing a question to capture their feedback. Just be sure to respond back to comments – both positive and negative – with a positive response, to continue to build that authentic engagement.
- “Keeping it Real.” In Valerie’s post, she cited a great example of how KLM studied the social media profiles of travelers who mentioned their KLM flight via Twitter or Foursquare, and developed materials “such as a travel book for the hopelessly lost or a sports watch for the casual runner” to send to these frequent airline travelers. These targeted, custom “random acts of kindness” created some happy travelers who were more than willing to chat about KLM on Twitter. And nothing is better than having customers talk about your brand in an authentically positive manner.
- The Golden Rule. We have seen all too often examples of a brand’s reputation tarnished due to an ill-crafted post, response or remark. Take for instance how Netflix and the public backlash against the price increase and launch of Qwikster. The company leveraged its blog to communicate to consumers about the changes to its service, but failed to articulate how these changes would benefit the consumer. As Valerie points out, it is important to think about what your message means to your audience and how it might be interpreted. All of your efforts to engage authentically with your audience “hinges on what you say next.”
In previous posts, we have touched upon the importance of creating valuable content that connects and engages with your readers. But as we – myself included – continue to follow brands on social media, there is a real desire to feel a human connection with the person who wrote that post, almost as if they wrote it just for me.
Next time when you’re drafting a blog post or sharing an update on Facebook or Twitter, think about crafting it in a way as you would communicate with someone over a cup of coffee. You can still have an intelligent conversation in a casual setting, but your personality typically comes through. And engaging on social media should not be any different.