We all know now that “social” is here to stay. Most people are social, with profiles on social networking sites, but is your organization social?
Are you still pushing out information as a one way dialogue (you to the consumer)? Do your marketing and communication efforts only include traditional one-way advertising (print, broadcast, direct mail)? Are you speaking AT people instead of WITH them?
Organizations must be social to compete. Here’s a few tips to ensure your organization is social.
Printed materials
Are your materials, website and other promotional pieces full of stuffy, traditional corporate speak? Change them. Lose the jargon and write copy that people can understand and will want to share. Add social networking graphics while you’re at it. Seems like a no-brainer, but I see lots of companies who skip this step. How else will someone know to follow you?
Content
Consumers want content. And not your latest product promotion. They want information that is useful to them:
- 5 tips to save on gas
- What you should be doing in your 30s to save for retirement
- How to organize your house, one room at a time
- How to eat healthy, one step at a time
Now, what do you do with your content? Read on…
Share
All the great content you are creating? Don’t forget to share it. Everywhere. And re-purpose it. The same content can be revised for a consumer press release, newsletter article, website content, Facebook post, YouTube video…and all the above.
Be considerate
When using social media, be mindful of others. Don’t “post dump” five Facebook updates or 12 tweets, all in a row. And don’t post anything you wouldn’t want on a billboard (that’s a good rule of thumb for using any electronic media). Don’t just talk about yourself. You wouldn’t walk into a party and only talk about you, would you? Because nobody likes that guy.
Monitor and Listen
Monitoring and listening go hand in hand. Monitor you keywords and the name of your organization. For example, someone posting on twitter may not know your organization’s twitter handle, so they’ll just mention your name. Make sure you are alerted and can reply. Pay attention to what your audience, your competitors and your peers are saying. You can pick up a good tip or two, just by sitting back and listening.
Engage
Offer insight. A joke. Answer a question that has nothing to do with your organization or the industry. Respond. This is especially important if someone is asking your organization a question. If you don’t know the answer, just say so. Transparency is key in today’s digital environment.
One Kansas Girl 