Social media continues to be a huge communications opportunity for companies of all sizes and industries.
Making the most of any social channel requires that you offer timely and interesting content, and in a voice that is uniquely yours. This means that your posts, and responses, are consistent in vocabulary, tone, and overall style so that you can build trust and a rapport with your audience.
Your company’s voice should match the larger personality of your brand and attributes. Are you funny or serious? Authoritative or inquisitive? What adjectives do you use to describe situations?
If you don’t have experience creating a company’s voice on social media and aren’t sure where to start, here are a few things to consider:
REFLECT ON YOUR COMPANY OBJECTIVES
Start by thinking about what your company is trying to accomplish, and how social media plays into that strategy. Revisit your employee handbook, pull open your brand guidelines and review other internal tools that capture your messaging. Once you’ve completely refreshed yourself with your company’s core objectives and brand, you’ll be able to move on to the nitty-gritty.
CONSIDER YOUR AUDIENCE
Now that you remember what it is you’re trying to accomplish, you’ll want to determine who your main audience is. Consider where they get their information, what they do with information found on social media, and tie it back into your company’s objectives. If you’re sharing information to get more sales, your voice might sound different than that of a company that is primarily trying to provide information.
Consider what it is that your audience wants to see, and think about what kind of content they are looking for when they land on your social media page.
PERFECT YOUR TONE
Your tone on social media should reflect your tone everywhere else. Is your brand seen as a fun, serious, sarcastic, or informative resource? For some, a sarcastic tone may work well with their audience, for others, those types of posts could cause you to lose followers. This is why we always do research on our audience before we start posting.
Punctuation can also play a role in your company’s online voice. You may want to think about how you’ll format your Instagram captions differently than on Facebook or Twitter. Some companies like their captions to be creative and short, with improper punctuation, but that may not work for you. Don’t forget about whether you’ll want to include emoji’s in posts, or add gifs to responses. Combined, this all sets the tone of your voice.
ALWAYS TRY NEW IDEAS
Like all platforms, social media takes practice. You will want to schedule posts that accomplish different goals and reach different audiences, then evaluate which ones work best for your company.
Be creative when crafting your company’s voice on social media, and keep practicing until you find the perfect fit for your company and its audiences.
Feeling overwhelmed? Don’t worry, 8HIRTYFOUR is here to help! Connect with us if you want a strategic partner to create an up-to-date and measurable strategy that ties to your goals.
