8 Things I’ve Learnt Looking After Social Media Channels

In the past couple of months I’ve had the opportunity to create social media plans for some of our clients at Magenta. They may not all have been posted but it has given me great practice, and realised the game of social media – although sometimes tedious it is not all that easy. It’s all about speaking to your stakeholders, and from the perspective of consumer PR, it’s mostly speaking to your customers or potential customers.

1.     Adding to the noise – there’s a lot of it

I think it’s always important to keep things in perspective, and when it comes to the Internet it can be difficult. So you’re one in a million who are posting another “TGIF” or a “Mondays suck” post, but I generally think that it’s better to concentrate on your USP rather than casting a wider more generic net.

2.     Know your audience

Knowing your audience means knowing what they’re interested in, what they want to see, what they care about. I have been assisting on the Linneys social media channels, and it’s interesting to see that without fail a plain high-resolution product image will always garner many more likes than a photo of a beautiful landscape or celebrity. 

3.     Understand your platform

I’m still very much moving along the learning curve for this one. Instagram is all about the photo of course, and less about the caption. Whilst Facebook is a great medium to share more in-depth information. I consider myself social media literate, but sometimes I’m still unsure of the best social media practice – like the utility of hashtags? #whatsthepoint

4.     Original content is king

It’s under stable that there is not always a budget to be posting original beautiful and captivating images that people haven’t seen posted five times before. I mean that’s what tumblr is basically for. But I think it’s the best way to stand out from the crowd.

5.     Stay true to the voice of your company

This has been a difficult one for me. I’m naturally a casual person who never posts anything serious on social media. I’m also not the target market for many of the clients we represent. So, it’s pretty challenging sometimes to step into the shoes of a brand and be able to genuinely speak in that voice. I think referring to key words of the brand, like: fashionable, stylish, luxurious, classic. This helps to guide your content. I may not quite in the market for an engagement ring or pearl necklace…but if I were what would I want to see?

6.     Be relatable

Why does @thefatjewish Instagram have 5.1 million followers? Why does a simple post about high school rack up 172,000 likes? Yes it’s really funny but it’s funny because it’s something people relate to. I know that the general public sees PR to be brainwashing or spin but if you can speak to some truth, it will always resonate with people.

Be kind to the Asian guy in your high school, he'll probably hire you later. (Unless he drives a yellow Mitsubishi and gels his hair, you don't have to be nice to him)

A photo posted by thefatjewish (@thefatjewish) on Jun 30, 2015 at 9:16am PDT

Ahahhahahaha she's 2 and so much more baller than we are (laughter turns into sobbing)

A photo posted by thefatjewish (@thefatjewish) on Jun 29, 2015 at 4:27pm PDT

7. Quality can be more than quantity

Perhaps you don’t see a direct correlation with a post of a piece of jewellery to the immediate sales. But when the time comes to buy a wedding band, where will your customer go? I know it’s traditionally how PR is measured. But having a strong quality in followers means you have stronger brand loyalty.

8. Timing is key

There are peak times, and off times. So I know that new media is 24/7 and information can be reached to consumers at any time, but there are Internet versions of prime time television. For example afternoons when people are likely to be checking their phones are popular hours. The more people see a post, the more effective it is likely to be. Re: Fast Company for some cute graphics and interesting info on social media timing.