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Is Your Brand Likeable on Social Media?

Just for the record, I'm not actually talking about chalking up the kinds of quantifiable ‘Likes’ that don’t mean much these days. Instead, I'm talking whether your target audience generally likes what you do, what you have to offer and how you get things done.

One thing most businesses seem to agree on right now is that over the last few years, social media marketing has got much harder. This is mostly due to the fact that there’s so much more competition from all corners than ever before, attempting to win over increasingly demanding social media audiences.

So if you’re out to improve your general social media likeability, what represents a good place to start?
1. Be Authentic
The key to building strong and valuable connections often lies in being authentic…being real. The whole point of social media is that it gives you the opportunity to show your customers who you are, as opposed to just what you’re selling. This means building a voice, focusing on the human element and ditching anything salesy from the equation.
2. Mixed Media
It’s been said a thousand times, but the value of mixing the type of content you share via social media cannot be overstated. This includes not only visual content, but also providing links to external sites and sources that your readers will be interested in. Pointing them to other places not directly linked to your brand demonstrates your genuine interest in your specialist subject area, as opposed to just wanting to sell, sell and sell.
3. Purge the Promotional
Your readers do not come to social media to read promotional information. The world ‘social’ is a dead giveaway for what you should be focusing on. Use your website and other marketing channels for selling – social media is for being…well, social!
4. Generate Conversation
Instead of just saying “This is what I think on X, Y and Z”, try asking your readers for their thoughts and opinions. One person leaves a comment, another couple add their voices and before you know it, you’ve got yourself a huge and heated discussion going. Which basically amounts to some of the very best free marketing you could ever ask for.
5. Cross-Platform Content
If you pick up something relevant and interesting from a Facebook conversation, bring it over to your Twitter account. If you strike pure gold at any time on Twitter…well, you can probably figure the rest out. Capitalise on anything of genuine value across as many platforms as possible.
6. Embrace the Negative
Last but not least, don’t fall into the trap of instinctively deleting or ignoring any negative comments that are thrown your way. Instead, respond to them publicly in a manner that shows humility, honest and openness, leaving them right there in the open for all to see. In general, people tend to show huge preference to brands that make mistakes and cheerfully resolve them, as opposed to those that try to pretend they’re perfect.