No doubt, you’ve heard before that you need to be sharing “valuable content” on social media. But real question: when you scroll your feed, is “value” the first thing that comes to your mind?
I’m betting not.
Today’s average social media scroll is stressful. Whether you feel like there are too many opinions or too many grabs for a moment of your attention, the majority of posts made contradict the name of the medium itself:
social (companionship of others) media (means of communication)
Companionship + Communication. (Pssst – that doesn’t say sales and marketing.)
Sales and marketing are a very important part of any growing organization — but even important parts don’t work when they aren’t put in the right place.
Your website, inbox, and email campaigns are a great avenue for exerting sales and marketing energy. But don’t waste the platform that’s intended to bring your brand’s mission and personality to life by being overly sales-driven.
To make it easier to remember, here are the 5 E’s that should be the backbone of any solid social media strategy:
ENGAGE
It’s possible to be professional and personal at the same time — and that’s what social media should be. Look at your posts and ask yourself – does this look like information for an audience, or does it create connection with a person? Social media content should look more like a conversation than a presentation.
ENCOURAGE
Knowing that scrolling is stressful for a lot of social media users, your post might be the only “break” they get. You’ve heard it before: people don’t care what you know until they know that you care. So use your social media feed to care by creating content that edifies and builds up.
EDUCATE
What questions are you getting asked behind-the-scenes? Answer them publicly! What have you learned that has helped you? Share it! What question are you so passionate about answering that if someone asked you that question, you’d stop whatever you were doing to answer it? Say it again. The popularity of podcasts are proof that people love to learn, so don’t hold back from sharing lessons and skills that have helped you grow.
EXAMPLE
Story is the easiest way to help the human brain make sense of information. Whenever possible, share examples of your brand in action. Tell your customers stories. Remind customers where your brand began. By pulling them into the story, you make them a part of it.
ENTERTAIN
Humor is one of the easiest ways to go from acquaintance to friend. Laughter expedites connection. Laughing at the same things proves we “get” each other in a real way. So whenever possible, lighten their feed, laugh together, and deepen the connection.
