Top Tip Takeaway: Communications on Social Media

Now more than ever, we’re relying on digital communications to stay in contact.  Social media is an easy and cost-effective way for businesses to get messages out to existing and potential customers.   In times of crisis, it can be a lifeline for businesses looking to quickly and efficiently communicate with all their key stakeholders.  Social media content is:

• Immediate – it enables your key audiences to get up-to-the-minute status reports.
• Engaging – it encourages conversation with key stakeholders through commenting and asking questions
• Share-able – your audience can share information and support your communication efforts.

Here are your top five tips for getting the most out of your social media communications:

• Keep posts clear and concise – use clear, concise signposting within your post to make it easy to read with bulleting.  Keep copy to a minimum and communicate your key message as succinctly as possible.  If you want to link to a longer article with more detailed information, put a link in the post (on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) or in your profile (bio) on Instagram – Linktree is a great tool for sharing multiple links and the basic link service is free.
• Use video – with the quality of smartphone cameras verging on professional, your photography and video can be impactful and high quality.  Consider using video, if you’re not a writer.  The social media algorithms favour it and it’s an engaging way to talk about what you are doing. Looking for an image to illustrate a post? Unsplash.com provides a portfolio of free photography, just put in a photographer credit.
• Use tags and hashtags – tags are a great tool for getting noticed. Tag other businesses you partner with, tag media outlets e.g. @businessname so that they can see what your latest update is and support your communication efforts by sharing relevant content.   Hashtags will enable new customers to find you and your services. Use hashtagify.me to find the right hashtags for your campaign and enable people to find your post.
• Respond to comments on your post – regularly monitoring comments and responding to comments and questions show that you are engaged with your customers.  Think of it as a conversation.
• Branded content - Use an app like Canva to create branded content covers or to superimpose your branding on images and videos.  It’s also great for simple graphic designs.