It was a formidable challenge. A prominent company in our industry needed help with their social media. When Pipeline took over, they had less than 10 Facebook followers – and that included their own employees! We grew their numbers to more than 2,200 followers, and their numbers continue to grow.
As the number of media outlets in some B2B industries continues to shrink, social media has become an indispensable avenue for making connections and increasing awareness. Social media is all about actively networking – you want potential customers to know your company exists, what you can do for them, and that you’re responsive to their needs. Here are a few tips to help your company succeed in social media.
Concentrate on a few platforms. Don’t try to be all things to all social media; that way lies madness (and sucks up buckets of time). Instead, choose maybe two or three platforms so you can consistently deliver quality content. For our clients, we tend to recommend the Big Three: Facebook (still the biggest by far), Twitter (built for bite-sized news), and LinkedIn (professional crowd pleaser). Instagram is another popular choice, but it relies heavily on visuals that are not always easy for some companies to deliver consistently.
Craft your message for each platform. Twitter only allows for 280 characters, so you need to make every word count. In contrast, Facebook allows 63,206 characters, but that’s way too many words. You can share a more detailed post on Facebook or LinkedIn, but you still want to keep it brief. When you can, link to long-form content, such as a blog on your website. Also, include some sort of visual, such as a photo, video screen grab, infographic, etc.
Engage. Take some time to participate in online discussions. You’ll establish yourself as a trusted member of an online community, which encourages others to engage in your posts as well. Plus, you just might make a new friend or two.
Vary your posts. Your social media feed should be more than product descriptions and sales promotions. What else can you post? Here are some easy ways to add variety:
- Shared content. Social media is about giving your followers something of value, even if it’s from other sources. Share your thoughts on why someone else’s content is important to your audience – and then link to it. You might be surprised at how much engagement you’ll get just by sharing an article.
- Quotes. Inspirational or humorous quotes that are relevant to your audience can be an effective part of your social media strategy. These compact bursts of creativity or introspection can reflect positively on your company. They are also a quick read, which is always important.
- Customer spotlights. Post photos and videos of customers using your products and services. A quick email or phone call can get you all the details to caption the photo for your post, while a slightly longer call might get you enough content for a blog (which you can link to from your post).