Business content for social media platforms

Im continuing my series on ideas for content for social media platforms which a lot of companies struggle to keep up the momentum.......hope it helps

Your Product

A company producing a product can talk about the ingredients used making the product.  The processes that are used in making the product.  Take photos of your product being made.  Your followers will enjoy seeing photos of how your product is produced.  If it is a food product, your followers will enjoy seeing different creations. 

Competition

You can run competitions to engage your customers.  Run a competition on how long a product takes to make, what weight a product is, what ingredients are in the product.  You can offer to print the winners name in your next newsletter and offer a little prize. 

Share

A great way to engage with your audience is to share relevant content from other sources including articles, web links or videos.  I am currently looking after the content from St Albans Credit Union and often share links from ‘The Money Advice Service’, ABCUL-Association of British Credit Unions Ltd and ‘Which’.  Find interesting content from other sources to share with your audience.  They will know you are working hard to keep your content engaging.

Sports and National Events

Try and engage your audience and talk about major sports and national events. Ask them for their opinion. 

Content for business on social networks

Series continued on content companies can use for their social networks....

Many companies find it difficult to come up with content continuously for their social networks. In my last 2 blog posts I have given some suggestions. These are some more......

Photos
Take some photos of you or your staff carrying out your services. Remember 'a picture tells a thousand words'. Take a photo of one of your staff with a happy customer leaving your business, impressed with what your business has done for them. Ask your customers who pass through your door to follow you on Facebook and Twitter and to let people know what they thought of your product or service.

New Customers
Tell everyone about the number of new customers you have acquired in the last few weeks, months or year. If you are having an improvement meeting with your staff, why not ask your followers what they would like to see improved. Is it delivery time, more expert advice, better customer service or more new products.

Thought Leader
Make sure you are a 'thought leader' in your area of expertise, keep up to date with what is going on in your industry and tell your followers about it. Let them know what you think of the last developments; How you think they will impact your industry? Will prices increase? Will services levels be affected by the changes? Will some products or services become obsolete? Tell your followers about books you are reading, apps you like and YouTube videos relevant to your industry

Continued..Content for Social Media Platforms

Im continuing my suggestions for content on social media platforms today.  Here are some more ideas...

Your Standards

Tell your customers regularly about the standards you conform to.  Do you have higher standards than other companies offering the same service e.g when I decided to do a social media course, there were many being offered but few who were certified by the Chartered Institute of Marketing. Are there professional organisations or standards authorities that your products or services adhere to?

How your followers can get in touch

Tell your followers about the steps they should follow when they avail of your services?  Tell them who they should call, email or visit? Give your phone number, email address, and physical locations out regularly.

Changes in your business

Tell followers if you are making changes in your business.  You may be moving premises, launching your products on Amazon, setting up a new computer system, taking on new staff.  Whatever it is, let your followers know about it.  You may be adding new products to your repertoire.  You may be in the middle of writing a book.  These are exciting events for your followers to know about.  You can build up a buzz about certain events.  Businesses now have to be a lot more transparent.  If they are transparent, customers will help them through the times when they are adapting to change and will be patient.

Personal sign off

Whoever posts content on your Facebook or Twitter page, should sign off with their name so people feel connected to a human being rather than a ‘company page’.  Your SOCIAL media channels are there for that reason, to get social.  You want to try and build up a relationship with your followers.  You want your followers to think of you or your company when they decide to purchase a service such as yours.

Daily stories

In any day there will be stories your customers will tell, your staff will tell you, events of the day, news of the day, news in your industry, something you want to offer your customers. It doesn’t always have to be about the business. It can be about a customer who has had a personal or business success such as a new baby a new job or a new business start up.  It could be about the Royal Baby or other National events of importance. Make it personal if you can, not always about the business!

What to talk about on Social Media Platforms

BUSINESS CONTENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS – WHAT CAN YOU TALK ABOUT?

