‘One size’ doesn’t always fit when it comes to social media

Chelsey Ross

At some point or another, almost every company wonders whether they should jump on the social media bandwagon. The answer is that you absolutely need to, but in our current digital age, the many forms of social media can be overwhelming. If you don’t have a strategy, social media efforts can be a waste of time, effort and sometimes money. There are many different social media platforms that all serve different functions and will show off your brand image differently. You don’t need to have every platform to have social media success, so choose which one best suits your company needs. 

1. Facebook: Facebook has 1 billion users and gives your company the ability to connect with customers through posting about your product or service; answering consumer questions; giving customers the ability to like and share your posts; and tagging you when they buy or use your product or service. You can also use Facebook to advertise. Side ads and sponsored posts can help your company increase sales and recognition of your brand while growing your audience. You can target ads to reach certain demographics, ensuring you reach the right audience for your brand. Facebook also offers businesses analytics to give companies a better understanding of their customers and advertising/marketing choices on the site. Facebook is beneficial for almost any type of business seeing as the demographics of Facebook range from young to older generation. However, organic visibility has greatly diminished for businesses; higher levels of exposure will only come in a paid format through this platform. 

2. Twitter: Twitter has 232 million users and allows your company to communicate with your audience with short messages of 140 characters or less. The more followers you have, the wider audience you will reach. Retweets are a beneficial feature of the site because even if people don’t follow you, they can see your tweets if their followers retweet your posts. Tweet information your audience wants to hear and are interested in, whether that be your website, blog or tips and tricks of your industry. Use relevant hashtags to also attract a bigger audience to your page. Similar to Facebook, you can target a specific audience through advertising using keywords, interests, geographic areas and more. You can also use analytics to measure your Twitter performance. 

3. Instagram: With more than 300 million users, Instagram offers a unique opportunity very different from that of Facebook and Twitter. Images are necessary for Instagram posts and can only be shared from the smart phone app. Tell your company’s story through imagery and connect the image with a post related to the picture. This platform works better for industries that are visual and can tell about their brand through compelling and visually pleasing images. Instagram also uses hashtags and can draw in a larger audience when you use them in your posts. It also gives an option to advertise through the platform. As users are scrolling through their feed, sponsored posts will appear between posts by the people they are following. Advertising through Instagram though is growing, but hasn’t been utilized by as many companies yet when compared to Facebook and Twitter. 

4. Pinterest: With 70 million users, Pinterest is a more unique platform. Pinterest allows you to connect links to images. Users then ‘pin’ the pictures and links that they have interest in, which are then shared with their followers. This is particularly useful for companies that engage their audiences with blog posts, product pages, reviews or specific engaging areas of the website. Pinterest is also visual, requiring images to get users to click on the links. Rather than posts, Pinterest has short sentence blurbs to describe each picture/link combination. When it comes to advertising, your company sponsors a post and Pinterest charges you only when people go to your website through the pin. You can also use analytics to track user engagement. 

5. Snapchat: A newer platform that businesses are starting to use is Snapchat. About 100 million users snap pictures monthly. Snapchat allows you to “snap” a picture or video and share it for three to 10 seconds. Then, it disappears after a user views it. This is a good platform to use if you have a very visual industry that will attract users who want to view your posts. Include the picture or video in your story, which allows all followers to see what is going on. Snapchat is a great way to increase brand recognition, particularly among a younger audience. It offers advertising, which appears as stories in your audiences’ feed. Snapchat is a way to show your brand’s personality, so take advantage of it!  

6. LinkedIn: With 230 million users, LinkedIn in is “Facebook for professionals.” LinkedIn is a way to share your professional development and achievements. Connect with your industry contacts on the site, as well as friends and family that can help you network. The site also offers job opportunities and areas to post things about your brand. There are also groups you can join, which can attract more professionals to link with you company and learn more about your brand. Similar to Facebook, LinkedIn also offers side advertisements and sponsored posts to help get more visibility for your company. 

7. YouTube: Although YouTube doesn’t immediately strike many as a way to promote your brand, videos increase a person’s knowledge of a product by 74 percent. Additionally, YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google! Videos can range from how-to tutorials to staff interviews to informative videos about your product or service. YouTube also offers advertisements as commercials that appear between videos when people are watching. Creating your own YouTube channel allows you to tap into the site’s ever-growing audience while putting your videos to work in other ways (like embedding into e-newsletters and cross-posting on other social media platforms). Analytics are available that can help you track views and demographics, as well. 

