Are you selling a product or service and using social media to do so? If you are, you may also be wondering why you are getting lackluster results on these platforms from your current content. Social media is a platform about “being social.” Simply selling your products or services with self-serving content will never get you beyond your loyal followers. If you want to reach out beyond existing clients, you need to learn four lessons that many media companies already know.
Actual Content
If you want to engage people in an effort for them to take a real interest in your company, you need to produce actual content. Content that is not simply about extolling the virtues of your product or service. The truth is, most of the time, people on social media are not looking to buy, so you need instead to engage them.
You need to captivate your audience with interesting content. What most companies do not realize is that this content does not have to be about their products. If you look at some of the best content from companies, the content is about real adventures, actual human stories and their number of followers shows the proof of the concept.
Stick To It
If you look at the best storytellers among companies on social media, they provide a consistent story, support it with engaging content and even sponsor events and activities to further the story. Red Bull is a classic example. Their many adventurous stories about human abilities in the extreme only marginally touch on their product as an “energy drink.” However to the audience, a clear association can be drawn. Yet in their social media posts, there is no need to hammer home their product, because they have become interesting to their audience.
Find a storyline and develop it over years, not weeks, not a campaign or even months. Develop a quality storyline that you can engage, explore and delve deep with your audience. As long as it is within range of your actual products or services, it will connect much better than simply selling yourself through social media.
Politically Correct Incorrectness
Do not be a band-waggoner. In other words do not instantly hop on relevant social topics in order to be heard in the conversation. If you consistently hop on topics after they have become the story, you will simply be seen as a follower, not a leader. Take a stand on issues important to your demographics and present your stance eloquently and tactfully. Whether your audience agrees with you or not, being on one side before a big story makes an impact on your audience.
Be Real
Similar to taking a stand, being “real” means providing content that supports who you are as a company. Do not just stand up for something; ensure that your ethics are consistent. You need to gain your audience’s trust, if you ever lose it, it will take a lot longer to gain it again. In other words, create real content that shows who you are and what you stand for. Do not simply throw up content that you do not believe in or find expedient. If you are authentic and provide content supporting that, people will listen.
Media companies have learned these lessons; companies that do not and continue selling themselves through social media will continue to fail to gain organic traffic on those mediums.
