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Photo source: Intersection Consulting (via Flickr) |
So you think that super brands have it easy on social media? Well, think again.
Over the course of my short online career, I've been lucky enough to monitor and look after a number of large and small brands on social media sites.
One thing that's always surprised me is how blown away I get by people getting in contact with the brand I'm representing, uploading a picture, telling a story (but not in a wanky way of course). I love it, and I hope that never changes. If it does, I think it'll be time for a new career.
To me, one of the biggest myths about social media is that bigger brands can just set up a page on Facebook, and immediately start to engage and start conversations that are good for their business, and good for their fans. That is just not true.
You have to work for it, because as much as you know that you should be on social media, your audience will still be slightly cynical of any branded content that you put out there. A page/account is just one of them. You have to become a friend. And how do you do that if you are just one person behind a massive brand?
When I was working at Ministry of Sound, one of the first big lightbulb moments for me was when I started asking questions on the Facebook page. People started to respond, and it was amazing. It still is.
You can have loads of great content on your site, which will feed through to your social platforms without any issues. But frankly, it will look pretty boring unless you actually ask them questions, show them cool stuff, and give them pictures.
Let's say you have 300k people on your page, and you are 'just' a national company.
Can you really have a coherent community of 300k people?
- · They all have different interests
- · They are all from different parts of the country
- · They may not respond to the branded content you are pushing on them
So a one-size-fits-all mentality doesn't mesh well with for a large business. Especially if you have regional bases.
Why not diversify? Why not get smart with offering people info that is hyper-relevant to them? Why not have your work force dedicated to sharing great, useful information rather than just selling your brand?
Your brand will sell itself if you post useful, insightful content and apps.
Think Schweppes, and their useful harnessing of Facebook's new profile layout hype...
You'd be surprised what you get back...
What do you think?