How to generate a better commitment for your company
Stories predate television, the Internet, and social media, but they are a huge part of the modern marketing landscape. Social media is, or should be, a big part of your marketing strategy, no matter what line of business you are in.
Storytelling on social media can increase your reach and brand awareness and help you gain new followers. However, there is a lot of noise out there.
If you don’t attract attention, your message will be lost in a sea of competing messages.
When trying to connect and engage with our followers, customers, and potential customers, it is essential to remember that we are not talking to people or simply posting products or services.
Think of this as an opportunity to narrate your brand, to start a conversation about who you are and what you offer.
Here are three tips to help you incorporate storytelling into your social media marketing strategy:
Tip No. # 1: be human
People will connect with people first, not brands. Share what is happening in your world with your followers, what you are learning and what excites you. Reinforce your brand message, your mission and what you stand for.
The public is smart and can tell when a brand is inauthentic in its posts. We have recently been engaging our eVision audience with questions and based on the response we received, it is a fun and genuine way to learn more about our fans while promoting our business.
With that said, just share the things you want the whole world to know! Once you post something, it will be available for everyone to see, take photos and share, so make sure it is well thought out and appropriate.
Tip No. # 2: create value
Your creativity must have an intention, which is not necessarily to generate leads or sales. Think of ways to inform, entertain, or surprise your audience.
Provide people with unique and interesting content such as blog posts, articles, infographics, videos, or e-books on platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
Offering resources is one of the best ways to attract attention and followers. Inviting your community to be a part of your brand is an ideal way to engage them with your resources.
For example, if you are an accountant trying to increase your online presence and engagement, you can ask your followers to share their top reasons for hiring someone else to do your taxes.
Ask them to tag their responses with #taxhelp or #relaxingnottaxing or something smarter and shorter.
If you don’t have many fans, you will need to gain more followers by sharing relevant content from your industry, engaging with people, and finding relevant users to follow.
Here’s an example from a brand that got it right: Lululemon with their #justmymat campaign. It started with a woman doing yoga in different settings in an Instagram brand video. As a result, thousands of followers uploaded photos and videos of themselves practicing yoga around the world while using the campaign’s hashtag.
Tip No. 3: show, don’t tell
Telling your brand story doesn’t have to mean writing a ton of text. Images and videos can be a great way to capture the essence of your brand. Some platforms focus on images (Pinterest and Instagram, for example).
Even the ones that haven’t made changes to facilitate storytelling on social media, with more opportunities for photos, videos, and albums.
If you’re not sure where to get images from, do a little research on design apps and sites that allow you to use your own images or templates and backgrounds to create engaging posts for the various social platforms.
There are so many ways to tell a story that best reflects your brand, your business, and you! You don’t have to take on the world of Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter on your own.