4 Steps to Reset Your Social Media
Whether you’re a social media pro or not, 2020 has rewritten quite a few of the long-standing social media rules. Now more than ever, companies are asking their social media representatives to do more than post a funny photo on National Coffee Day. Brands are Expected to take stances, be intensely transparent about their culture, and loosen the reigns around how they interact with their online community. The B2B space on social media hasn’t been immune to these changes, and there are four facets of your social media you should consider refreshing as this incredible, and challenging, year comes to a close.
Rethink Your Voice (or make sure you have one to start with).
If your firm’s marketing team hasn’t reviewed key messaging and voice for social media in a while, or ever, start there. Where to begin? Take a look at your analytics with a deep dive into who is following you and create a high-level persona for each network where you have a presence. Are your followers industry peers, colleagues, or former clients? Find out and develop a strategy to communicate with each group. Social media is often written in a general voice to appeal to anyone who might scroll by, but the strongest voices know who they’re talking to. Spend the necessary time to learn who your followers are. Consider the resources and content they are interested in to help you build your relationship with them.
Are You Everywhere You Want to Be?
A common misconception is that your business should have representation on every social media network. But should you really? I tell my clients to first look at their industry and identify which networks have the most activity and shared information. Consider, where are your clients the most active? What about your vendors or future employees? In B2B, LinkedIn – which grew to almost 700 million users in 2020 – is where professionals want to interact. The platform has added numerous new features to provide opportunities to form connections.
So, what do you do with that dormant Twitter account that hasn’t tweeted since 2017? Let it go or invest the time to develop a strategy to give it purpose. Do a social media audit to identify all active social media accounts and then decide where your brand can make the most impact. Be where your future clients and industry community are so you can be part of the collective conversation.
Get Graphic.
A recurring trend that shows no signs of slowing down is nostalgia. As we’ve become comfortable Zooming in slippers this year, social media became a place to rediscover vintage TV shows, share childhood photos, and relive small comforting memories of the past. It’s a sweet reminder that social media can be a place of connection, not just a marketplace or where you debate family members about politics. That said, nostalgic is not how you should feel about your graphics for social media. Are you using that same frame, color palette, or Canva template from 2018? Break free! While you should thread your branding through everything you produce, social media is where you can experiment, try out new ideas, and have fun with your brand. Need to prove it to your team? Build a creative campaign and test your audience (poll them directly if you want to) with some new graphics and track the response. It might just help unlock a new part of your content strategy or lead to refreshing your firm’s digital identity. This will help keep you top of mind help maintain connection.
Create, Click, and Share.
Videos, Reels, TikTok, and IG Live are just a few of the ways you can host fireside chats or hold a conference this year. Visual content is the content that network algorithms are putting their weight behind, and users can’t get enough. For some marketers, creating video content is daunting unless they have the right tools and access to projects or people to interview. What’s a social media manager to do? Hubspot and Talkwalker just released their “2021 Social Media Trends Report” reporting user-generated content drives 28% more engagement than standard brand-led content. Marketers predict that “remixing” content with music, artful editing, and sharing content from clients, employees, and industry organizations will dominate in 2021. Remixing makes it easier to plan your calendar as static content (photos or infographics) can be converted into video with simple apps. Social media etiquette obviously dictates that you collaborate and give the original creators credit to keep your community growing and your reputation squeaky clean.
Refresh and Reset.
Along with these suggestions for elevating your social media strategy going into the new year, the biggest online lesson is that being transparent, human, and honest is paramount to building a loyal and active community. There’s a lot of misinformation and confusion online in every industry. Users want to support firms and brands that celebrate their company culture and have a mission that clearly drives every project they take on.
Each of these recommendations provides an opportunity to reflect on your strategy and look for new opportunities to expand your brand awareness through social media.