The PR theatrics of social media
Creating the illusion
Think of your social media account as a theatrical performance. It’s you representing everything that you have and are. What may seem like an innocuous little side post still contributes to your public image and, if it’s a bit of a damp squib, it is a missed opportunity to contribute to the construction of an enduringly positive profile. Here we take a brief look at some of the basics.
Make your first impression count
Increasingly, social media platforms have become the first place that consumers become aware of a business or organisation. It is from there that people will choose whether to click onto your website and explore the rest of your content. For this reason, you need to make sure that visitors to your social media pages see posts which engage them as soon as they land on it. This is why its important to posts regularly and relevantly. The more you post, the more visibility and engagement you will achieve, so consistency is key.
Use vibrant and relevant images
You rarely encounter a theatre performance that isn’t accompanied by some eye-catching backdrops. Many people respond to visual cues as a default setting. If something catches their eye, they are more likely to pay attention to it. However, this doesn’t mean that you don’t have to put much thought into it. Make sure that images are relevant to the main theme of your content. It is said that a picture can says a thousand words, and there is a lot of wisdom in this. Selecting the wrong image can completely turn people off, as they may not think that your post is relevant or interesting enough if the imagery is off point.
Learn your lines
Why is a social media strategy important? If social media is the stage, PR is the performance. Regardless of which of the social platforms you decide to use to display your public profile, it is important that you don’t treat it as an afterthought or optional aside. If your business depends on publicity, it isn’t something that you can afford to pick up and put down as and when you feel you have time. Even if your business doesn’t depend on publicity, you still want to generate a positive brand image. If you don’t stick to a strategy, you’ll soon realise that you don’t know your lines. It is advisable to utilise a number of platforms to post your blogs, articles, product descriptions etc, however, each platform requires a slightly different approach, and it will serve you well to spend more time educating yourself on the best type of layout for each platform. For example, using plenty of hashtags on Instagram but not on Facebook. Think of your strategy as a script, and learn your lines well.
Stick to the script
It is hugely beneficial to have a concrete discourse stencil to provide consistency across posts and in response to interactions. (See our previous blog for more information on the dos and don’ts of dealing with tricky situations on social media). This acts as your script. You need to have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve and how you are going to incorporate your ethos, as well as your skills, products and services, into your posts.
Inject some drama
As we know, more emotive post titles and headings engage more people. It’s just the way the world works. Whilst we would advise against negativity, as this frames your organisation in an adverse light, it is good to get people thinking about how things affect them. A good way of doing this is to ask questions of your audience. ‘What do you think of this?’, ‘How do you do x, y and z?’. Another way is to create a bit of drama with the questions you pose, ‘Are you running out of time to……?’, ‘Are you ready for……..?’. This requires the reader to ask questions of themselves and their needs, allowing you to then provide the necessary information to answer that and promote your service or product.
Is your strategy working?
Critical to the success of your social media performance is fine tuning your posts to the specifics of each platform. We will look at this in more detail in a forthcoming blog. It is critical however to get acquainted with social media metrics. This will ensure you are posting with purpose and getting the results you want. They will link your performance directly to the social media goals in your strategy. Every goal will have a corresponding metric with which you can track your progress. These can be located in your website analytics. The social media platforms themselves also have their own analytics section for you to browse. But why do you need to do this? It is very simple really, as software experts sproutsocial explain, “Social media metrics are important because they prove you can measure how successful a campaign is, how well your social strategy is performing, and ultimately if you will have an impact on your overall business”.
Fortunately, here at Bishop Communications, we have already done the legwork for you and can offer a comprehensive social media strategy, with definable goals and useful analysis. For more information, please feel free to contact us.
