By Cassandra Franceschini
In a world flooded by social media and status updates, knowing when to post and what to post can often be overwhelming. Most companies have learned to adapt to the age of social networking, but the ability to communicate the right message is what separates successful campaigns from information overload. So how do get people to follow your message and tune-in to what you are saying? Simple. It is all about relevant content. Let’s break this down. First, look at the platform you are using. Ask yourself if your company or your brand will benefit from a platform like Twitter- with it’s short and to the point messages, or if a visually stimulated platform like Pinterest frames your brand. After you have selected your platform, consider your audience. Your audience will ultimately shape the message and tone of what you are communicating. A message communicated internally for the eyes of your company will take on a subtle yet serious tone, while reaching out to your demographic audience will take on more life and energy. Your demographic audience needs to be addressed properly. Hit them with the type of information that they like to hear in the way they like to hear it. A younger demographic will want things short and to the point, where as an older and more business minded demographic often likes to have the details and supporting facts behind a message. If you are pitching a product, service or promotion to your audience, consider adding value and ROI to your message. Your personal or company brand needs to strategically hit the right audience.
After evaluating your social media platform and audience, then you can get into the meat of it all- the relevant content. We are constantly feeding and pushing content to the mass and distinguishing between too much information and relevant information is a battle consumers are always faced with. Focus on the keywords that you feel are important to your consumers and the branding of your product or company and build around that. If you are communicating a promotion, event or buy-in you want the public to participate in, then focus on keywords that are going to separate your message from your competitors. What value does your company or brand offer in this promotion that your customer can’t get elsewhere. What value will the customer get when participating in your social media campaign? These are very important questions that should be taken into consideration if you are trying to pitch something that requires interaction from the user.
So what is the importance of relevant content? Relevant content adds value to the conversation. Whether you post the content yourself or provide insightful feedback, you are adding depth and insight into a conversation that you are contributing. Adding that type of perspective to a conversation not only adds value, but it also distinguishes you as a trusted source of information. Establishing yourself as a trusted source serves as a huge benefit in a world of information overload.
The important thing to take away is that one must remember that there are numerous competing messages across multiple social media platforms. How to distinguish your brand from the others is not by large and bold font or over-the-top imagery, but content that serves a purpose.
Cassandra Franceschini
Sr. Project Manager, BrightBox
