Google ‘Social Media’. According to Wikipedia:
Social media are interactive computer-mediated technologies that facilitate the creation or sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks
Nothing in that definition said advertising.
Yet, we businesses & entrepreneurs treat social media as an avenue to spam. Businesses are told to talk about themselves every day – to get attention.
And in real life, how do we feel about people who only talk about themselves?
Two answers:
- Crazy
- Unpleasant
Oh no, what should I do?
First, understand why people go on social media. Let’s take Facebook as an example.
- They are bored and looking to kill time.
- To be informed. Facebook is now the news portal.
- See updates from their friends, enemies & sometimes, brands.
- To feel involved. (2,500 of your friends are on Facebook, why aren’t you?)
Not many actually log on Facebook with the thought, ‘Oh yes, I’m going to buy something in the next 15 minutes’, right?
Second, satisfy them.
So what can satisfy someone who is bored, looking to kill time and want to get involved?
Content that entertains, inform, teaches, or inspires.
Here are a few ideas for businesses.
- Create content that people generally like. Use Buzzsumo to find out.
- Create content that people search for. Google autocomplete tells you a lot. (See below)
- Focus on UGC (user-generated content). Brands that talk/share about their customers? People love it!
Find out what people are searching for, then create content to satisfy their questions.
Go Pro talks about their users, which then indirectly showcases their cameras.
So what are you going to post today?
Thought of the day: Did you know that there is an ad for every 4 posts on your Facebook newsfeed? (Go on, try it.)
Nobody does social media better than my friend, Joseph, a social media strategist who helps brands like Netflix, Kiehl’s & Converse increase their brand narrative and sales with social media, and in one case last week, a business to increase sales by over 100% – just by tweaking their social media content.
This week, I’ve invited him to teach social media to business. You can register for the webinar here, free: https://www.digitalkit.org/social-state-of-mind/