Gaining Traction on Twitter

Taylor Childress

Social media is one of the main ways people are getting their careers started, buzzing about their business, landing an interview and so much more. But sometimes, it is hard to gain followers and begin to be successful in the “Social Media World.”

In the social media landscape, Twitter is still one the most-used social media engines by business for activities like recruiting, meeting people, buzzing about an event or pushing out information. So, how do you gain followers? Here are three tips to gain more Twitter followers to make the most impact with your account.

1. Make your profile approachable:

Too often, people have a busy profile picture or too much wording in their bios. That isn’t necessarily bad, but simple is better when it comes to Twitter. Make sure your picture shows your face and isn’t too busy. Try to avoid angles with the picture and keep it square. Some companies like to have their employees use logos or random graphics. Try to steer clear of that so your account isn’t mistaken for spam, which can lead traffic on your page elsewhere. The bio should be clear but still tell who you are with pizzazz. Your bio will help people determine if they want to follow you. So, keep it simple and not too wordy.

2. Tweet and engage often: 

Consistency is key when it comes to any social media outlet, but with Twitter, it is very important when it comes to maintaining and gaining followers. If you don’t tweet often, no one will be interested. Tweet two times a day minimum. Remember to take into consideration the timing of the tweets, as well. If you tweet at 6:30 a.m. that might not be the best time. People are getting ready for work or getting to work and no time for their phone. Tweet around mid-morning, noon and evening. Also, keep in mind that engaging daily with your followers is just as important as how often you tweet. If you’re not talking to or responding to your followers, they will lose interest. Likewise, retweet others’ tweets that you find informative.

3. Hashtags, hashtags, hashtags:

Hashtags are still more important than ever on Twitter. Hashtagging opens up a new door in the social media realm. Monitor what is trending, and if you have something relevant to say on the topic, use the trending hashtag. People will check hashtags all day long and retweet your tweets, which in turn, gains new followers both from within the U.S., as well as from around the world. But, try to not over use the hashtags. Make them relevant and original.

Facebook Hashtags: A Day Late and a Dollar Short

Ali Glemser

In an effort to ride the wave of Twitter’s hashtag craze, Facebook added the ability to use hashtags in status posts last June. How has that worked out for them? Well, how often do you use hashtags in your Facebook posts, or more importantly, how often do you click on hashtags you see used in other Facebook posts? If you answered never or hardly ever, then you would be among the majority of Facebook users.

That’s right. Hashtags have basically been a flop for the social media giant. In fact, certain research has shown that including hashtags in your posts decreases their viral reach. 

Brands are constantly updating content and starting conversations on both platforms, so why are users not interacting with hashtags on Facebook like they do on Twitter? The answer lies in how consumers interact with each platform.

Although Facebook may have millions of conversations taking place at any one moment like Twitter, the platform is designed so those conversations are compartmentalized between friends and fans, whereas a Twitter feed is one long stream of comments, ideas and opinions for any followers to see. For this reason, Twitter users, especially brands, use hashtags to stand out. The more clever or outrageous they are, the better. 

Also, Facebook was founded as a “personal” form of social media, encouraging users to post personal content, like pictures and status updates. Facebook users are less likely to start a conversation with a brand when they visited the platform to see pictures of their infant daughter-in-law or brother who is studying abroad. Brand conversations are easier to digest and participate in on Twitter’s platform because the feed moves faster and includes less personal information.

Needless to say, hashtags lend themselves to Twitter’s fast-paced conversation turnover, more so than Facebook’s feed of family’s photo albums and friends’ status updates. My prediction is we’ll see them fizzle out completely within the next year. So, skip creating witty hashtags for your brand’s Facebook page; instead, spend more time posting content like interesting photos and useful news for your fans to engage with and share.

No Punctuation Marks Were Harmed In Writing This Blog

Thomas Whitehead

During the holidays, I used some of my spare time to catch up on reading anything I could get my hands on – articles, periodicals, books, etc. Of everything I read, an article in the New Republic was probably the most interesting, telling and, possibly the most, alarming story I have read that could greatly impact interpersonal communication for years to come. 

The New Republic published an article discussing how, perhaps, the simplest punctuation mark, the period, has been transformed into a subtext that can indicate anger or disappointment when used in electronic conversations, especially texting. Yes, you read that correctly. A punctuation mark used to finish a declarative sentence (which in itself is merely a “declaration” of a statement) has now entered a place in culture where it, if used, can imply anger or frustration. 

The article indicated that the extra effort (and Twitter real estate) needed in adding a period to a sentence in written electronic communication was intended to imply aggression about the discussion, whereas a punctuation-free sentence (and I hear English teachers asking if this is even possible as I type this) is a casual, care-free zone.

