If you’re using social media for business, it can be tough to create consistent content that engages with the people that you want to. You probably have heard the phrase ‘content is king’ more times than you want to, but it is true.
First things first you’ll need to do more than just post. These are my five golden rules to develop a successful social media policy.
- Have a clear idea of who you want to reach and post content that appeals to them.
- Find out where they hang out and engage with them there first. If they like what you’ve got to say they’ll look to follow you on your own pages/profiles.
- Don’t be a broadcast only person. You have to give to receive, be generous with likes, shares and comments.
- Don’t sell at people. An occasional promotion is OK – as long as that’s not all you do. Put real value into your posts and people will want to hear what you have to say.
- Have a schedule. Actively put time in your diary to manage your social media, even 10 minutes a day can make a substantial difference to your visibility and people’s perception of you as an expert.
Content ideas
If you ever wonder what to post, here are a few ideas to get you started.
- Share your knowledge and demonstrate your expertise; give us tips that we can use.
- Tell us what you’re doing, not having lunch, but the latest project you’ve completed, let us know what you can do.
- Let people know if you’ve landed a new contract and celebrate!
- Answer other people’s questions or offer to have a ‘clinic’ for a specified period of time.
- Post testimonials you’ve received – the important bit is the results the client experienced.
- Recommend good books, films, websites, services and products – and why you think they’re good.
- Share interesting articles, blogs, videos and pictures (shrink links) and tell us why they’re interesting.
- Ask questions and get the social community to help you on your journey of discovery!
- Give testimonials. Let the world know when you’ve had great service or a brilliant outcome.
- Take soundbites from your blog articles and add a link for people to read more.
- Promote your courses, new ventures, products – but not too often and don’t just post a sales pitch, communicate your enthusiasm and excitement.
- Be human! Whilst we might not want to know what you’re eating for lunch, sharing triumphs and disasters is fun.
If you get into conversation and respond to other people’s comments, it shouldn’t be a one way street and you’ll build relationships you can take offline.
