Does your company have a website? Most likely, the answer is yes.
Have you linked that website to your social media channels? For example, is it easy for visitors to find you on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram? Do you have a Pinterest board? Are you active on LinkedIn or Google+? Have you created an employer profile on Glassdoor? Do you publish a lively blog?
The reach of social media spans globally, and you probably have noticed your employees, future employees and customers are interacting daily – even hourly – on this zooming platform.
Social media says you are present and responsive
While it isn't necessarily necessary to be active on all of the social media channels, it is imperative that those that you have joined and on which you have posted a profile are well managed and responsive.
For example, if you launched a Facebook page, you will want to ensure you have placed a professional cover photo that is welcoming. It should inspire the visitor to want to learn more about your product or service, and even office culture. As well, use the profile picture space as an opportunity to further personalize the site with your logo or perhaps a photo of a company's key representative or owner.
Social media says you have an open-door policy
In addition to the visual image set-up on many social sites, you will want to complete their 'About' page to showcase important contact information such as your phone number and website. Operating hours are a nice value-add, particularly for those enterprises with specific, repeatable hours of operation. If you are a destination location, including a map locator is helpful, as well.
If you have reviews or testimonials enabled, then monitor those reviews for activity. Positive reviews add to your credibility. If and when a negative review arrives, act swiftly to respond and if possible, resolve.
Make it easy for your clients to post a review of your business by including your social media URLs on communications with them (emails, business cards, etc.). If you sell a product or provide a service that allows you to share success stories about clients, then with their permission, tag those clients in narrative or visuals that you publish online. This encourages conversation and keeps you top of mind.
Moreover, streams like Twitter can be a hub for individuals to proclaim solidarity with a company's brand, as well as to earmark companies or their reps who have offended them in some way. By establishing a presence and monitoring your feed, you can respond and assuage negative situations as well as empower and extend more positive conversations.
LinkedIn's venue is an opportunity for individual employees, from front-line to executive to display a positive corporate story through robust summaries and testimonials, extending the message.
Social media says you have personality
Make your visitors smile through humor. As well, include informative, educational posts that teach about your product or service or some aspect of how your product or service integrates in the betterment of their lives or for society as a whole.
Social media says you have workplace culture
Bring visitors into the halls of your offices through video and photo blogs to illustrate your work culture. Showcase their styles and individual personalities and how those personalities add value to their customers. Feature your employees – and their clients – regularly to shine a light on the people who matter within and beyond the walls of your organization.
Social media says you are consistent
Post regularly and reliably, and again, respond to folks who post on your site.
Social media says you are current
Whether you are a startup tech company or an established manufacturing organization, you should maintain a modern and fresh message across all media.
Outdated websites, dusty Facebook pages, incomplete LinkedIn profiles or absence from social media altogether speaks volumes about your capacity to stay current with trends and strategies. This can disempower your ability to attract new clients and potential candidates actively engaged in job search.
With many of the social media channels sharing similar traits such as interactive real-time news feeds, it is important to ensure consistency across those feeds. However, while you may feel tempted to concurrently post the same content across various feeds, don't. Or, at least resist making this a habit.
So many subscribers are checking in to multiple channels and the duplication of content will be seen as sloppy or lazy. While repurposing content across channels isn't altogether a bad thing, keep in mind how you can better re-frame or space those shares.
