There are many goals and objectives for your brand’s social media strategy: establish brand identity and awareness, generate brand buzz, gain a loyal group of followers, and direct more people to your website. You want to do so by being relevant and interesting. At E-ging, we have clients in all industries and recognize it might be harder to do this when your industry is considered “technical.” Coming from an industry that we feel is a challenge to market via social media, we feel your pain and want to provide you with some tips to help!
1. Diversify your platforms
A lot of times people equate “social media” with Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, but there are so many other platforms! Try using Google +, Instagram, and Pinterest to build upon and maximize your social media presence. Of course, with different platforms, your approach isn’t always the same! Keep reading to find out some ways to use these platforms.
2. Use Instagram to Show AND Tell
Instagram is a photo (and now video) sharing platform that allows you to use different filters to enhance your photos. Instagram can help with your brand by showing your company behind the scenes. One of the goals of your social media strategy should be to add personality to your brand and Instagram is a way to do that! Show employees out there working and helping a hand. Take pictures of your innovative products. Why not ask your followers to share pictures of the ways in which your products are being used or how they help them using an established hashtag?
3. Pinning for Success
Pinterest can help your brand in a variety of ways. It can serve as an online catalog of your products. You can photos and articles of your products in action. Establish yourself as an expert by creating boards of relevant articles and blog posts that you think your followers would want to read related to your industry – it’s also a good way to gain traffic for your company blog! Pinterest is very visual. You can also pin quotes and images of what inspires your innovation.
4. Beyond Instagram and Pinterest – Use Photos
Have you ever looked at your Twitter feed and noticed that photos take up more space? You want to be recognized and stand out on someone’s timeline. Try tweeting photos as much as possible. People also love infographics – data presented in visual form. The same applies for Facebook – people are more drawn to visuals.
5. Google+ Presence
Establishing a presence on Google+ is crucial for SEO and search results. What’s neat about this platform is that you can segment your followers into circles which allow you to target your content to a specific group rather than everyone. Create or join communities of like people where information is shared that you may find helpful, and generate more relevant interaction.
6. Use Humor Wherever You Can
In a previous post, Patrick Hayslett wrote about how humor fits into your content marketing strategy. At E-ging, we like to tweet our #BadTranslation of the day. It’s hard to find humor in the language services industry, but why not show that we’re human and make light of a situation. We’ve started to have followers tweet pictures of this translation fails from around the world, and it creates a fun, light conversation! How can you incorporate humor into your strategy?
7. Incorporate Games and Contests
No matter what age, people like games and contests. Developing a trivia game with the hashtag #TriviaTuesday will get people to interact with you. Ask questions about your company history or services offered. You can shout out the winners, as people love mentions and retweets. Offer prizes if you want to, but it’s not always necessary.
8. Post Relevant Information
Become an expert! Scour the internet for articles related to your industry that will help your followers arrive at solutions. Tweet, post, pin and share your company and guest blog posts across different platforms.
9. #Hashtags
Find the relevant hashtags within your industry and use them. For us, we try to use #xl8, #l10n and others. Not only do they give you more room to tweet, but they also connect you with a smaller community within Twitter. Instagram uses hashtags, too, without a character limit. If you’re at a conference or trade show, use the hashtag to get involved in the backchannel conversation. You can even start a social media campaign, as General Electric did with their #GEInstaWalk providing a visual tour of some of their facilities.
10. Interact!
Most of these tips given are designed to generate buzz and excitement around your brand which in turn creates interaction. Once you have accumulated followers who are reaching out to you, don’t ignore them!
The biggest and most important tip of all is to have fun! There is no “one size fits all” approach to social media – try out different ideas and find the ones that work best for you!
