The world is digital. There have never been more opportunities to connect with your audience online. However, it’s not all about sell, sell, sell. Sometimes it’s just staying on their radar – and doing it better than other brands on their feed.
We think you can do this effectively on your social channels with three simple Cs:
Conversation
Community
Creativity
With so many businesses creating digital content, you’re going to have to try harder. A half-hearted campaign won’t be enough to take people’s attention away from the comedy videos and constant flow of memes.
Here is how you can apply the three Cs:
1. Conversation
It’s your job to keep the conversation flowing. Not just about your product or service though. This is a matter of brand awareness and connecting with existing and potential customers. Sometimes it might be sharing practical tips, but it could be asking their opinion on something relevant to your industry.
Conversation starters you could try also include:
Asking questions
Polls
Giving practical tips
Quizzes
Hosting webinars
Of course, like starting any conversation, it’s important to consider what your audience cares about, and also what’s appropriate for your brand.
The Natural History Museum’s #DidyouKnow is simple, but they know their followers love facts. Plus, that funny-looking creature will stand out on anyone’s feed.
Young Minds want to raise awareness of mental health in young adults. And what better way to do that than get people to consider how they’d respond to a certain question relating to this cause.
2. Community
Think about what your audience care about – and what they don’t. It’s your job to show you understand the challenges they face – as individuals, as a business or as an industry. You want to be the solution, but you also want to show empathy and integrate yourself into the community.
So, what could you do to communicate with your community? Start with introductions. Tell stories that show shared values. This example from Patagonia introduces Sarah without saying anything about their products. ‘A feeling of freedom’ is something that the target audience of adventurers can relate to.
Dove is another brand that does a great job of creating a sense of community. The statistic helps reassure readers that they’re not alone in their experiences. Dove also demonstrate their values by showing what they’re going to do to change the numbers.
But are they any more than just a brand that sells mass-produced products?
This response was too good to not include:
Maybe he’s right, but I think the brand is authentic. It shows real women and talks about the real challenges they face as a community.
3. Creativity
Creativity looks different for different brands.
Sometimes it might be using humour relating to current trends to stay relevant. In Greggs’ case, talking about Love Island:
While for others, it’s about giving their audience ideas on how to save the planet one scrap of wrapping paper at a time. Bird & Blend are a B Corp so it’s a great idea to give people creative ways to reduce, reuse and recycle.
On Twitter, bouncing off other brands works quite well for some as a way of injecting creativity. Also, take a look at the Sour Patch Kids account and you’ll see how good they are at being consistently – well, random.
I could go on with examples of creativity from brands on social. Even though these examples are b2c, it’s a great place to look for inspiration for any brand and understand how to effectively communicate with an audience online. You’ll need to define what creativity looks like for your business and run with it.
One last thing
There is one last C (4Cs didn’t sound as catchy). And it’s commitment. You need to be committed to staying on your audience’s radar. You can’t post sporadically and expect results. Own your space on your follower’s feeds and use every inch of that space to create a connection.
Social is a slow game. You might not see results straight away. Relationships take time to build. One funny tweet probably isn’t going to be enough to make someone buy your product… although for some reason I do really fancy a bacon butty.
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