Communication is Key
“Communication is only effective when we communicate in a way that is meaningful to the recipient, not ourselves.”
Today’s blog topic is all about communication with your audience. I find that this, Rich Simmonds quote, best represents the idea of how to go about talking to your audience and actually engaging them. When it comes to social media, what does everyone want? Followers, likes, comments, shared content, etc., right? And this only happens and is effective when the content we as creators or businesses put out there is relatable to said target audience. So today, I am going to touch base on some good tips to help you increase your engagement on social media through better COMMUNICATION!
Let’s talk about what the best way to connect with people is... communication. Doesn’t matter if it is in person, behind a screen, or on the telephone; communication is key to connecting with one another. However, it takes good communication skills to have an influence on their audience. So what are good communication skills for social media? Let me lay it out for ya!
1. Understanding who your audience is.
Age may be just a number, but it is also an important factor in knowing how to communicate with people who follow you. Not to mention these factors of race, sex, and even location. These are the more major key factors to know when attempting to “understanding your audience”.
2. Put yourself in the listener’s shoes.
Ask yourself, “is this something I would pay attention to?” or “what would I do if I saw this post?” Questions like these separate yourself from the message and allow you to think as if you were a part of your audience. It is better to communicate what the audience needs to hear.
3. Be sure to share a message
It is better to make sure your message is clean, concise, and CLEAR to your audience. Don’t get caught up in trying to embellish your content so much just to impress others. That will not get your point across, and instead will just confuse your audience. Simple is better. Less is more. Whatever cliché phrase you need to remind yourself with to make sure you remember that the message you send out is what is most important!
4. Consistency
This goes in hand with “staying on brand,” which I have talked about in previous blog postings. Being consistent with your content and ideas are as important as being consistent with your color schemes, fonts, patterns, logos etc. It is about your brand identity. Without the consistency, it will create more confusion for your audience and that leads to fewer followers… we don’t want that.
5. “Do unto others as you would have unto you”
This is SOOO TRUE and important to follow when it comes to social media. Social media is a community that rewards accounts that authentically interact with other users. Don’t be afraid to comment, share other’s posts, follow new people, get in touch and STAY IN TOUCH! Build that bond and relationship of trust with other accounts and watch your followers roll in like the tide on the shore.
6. Bonus! Hashtags
Don’t be afraid or intimidated to use hashtags! This is all you need to know about them and or the only ones you really ever need to use. You only get to choose 30 when it comes to posting on social media so make them nice and juicy! I will use Monarch Atelier as an example:
Who are you? / Your tagline
#monarchatelier #monarch #transformthroughdesign
Who is Monarch?
#creativebusiness #aggieownedbusiness #smallbusiness #localbusiness
What is your audience looking for? / What does Monarch do?
#digitalmarketing #socialmediamarketing #webdesign #logo #branding #photography
What is this post regarding?
#newlogo #inspiration #transformation #creativeidea #photos #clients #inhousephotographs #monarchworks #new
That is a total of 22 hashtags for a post. Sure, I have 8 more I could come up with, but just because I add those 8 more does not guarantee me more followers. Like #3, short, sweet and simple! Make sure you come up with new ones for each post to keep it relevant and fresh!
Give these tips a try and see not only how much better your content becomes, but also how well people will respond. It will not happen overnight, nothing does. Be patient and it will happen if you stick to it! Comment and let me know if you have questions regarding this topic, how your social media is and or anything else!
This is Monarch, signing off.