Many professionals don’t know where to start with their social media. What tends to happen is:
- They know they should be doing it but they don’t know what to do (so they do nothing)
- When they do sit down to do it, they may write a post or two, but then it gets left again for days to week to months at a time.
Does this sound familiar?
While many professionals are in this boat, they don’t have to be. They are overthinking it and making it a lot more difficult than it needs to be.
Now, of course, your social media needs to have its own personality, voice and values. But that’s the easy part. You know you, your business and your values. The difficult part is deciding on a strategy and sticking to it so that you have social media posts going out consistently.
To help you decide on the best social media strategy for you and your firm, here are 6 proven methods for you to trial and error:
Are you using social media to promote and boost your company? Do you know how, or are you doing it efficently? Continue reading to see 6 proven methods
1. Visual Strategy
Visual content gets 94% more total views and is now 40% more likely to be shared on social networks. If you can create powerful images that convey the messages you want to push, this is a great way to share content.
Tools that will help: Canva, Unsplash
Used by: Hubspot
2. Inspirational Strategy
Do you have one or two core values that you can focus on? Can you use these to create posts that will inspire your target audience?
If you create your client personas and you have an in-depth knowledge of your audience, you can create content not just about your product/service, but about the greater ideas and values of the product/service. People buy solutions and versions of themselves, rather than the product/service, so think about what inspires them.
Tools that will help: Google AdWords & Facebook (find out their likes and dislikes)
Used by: Red Bull
3. Providing Value Strategy
You know the needs and wants of your target audience, so deliver content that meets those needs. What are you solving for your clients? Do you have any figures you can share? Do you deliver value outside of the main service? What makes you stand apart from your competitors?
If your main value point is exceptional customer service, make sure you’re showing this on your platforms (i.e. responding to all comments/questions).
Tools that will help: Google Analytics (identify trends)
Used by: MailChimp
4. Show (rather than tell) Strategy
If you know who you are and what you stand for, document your values and showcase them throughout your messaging on social media. If part of your mission statement includes something specific such as caring about the environment, getting involved in charity work, or providing exceptional customer service, share real-life examples of this on your channels, specifically YouTube.
Used by: Coca-Cola
5. Case Study Strategy
Digital marketing can be impersonal, so this is a great strategy for making human connections. Can you share the human side of your customers (e.g them using it or how the product/service influences the real lives and relationships of the people who use it)?
Anything that you can share that shows your audience
“others just like you have used us and they are getting the results that you want”
is gold. It makes your audience feel understood and connected with you, both of which are essential for building a relationship with them.
Tools that will help: questionnaires, polls, video testimonials
Used by: Square
6. Culture Strategy
Highlighting the culture of your strategy is great for making that human connection with your audience. By simply showcasing the people that make up the company, your audience will feel like they know you; they know and recognise the people that they talk to in your business, and they may even want to be a part of it.
We‘ve all heard of Google’s quirky office settings with bean bag chairs and foosball tables. Who doesn’t want to be a part of that? If you can document company outings, happy hours, and meetings, you can build a relationship with your audience AND recruit the right talent.
Used by: Intuit, Google
Just Start. Now!
From this list, you probably already have an idea of which strategy makes sense or will work best for your firm. Don’t doubt your decision, just start. Try the strategy for 4-8 weeks and see what response you get. A successful social media strategy is just like any area of marketing. It takes a lot of trial and error and adjustments before you find what works for you.
