So you’ve got a Facebook page, Twitter handle, YouTube channel and Pinboard and you’re madly posting, tweeting, uploading and pinning content about your business whenever you find the time. Have you ever stopped to consider exactly what you’re actually trying to achieve for your business?
I work with a lot of businesses who know they need to be doing social media though haven’t really considered the reason why and where it fits in their overall marketing program. Their mindset: “Everyone’s doing it so we should too!”
So before your next post, tweet, pin or upload, here are four questions to ask yourself:
1. Who am I talking to and why would they care?
We all get a little selfish in social media so make sure you put yourself in your customer or potential customer’s shoes and consider who they are and why the content would interest them. It needs to educate or entertain to really gain their attention.
2. What’s the purpose of creating this content?
Are you trying to communicate a message about your brand, help people learn about how to use a product, show that you are the expert in your chosen field, provide a new offer or encourage your customers to share their own content with you? Don’t just post for the hell of it – have a purpose in mind - it will keep you on track.
3. Which platform will I use?
Each social media platform has its ins and outs. Some people prefer to keep on top of breaking news on Twitter and will check into Facebook less frequently for longer form multi-media content. Consider how people use each platform, where your content belongs and how to best optimise it for that specific platform.
4. How will I measure success?
There are a range of tools provided by social media platforms and third parties such as HootSuite or Sprout Social that allow you to measure reach, engagement, views, retweets, shares etc. So make sure you define what you are trying to achieve and use these tools to measure the results.