Even further, the stats provided were telling. According to the article, a study by American University found that less than 50 percent of college students use periods at the end of both text messages and online chat conversations. 

Personally, I find this quite disappointing.  Without using punctuation to indicate the end of a thought or statement in written communication, especially when it segues into another statement, I feel that my absorption and understanding of the message becomes difficult to comprehend. It creates a distraction to the flow of how I read what is given to me. I could go on and on about how this is a further destruction of the English language, but instead, I am going to go a different direction. 

The reality is, if this is entering our culture, we have to at least be mindful of it, as well as the messages that periods or no periods can imply when we communicate. 

As communicators, especially those of us who still insist on using periods, we have to be aware, especially with younger audiences, that the period could mean to them that there is anger behind the statement, even if that is not our intent. 

We may not be able to always have people communicate in the ways we want them to, traditional or not.  However, if we are aware of different interpretations that exist in our society, we can strengthen our communication skills for the generations to come See what I mean 

Dos and Don’ts for Twitter

William Young

While tweeting on behalf of a company, there are a few things that I’d like to highlight for you to keep in mind. Social media can be a great tool when used to represent a company in a positive light. However, it is important to recognize the power of a tweet and how 140 characters can shape how the public perceives your brand.  Here we go!
1. Unprofessional tweets can hurt your public perception. Before tweeting about an issue or releasing a statement, you should think about how this represents the company and how it would make you feel about the company if you were a customer. If the tweet requires you to question whether or not you should post it, then there’s a good chance that you should not tweet it.

2. Tweets regarding successes of the company can be beneficial in the public’s eye. Record-breaking numbers and office expansion in new areas are good things to announce. Also, if your company gets ranked at the top of a list, tweeting about it could help show the customer that you are well-known and respected and that the customer can trust your performance.

3. Never get too personal when tweeting from the account of a company. It is good to show customers that you are human and that the brand has a personality. But tweets shouldn’t reflect your individual personality, opinions or biases. I’m sure you want people to take your company seriously, so think about that when you tweet to the public.

Keeping these few key things in mind is essential to the success of your company on this particular platform. Here’s something simple for you to remember, positive tweets can help you and unprofessional tweets can hurt you. Simple as that! 

How are people getting your news?

Crissy Lintner

In the not-too-forgotten “old days,” people got their news from two places: the local newspaper and TV’s nightly newscasts. Now, we have so many places to look for news! Newspapers, magazines, TV, blogs – it’s almost information overload. Well, actually, according to some studies, we seem to be becoming a society of information overload. And now, more than ever, PR pros have to be on their feet because social media is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to breaking news.

Just recently, I was awakened at 2 a.m. by the sound of sirens from police cars and fire trucks. For 10 to 15 minutes solid, sirens were blaring, and it sounded as though they were stopping not too far from my house. The first thing I did was to visit a local TV station’s website on my iPhone, thinking they would have something up about what’s going on that would cause such a ruckus this early in the morning. Then, coming out of my sleepy fog, I remembered that the real place to get breaking news is Twitter!

I switched over to my Twitter account, and initially, didn’t see any information. (I did learn an interesting tidbit about the fact that more people die each year from donkeys than car accidents – who knew?). But within seconds, up popped the gem I was looking for from a local TV station: “Crews on the scene for two-alarm apartment fire at 10800 Steppington in Dallas.” Bingo! I now knew the reason for the sirens, where the fire was located, that the building was unoccupied and eventually got photos from the scene – all within five minutes and without having to get up and turn on the TV. And, I could go back to sleep with my curiosity satiated.

My point is this. If you’re not hooked into Twitter, you should be. And if your client isn’t using Twitter, it probably should be. And if you, PR Pro, are not monitoring what is happening on Twitter, you better be because more and more breaking news is “breaking” on Twitter. So is general chatter – both from reporters and the general public – that could involve a client or give you an opportunity to pitch your client.

While I still very much value the news I get from print and TV outlets, including the wonderful coverage they offer for our many clients, it’s a different type of value. At 2 a.m., I appreciate that I can hop on Twitter and find out what’s happening a few blocks away before the camera crews are on the ground or photographer has made it to the doorstep. During the business day, I appreciate that I can find out that a local news reporter needs a source to discuss how to prevent dog bites (@HSNT1 is the perfect fit!).

This immediacy gives new meaning to breaking news and how it’s reported and when people find out. And if you’re not paying attention, you and your clients could be left behind.

Follow Obsidian on Twitter: @obsidianpr | @obsidiandallas