Social media is an insatiable beast. Feeding it requires constant creation or acquisition of content. Combine the short life of a post with the continuous demand for more and it is little wonder that lapses of judgment happen to even the savviest marketers.
Updates can take on a life of their own. In marketers’ dreams, an update will go viral, bringing new customers and more revenue to their company. In reality, the updates that go viral are usually faux pas that require risk management. To prevent the mistakes and encourage the benefits, ask the following questions before posting original content or sharing updates from others:
- Does the content fill a need? If the content solves a problem for your customers, provides appropriate entertainment, or helps your community understand more about your company’s products and services, then it has passed the first test.
- Is the content appropriate for our community? Alienating customers and prospects is easy when content is inappropriate. Unless you are a pundit, sharing thoughts with your community on controversial topics is a bad idea. Your opinions are none of your their business.
- Will the content move our organization forward? If the content doesn’t help acquire customers, keep them coming back, increase sales, or improve service, think twice before posting. Your company is in business to profitably acquire and retain customers. Anything else is a waste of resources.
- How do we measure success? Creating expectations for each update insures that your marketing team will be focused on the right priorities. Social activity needs to be accountable. It is okay to have posts that are fun and conversational on occasion because they show customers and prospects the human side of your business. Posting them continuously with no regard to return is irresponsible.
- Where is the best place to share this information? Every platform has a personality and value system. Choosing the best place to share information increases exposure and return. The planning that goes into the process makes it more likely that your company’s social activity will generate a return on investment.
I think you are right on with the questions and hopefully the answers to them fit the needs of the person reading this post. I have done both and have found the right avenues for placing my comments and or questions in certain communities that do help my business. I also show my human side, people online have to know that you are a REAL person on the other end of the monitor and I think that is one of the most important things to share with them. Thank you for the list and tips!