Taking over social media: social media posts

To be, or not to be, that is the question. Many companies are starting to use social media channels, but after the initial hype, the number of updates decreases. When the last update wishes Merry Christmas and good luck for the coming year, it is now time to start using social media channels actively again. In the worst-case scenario, the last post from the previous year raises the question of whether the company even exists anymore.

This blog series has two parts: the first part deals with social media strategy and the second part focuses on development and analyses of social media posts.

Planning and developing social media posts

When planning social media posts, it is worth to think about what kind of content interest potential customers. The popularity of video posts is growing, and the topics can vary from the presentation of product or service to staff introduction. Competitions and lotteries, standing favourites in social media, bring a lot of visibility to the company because of the wide range of respondents. However, when organizing competitions, it is important to think whether visibility they bring reaches the customers you want and what the company aims to achieve through the competition. Short fact posts might also interest some followers if the information is new and interesting to the reader.

Likewise, when designing a post one should consider whether the post is intended to be uplifting, entertaining to the reader, useful and interesting, or directly aimed at selling. Often followers are interested in the diversity of posts, meaning the different posts can have different purposes. When thinking of the ultimate purpose of social media, where every user can not only be the recipient of information, but also producer and communicator, it is worth to think how to get people involved in a post by liking, sharing or commenting on it.

Storytelling seems to work extremely well on social media. The benefits and uniqueness of product or service can be described in many ways, through which followers will receive interesting content.

The company as a part of social media communication

When the post is designed and published, there is no need for the company to step back into the shadow. Especially when it comes to participatory posts, it is good to follow, listen and react. You shouldn’t delete negative comments, but rather respond to those honestly and appropriately. This is the way the company is engaged in the rea dialogue with potential customers.

Many companies take advantage of timed posting, which is a working way to keep up the posting rhythm. When it comes to timed posts, the company needs to remember to be present and react, so that the post isn’t left without the company’s attention. The react time is relatively short in social media, and thus active participation is an important part of participatory posts.

Year clock to support communication

With the help of social media year clock, you can make your social media communication systematic and in line with the brand. The year clock includes the publication plan: what, where and how. With a good plan, it is also possible to anticipate and work on the contents of future posts in advance.

Year clock is simply an excel, which is divided by periods for which the posts are planned for the year ahead. The periods depend on the company’s chosen timeline. For some companies, the right rhythm is to post once a day, for some – every couple of weeks works best. The rhythm where posts appear more than two weeks apart is quite unwanted, but of course, every company thinks about the publishing rhythm according to the appropriate content and the resources used. It is, however, good to remember that quantity is not a substitute for quality. The year clock periods also include post themes or preliminary content, as well as the main objectives. There also are excellent commercial year clock solutions for communication planning and monitoring on the market, such as advertising agency Friday Year Clock.

The analysis of the posts is also a part of the year clock: one shouldn’t just post online, but also monitor and analyze the effectiveness of the posts. The markers used can be, for example, the number of followers, the website traffic from different social media channels, or the number of potential customers. The time of posting should also be taken into account: even the most interesting post may not reach the general public if it is published during the morning hours.

There is no single solution for designing and implementing functional posts, but different models work for different companies and different target groups.  The resources, products or services available to the company, the target groups and the social media channels used affect the whole. There is no shortcut to happiness, but by experimenting, analyzing and developing you will find the best recipes.

Have a sunny summer and set social media to sing!

Marika Säisä

EntreFox project manager
Lecturer
Turku University of Applied Sciences