You’ve heard the expression dance like nobody’s watching? Well generally that’s a pretty good rule to live life by… Have fun, be yourself and let loose with the dancing queen (or king) inside of you. But there’s one exception to this rule… Social media!
Those of you that know me, will know that I live and breathe social networking. My business exists because social media and digital marketing have both allowed me to make my brand visible to clients who would never have found me in the real world. That opportunity is there for you too, but it’s really important when you use social media for business to consider that you are being watched and listened to consistently.
Now, I’m not trying to teach any egg-sucking here, I know many of you will be aware of how important it is to keep your posts, tweets and chats on brand, but it astounds me that big businesses still make mistakes… Check out this list of corporate social media #fails.
Of course there’s good news too! A client of mine recently told me that an international organisation has invited her to join them; she attributes this to her increased LinkedIn influence from long form post publishing, a strategy that we’ve been working on together for just over a year. She had no idea that she was being watched by this organisation until they contacted her… The moral of the story, you never know who is reading your posts. Likes and shares are not the only measure of success, some people may be prohibited from commenting because of the organisation they work within, or they may not want to comment publicly, but they are still watching and listening to you!
Here are my top four tips for maintaining your business or brand identity through your social media channels.
- Separate your public and private profiles:
You can opt to use some channels for business only and some for personal; as an example I use Snapchat for personal use only and LinkedIn purely for business. The only account of mine where you’ll see a wee mix up of private and personal posts is my Instagram account, but that said my KateCoote. business posts are clearly marked with a logo. If you use Facebook keep your private profile for friends and family and your public page for business. - Know your brand voice:
How would you like your business to be perceived? Are you humourous or fairly serious? Are you a large company or a small company? Don’t try to be something you’re not. Will you use we or I in your updates? Keep it consistent throughout. - Say only what you would say in the real world:
I often use this example… Some years ago, I began working with a retail client; prior to my engagement every Facebook post they made began… “New in store…”, they definitely weren’t practicing the art of not selling. When I asked them whether they greeted customers at their physical store with “Look at this, it’s new, buy it!” they were horrified that I could even think such a thing. Your business’ online presence and behaviour should mirror your exacting standards of offline customer service and engagement. - Educate your crew:
A social media policy is critical for all organisations; you likely have an HR policy, a customer service policy. A social media policy will ensure that your employees know your brand voice too.
Kate Coote. can help you develop your brand identity on social media so that you get noticed and get customers. Get in touch.