Over the next few days, I am going to telling you my suggestions for content on Social Media Platforms. Here are today's suggestions.....

‘I have nothing to say!’

When I ask companies about their social media profiles, many tell me, yes, they have their accounts set up but they don’t really know what to say?  So I ask them to write down exactly what they do during the day in their business...it’s  a bit like when you go to weight watchers and you have to write down everything you eat, and only then you realise EVERYTHING you do eat.  When you write down what a typical day is in your business, you will soon realise EVERYTHING you and your staff do in a day. 

A list of services

Tell your followers about the services you offer? A follower may know about one part of your business but may not know about any of the other services you offer.  Talk about these services again and again so potential customers realise what you do offer them .

Your Team

Tell your followers regularly who your team is. Let your customers know who their ‘go to’ person in the company is for different services?  Tell followers how your reward your team.  Tell them when you do actually reward a team member for great service. Take a photo of these moments and post them on your Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn Pages.

Golden Moments

When you receive an award, a great review, a customer testimonial , your staff complete training, you reached a milestone in your business, whether it is so many customers, you’ve sold so many products or services, share this with your followers. This all builds a profile of your business in the eyes of your potential customers.

Community Support

Tell your followers what community support you provide.  Show your social conscience, whether that it simply offering advice to local community organisations, providing professional services to charitable organisations, raising money for a local or national cause, or getting involved in local and national initiatives.

Try Social Media - Its just another communication channel!

Recently I sent out a simple questionnaire to some companies I am connected to on LinkedIn to get an idea on how organisations feel about social media and whether it is useful for their business.

I have learned and studied a lot about how companies need to have a Social Media Strategy when deciding to set up their social media channels as it is so time and resource intensive. I also know a lot of companies who have set up their social media accounts thinking they have now completed the task and put it in a box, forgetting that being 'Social' means actually interacting with their audience.  They need to realise they are now only at the social media starting blocks! 

The main social media platforms mentioned by companies in my reseach were LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and blogging.  One  company had a clear strategy when setting up their social media channels, whereas for most companies it was a case of trial and error and realising they should have a ‘presence’ on these platforms

Asking what specific objectives companies had when setting up their social media channels, the following were listed

·         Market their business and skills

·         Increase in membership

·         To give something to prospective clients so they will want to contact the company

·         Build up professional Network

·         Advertising the company for free as no budget for paid advertising

·         Building up an overall awareness and presence

·         To have a certain number of followers by a certain date

·         To have a certain number of connections by a certain date

·         To have a regular minimum monthly blog presence

·         To use LinkedIn as a networking tool, to create a large network so others would notice the company and make contact

·         Keep the company in the minds of their audience so they will recommend to friends

·         To have a captive audience when the company want to send out any special deals

Generally companies felt they had met the ‘presence’ objective by setting up their social media channels but felt they were not using social media to its full capacity.  Companies also struggled to keep up the momentum with blogging and tweeting.  

On a positive note companies felt they now had a captive audience so they could share up to date news or offers with their customers.   There was a strong feeling that you have to keep up regular contact with your audience to stay in their minds

The majority of companies said social media had positively affected their business but there was a feeling they were not using it to its full potential to get peoples reviews, experience and recommendations.

When asked for some useful advice to give to other companies, I got some good practical tips.....

·         Go on a course to save time in trying to get it right yourself

·         Set weekly tasks, stick to them and maintain a regular feed to your channels

·         Decide what you want to achieve

·         Look at the resources you have before you start

·         Decide on the type of content you want to share with your audience

·         Keep your profile up to date as much as possible

·         Build up your network as quickly as possible

·         Don’t be scared of social media, give it a try and get going

·         Try it – It is just another communication channel

I want to thank those who took part in my reseach and to those who didn't, my next research project is coming down the tracks!

Thanks for reading.  Give me a call on 00 44 7594 969529 or email me marian@flourishwithsocialmedia.co.uk