In an age with endless media existing at our fingertips, there’s no escaping brand messaging. For businesses and organizations “in the know”, one tactic that consistently sets them apart (and is likely to continue to) is an ability to portray a consistent, human voice.
Can you identify the last time you personally stopped to read, engage with, or otherwise cared about a branded post on social? Does the tag “sponsored post” make you cringe? Or have you had experiences where you were convinced what the B2B ad you were liking or commenting on, was a normal, run-of-the-mill social post, because it made you laugh or made you think?
Don’t beat yourself up if, looking at your own company or brand’s strategy, you are guilty of the “post and run” strategy of the early ‘00s. Plenty of companies still operate under this capacity, and due to necessity for a product or service, can tend to let it go.
If, on the other hand, you are interested in understanding how to grow a quality audience who is interested in your product and services, over time read on. In this post, we will cover the basics of why B2B clients should consider weaving in authenticity, and even humor, with social media posting strategy. Learn how this can actually boost your credibility among potential customers in the long-run.
A Business With a Funny Bone? Why Humor Can Gain You More Engagement on Social Media
Think about the accounts on your social media channels that you follow with interest. We’re talking about when they post, and you truly look forward to discovering their latest visual, concept, or professional or cultural perspective. Despite the reality that most users of social media can be inspired to follow a given user with minimal effort, this does not mean that everyone who follows actually engages.
What do the brands that generate the most engagement have in common? For starters, they have mastered the process of 1) developing an idea of who they are as a brand and what they stand for, 2) translating this message via digital and social platforms and 3) earning and maintaining support from the virtual audiences that support them and their product because, quite simply, it is entertaining.
Remember now, that the original (and arguably still current) point of social media was to give people places to interact with other people. Remember the first movie you saw in the theater, that actually inserted a car commercial before the previews? Not many of us were thrilled about that. And likewise, this is understandably the way that many on social media feel about those brands and companies that do choose to “play” in this space.
This applies to both advertising and traditional social media posts. Once attached to a business, the expectations for relevance suddenly skyrockets for a social post. This is simply because everyone knows that businesses are not people. And as such, a message that is targeted in one way or another to appear in front of a consumer, much more is expected because this is essentially the “commercial” of the social media feed otherwise.
Essentially the customer is thinking, “Boy. This better be good.” Why disappoint? Stand up to the challenge, but be sure to equip yourself with the right data first.
Tapping Into Your Audience
Topics Your Users Search
Use sentiment analysis to strategize and plan your topics: Simply put, as a business owner or major investor, you have a wealth of data at your disposal. As a result, you should use it! With a simple overview of Google Analytics and the Search Console dashboard, you can easily begin to gauge which types of topics your visitors tend to prefer over others. Use this knowledge to structure your future blog topics, or landing page copy.
Study User Patterns Over Social
What are they talking about on social media – particularly those visitors to your site who visit from one of these channels as a source? You can tap into this by responding to those who engage with your posts, and also following back those within your growing digital community.
Grow Your Network
Receive a like from a follower? Pay it forward and like their next post. Think about featuring followers’ posts, as your own feed features. Everyone loves recognition. And even better, these types of posts mirror the sentiment of your audience, while saving you the time of authoring the post yourself.
As you can see, you can make a little sentiment data go a long way when it comes to informing your social media strategy. In addition, consider using overviews and dashboards of Analytics parameters such as interests and categories to generate future post ideas. You can easily see, for instance, which types of entertainment they prefer to see in their down time. Why not put this information, to structuring posts that will not only inform, but openly entertain and perhaps downright delight?
Above All, Be Genuine
When building a social media posting strategy, stay true to your business’s ideals and share messaging that feels authentic. Don’t force it. Share with integrity, but back it with data. Walking this line can be tough, but critical in cultivating a social presence that grows naturally and flush with engagement. If writing isn’t your strong suit, of if you don’t have time for deep data mining, you can always trust professionals to take care of your social media messaging on your behalf.
Enlist the Help of Professionals
Translating your demographic or categorical data into entertaining social media posts isn’t something everyone has space for while also running their own business. We can help. We’ve worked with all kinds of clientele across a range of industries, so we aren’t kidding when we say we’ve been around the social media block. If structuring post schedules about home renovation or designing infographics about industrial procedures seems like a little more than you need on your plate, we can guarantee we have someone with five ideas or more already in the works.
Let’s get connected! Reach out to us today via phone or email, so we can get started on your next project.