Use the 5C’s of social media to help sculpt your brand voice
Social media connects people and companies conversationally, personally and sometimes very intimately. And while it opens up communication between you and your customers in new and exciting ways, it comes with a few challenges too. Have you identified your brand voice on social media? How does your social media voice set you apart from the crowd?
If you’re struggling with your social media voice, begin by looking at your company from your customers’ perspective. What draws us to other people can also draw us to companies, allowing us to connect emotionally rather than with just our credit cards. What do your customers want and need from you in the social media space? What can you give them?
If you follow the 5 C’s of social media, your customers will not only recognize you, they’ll invite you into their social media spaces, which is pretty amazing:
- Culture
- Connection
- Community
- Conversion
- Common Sense
Company culture – how it can define your social media voice
Let your company culture germinate the seeds of what will become your social media voice. Talk to your employees, vendors and customers and ask them what they like best about your company? What makes you and your employees (not your products) stand out from your competition? What words do they associate with you and your employees – quirky and playful, innovative and driven or maybe comfortable and homey?
Dive deep into your company culture and you’ll find the life force of your online voice. As an added bonus, you might also discover where you’re doing an amazing job with culture – and where it needs shoring up.
Connection – why it matters
It’s called social media because it’s, well, social. Connecting with real people is priority number one and it’s the only way to get to the third C – Community. When someone writes a comment on something you’ve posted, respond the same day. Hold contests and giveaways that ask your customers a question. If you sell tabletop décor, for example, ask your community to share a pic of their Thanksgiving centerpiece.
Make an effort to get to know what your community likes, what it needs. If you’re creative with the kinds of questions you ask, you’ll be rewarded with more engagement and eventually more followers.
Community – how to grow one
Creating a business page on Facebook or Instagram is just the first step – social media isn’t a one and done exercise. Your social media channels need consistent feeding and nurturing to grow, which means you need a steady stream of interesting, engaging content. If you’re struggling with content, consider a social media calendar to help you find a publishing cadence you can manage.
A content calendar allows you to plan weeks and months in advance, keeping track of special holidays or sales and roll them seamlessly into your social media updates. It can feel like a big commitment to get started – and it is – but organizing your content will not only save time, it’ll reduce panic attacks in the long run.
Conversion – how to get from connecting to selling…
This where it gets tricky and where many brands fumble. Social media is supposed to be about conversation and connection but consumers also want to know about sales and special offers too. Balancing conversations with selling is hard, but not impossible. Watch other brands you admire and then gently practice with your community. Your sales pitch and product info might be one in ten updates or one in five. It might be every second day on Facebook and every other week on Instagram. An experienced community manager will be able to help you find the right rhythm for your community.
Common Sense – maybe this should be the first C…
I like to think of this one as the sober second thought. While social media revolves around conversations with your community members, you still need a strategy (with clear milestones and goals) managed by someone who knows how to execute with precision. Without goals, how will you know if you’re moving in the right direction?
And when things go wrong on social media, as they sometimes can, you’ll need a crisis plan in place so that you’re not reactive in volatile situations. Along with common sense, why not throw in some creativity, courteousness and consistency…
If you’re struggling with your digital strategy, I’d love to hear your questions and how I can help. Drop a comment below or shoot me an email and let’s start talking.
In the meantime, these posts might help you begin your content marketing journey:
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