My blog posts about mixing personal and professional posts in social networking, even for businesses, always gets the most comments. There are, of course, people who use one site, like Facebook, just for personal posts, and use other sites, like LinkedIn, for professional posts. As I’ve often said, there is no right or wrong way to use the sites; it’s all individual choice.
However, when businesses use social networking to promote their products or services, I firmly advocate mixing in personal posts. This is confusing to some, as we tend to think of “personal” posts to be about a movie we saw, photos of our children, and where we went for dinner.
So, let me clarify: businesses should inject personality into their posts. It’s what makes things interesting. If a company sells widgets and only posts about its widgets, they may be the greatest widgets in the world, but followers get bored…and move on.
However, what if the same company posted about “100 fun and different uses” for their widgets? What if they had a “count the widgets” contest? Do either pertain to what a widget does? No…but it gets people’s attention, which could then lead to someone buying their widgets.
Advertisers have recognized this for years. One of the most popular commercials right now features the cute pig yelling “whee, whee, whee!” The pig has nothing to do with insurance, but the commercial catches people’s attention.
Businesses are turning to social networking to engage customers (and potential customers). A great example is Toyota. On their Facebook Page, they encourage followers to post their “auto-biography” stories about experiences in their Toyotas.
One of my favorites is the M&M’s Page, where people tell why they like M&M’s—and you can find out where to buy the new M&M’s Pretzel candy.
The key to using social media for business is to integrate it with the rest of your marketing efforts. The messages must be consistent across all platforms. You can watch the little piggy cry whee, whee, whee on Geico’s website, on their Facebook page and on their YouTube channel. The pig is cute—but the consistent message is saving money.
It comes down to this: we do business with companies and people we like. Maybe it’s a common interest that we share, we love their advertising, we know they are good corporate citizens or a host of other reasons.
So, give your business a “personality” in your posts to draw people to you—then give them your sales pitch.
Businesses don’t realize that Facebook is like having TV or Radio time. So in order to make a difference or gain some attention, the post must be treated as a commercial. It should include something interesting to get people’s attention. Thank you for reminding business owners the importance of making a post interesting and personal. BTW, I also agree that adding some personal touches, such as family, friend or community interactions, also illustrate indirectly the values of your organization.
Comparing it to TV or radio time is a great analogy…plus, it’s a lot less expensive! Plus, you know that someone “wants” your messages on Facebook because they decided to follow you. Why pass up the opportunity to gently nudge them to work with you? ?
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