Why Social Media Doesn’t Work Unless You Have a Well-Rounded Presence
Many businesses get into social media just because they have to. Everyone else is doing it, and if you don’t, then you’re afraid you’re going to get left behind. Sometimes, people get web sites, social media pages and blogs just for this reason. They want to look like they’re at the forefront of their industry and keeping up with the trends when the truth is that they just think of it as another chore that must be done if they want to keep on selling their product or service.
Instead, you have to think of the internet as an exciting medium which can help you grow and develop your business in ways that you hadn’t thought of before. Social media can play an important role in this because it’s a great way to get your name out there. However, social media doesn't work if you just use it to advertise yourself in a conventional way on your Facebook or Twitter pages.
Traditional Media and Social Media
When people flip through magazines, they are given a combination of information and advertisements. They’re not just given a bunch of advertisements. There are also articles in there and reportage which appeals to them. The same is true of newspapers and even TV. When you watch TV, you’re usually watching a show which happens to be interspersed with advertising. So the entire time that you spend watching TV is not devoted to advertisements. If it were, no one would watch TV at all.
Now think about your Facebook page or your tweets. Are they just advertisements for your brand? Or are they giving your customers real information about things that they might be interested in? If they’re just advertisements, then it’s quite possible that your customers are going to get bored quickly. But if you intersperse self-promotion with comments or articles about other things that are relevant to your product, then you’re more likely to hold your customer’s attention.
Possible Topics for Social Media Posts
You can use social media to talk about various things, from the latest developments in your field to the history of your product. You can relate your product to popular culture or to classic literature. You can even acknowledge your competitors and congratulate them, thus showing how magnanimous you are. You can acknowledge companies you work with and give them the credit they deserve. Your aim is to gather more friends and followers, but you also want to have a rounded appearance so that you’re not merely selling yourself. Contact us for more information on the various ways of using the social media platform.
By: Lauralie Ezra
