Social Media Public Relations
Those who have been in the public relations business for a while can tell you: social media is a moving target. Different platforms appeal to different demographics and diverse generations, and this can change as new platforms become available. On top of that, each platform wants to stay fresh, relevant, and profitable, so they each update and edit their user interface and terms on a frequent basis.
Because of this, a winning social media campaign is going to be, above all else, both fluid and continual. It’s about conversation, an exchange, not the dissemination of information. And that conversation has to be continual to get the most out of it.
With that foundation, here are some fundamental best practices for creating and managing a winning social media campaign.
Tell Good Stories
People love stories. They’re captivating, engaging and can be used to more easily disseminate “sticky” information. Studies have shown that humans tend to remember details when communicated in story form better. The key here is to tell the kind of stories your audience will respond to, and that requires research to better understand your audience before you craft the story.
Media Matters
With social media, the images, video and other media you use can make the difference between users who stop and pay attention and those who just keep scrolling. The fact is, social media is a constant barrage of messages, alerts, and moving parts. A good image helps people focus. Plus, images like memes and infographics can communicate a lot of complicated material or ideas in a single, simple image. Short videos also tend to increase engagement with individual posts.
Focus Your Message Around a Theme
With social media, you need to simplify and focus the ideas you want to communicate, even if those ideas are complicated and wide-ranging. That can be a tough order, but before you launch a social media campaign, look for ways to break up the information into digestible chunks that users can interact with — watch, comment, and share — in less than five minutes. The best way to accomplish this is to focus on a very specific theme for each item in the campaign. Tell part of the bigger story one post at a time.
Invite Response
Don’t leave your audience hanging. Give them a call to action or an incentive to thank them for their time. Create an engaging way to keep the conversation going. One-and-done is not the path to success in social media. You want your audience engaged, and you want to keep them coming back. Social media is set up to help you accomplish this, if you plan your campaign carefully and execute it well.
