OK, so you have got an account on all channels? ✔
You are already posting on Facebook and Twitter daily? ✔
Your likes and followers are increasing? ✔
But how valuable do consumers find your content…?
Consumers are demanding more content worth sharing and less updates about NPD according to a recent survey from agency UM. With competition and consumer demand at an all-time high, what exactly does that mean for your content?
Avoid the sales pitch
Nobody appreciates ‘the hard sell’ but it can often be the default setting for brands on social media – especially when you realise you’ve not posted any updates all day and have to cobble something together! It’s worthwhile putting together a content calendar, which plans what you’re going to talk about in advance, meaning you don’t have to fall back on the hard sell. A calendar full of ideas, marked with relevant national holidays, awareness days and key business events makes social media infinitely easier!
We recommend a ratio of 20-80, 20% sales messages and 80% other content.
Think ‘shareable’
Looking back over the last few months of top performing posts and using the tools available on each platform can give you a great insight into what your audience responds to. UM’s survey found that customers want more content that they can share with their friends – it’s all about posts that can represent them as a person and build their personal profile. Good quality third party content, interesting lifestyle blogs and even ‘owned content’ like recipes can be used by brands to act as a soft sales message.
People may be interested to see you’re attending an event or that you’ve changed your recipe and packaging, but it’s important to find the balance between company updates and consumer content that engages and intrigues customers.
It’s not all about memes and quotes
“Shareable content” usually bring forth images of memes and inspirational quotes and while these can often get great results in terms of engagement, if they’re not relevant to your brand they’re essentially pointless. Shareability means reaching the right people; while off-the-wall posts means they may perform well, they won’t have any bottom line impact. Just remember that relevance doesn’t mean that posts must mention a product or brand – it could be that they fit in with a wider lifestyle message or something your company feels strongly about, but always make sure the message you convey isn’t only ever mentioned in the memes.
We’d recommend sticking to a maximum of one or two memes or quotes a month and where possible, you should be creating your own branded graphics too.
Why’s this so important?
All major social platforms now have algorithm based feeds, meaning that consumers see content based on what the social network thinks is valuable to them. This value is determined by things such as likes, shares, hides or unfollows – it’s obvious that giving customers what they want and concentrating on quality content that performs well is vital for social media success.
For a full social media review, training, content management or the full social media package, please don’t hesitate to contact The Food Marketing Expert.