If you look for advice on how to create buzzing social media you’ll find that the general consensus is to try to offer something of genuine value.
Your aim is to try and create something that people will be entertained or informed by and that way to think of your social media page almost a product or as a service in its own right. The aim is to make a page that people will be excited/eager to check in on.
That’s easy if you have a business in fitness. All you need to do is to regularly post inspiring quotes, workout tips and pictures of people training. Job done!
But what if you work in life insurance? Or accounting? How then are you supposed to come up with a channel that people can relate to?
Being Tangential
In these scenarios, the simple solution is to make a social media page that is not directly about the niche or industry that you’re focused on but rather one that is tangentially related. A great example of this for example might be a company that sells lightbulbs.
Now this is a pretty dull (no pun intended) product and it’s not something people will want to read about every day! But what’s tangentially related here is interior décor. People have lightbulbs in their lamps and lamps are a key part of our decorating.
So, you can therefore create a social media page that’s about decorating. A great example of this would be a Pinterest board where you collect inventive and creative ideas for interior décor. This could include ‘hacks’ for storage or beautiful home-made designs.
Either way, you now have a page that’s filled unique ideas that homeowners might want to check out for inspiration and you’re providing a service. You can this way build a big following, get lots of shares and only then occasionally try and promote your lightbulbs!
Know Your Why
What’s also important is to know the reason that your business exists and what drives it. Why do you do what you do? What is your value proposition and how do you make the world better?
Once you know this, you can find that ‘through line’ that connects your topics. So, for example, if you sell life insurance, your mission statement might be to create happier families. And if that’s your mission statement, then a Facebook page about ‘fun activities for families’ will serve the same end goal and be a perfect marketing strategy!
Why You Need To Know Your ‘Why’ On Social Media
Want to be a big sensation on social media? Then you need to go right back to the basics and ask yourself what it is your business actually does and why it does it.
It is not enough to think of your social campaign in a vacuum. It is not enough to think of it as something separate and distinct from everything else you do. Rather, you need to look at this from the perspective of what you want to achieve and how you’re going to go about doing it…
The Golden Circle
‘Know your why’ is something of a catchphrase that has become popular among businesses and the origin of this lies with Simon Sineks’ talk on ‘The Golden Circle’.
Simon explained in a TED talk that there are three different ‘layers’ to what a business does – an outer, middle and inner ring that make up the golden circle.
That first outer layer is ‘what’ your company does. Maybe you make computers, or you sell insurance. The second middle layer is ‘how’ you do it. Maybe you are a reseller, or a manufacturer. And the final inner layer is why you do it.
Do you do it to make the world a greener and cleaner place? Do you do it because you love futuristic hardware? Do you do it because you believe in small business?
Whatever your reason, this is your driving force, your ethos and your mission statement and this needs to lie at the center of your social media strategy?
So Why?
The answer is simple: people will follow you on social media if they are your fans. That means that they need to identify with your business in a way that goes beyond simply liking your products.
You might find that you use toilet paper from a certain brand a lot of the time and perhaps you like that product. But you won’t be a fan of the company unless you find some deeper meaning behind the toilet paper – like a big push for eco friendliness, or perhaps an ethos of comfort and luxury.
If you want to make fans out of your followers and gain a huge boost in shares and likes as a result, then you need to know what it is that people can identify with about your business and how you’re going to communicate that!
by Donna Stiles | May 30, 2017 | Social Media
