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Social Media Marketing Should Reflect Your Culture

At Savoir Faire, we prefer a refined approach to social media rather than the “Keep hittin’ ’em over the head!” approach.

Last month, my stepfather remarked that this was the first time he heard of May 4 being referred to as “Star Wars Day.” Where has he been? My social feeds were inundated with Wookie memes, Vader puns and the hashtag #maythefourthbewithyou — something I’ve become accustomed to seeing for the last several years.

Then I remembered my stepdad is not on social media at all, so he hasn’t been exposed to what was once clever — and now is overshared noise.

If your company did a Star Wars Day post this year, I hope it tied directly to your brand. A playful photo of two managers in the lunchroom battling it out with cardboard tube lightsabers, perhaps?

If all you did was share the same ol’ Yoda pic with the line, “Be with You, May the Fourth,” well, congratulations, you added more static to the noise.

Being timely on social media can be a best practice for businesses. However, attention to content is very important if you want to maintain or grow the confidence level of your customers and prospects. We oversee social media marketing posting for several of our clients and we post regularly on our own channels. Having personality that reflects your brand and your culture is key, so here are some questions to ask yourself when determining what to post on social:

Who is Your Audience?

One of our clients is a B2B manufacturer. Our posts for that client focus on:

  • Their specialities – Here’s why you should partner with us.
  • Innovations in technology – We know what’s happening in your industry.
  • Answering questions – We can help with your pain points!
  • The occasional achievement of a team member.

The aforementioned Yoda post would be a no-go for this client.

Does the Theme of the Post Align with My Brand?

It’s been a relatively quick leap from being brave to jumping on the bandwagon. This month, if you’ve visited a business, hit an ATM, logged onto social media or peered at any screen, you’ve tasted the rainbow. Gay Pride Month marketing is everywhere this year. Every.Where.

I strolled through the mall a week ago and there was rainbow-colored signage in many a store window. For a moment, my pride soared. The 12-year-old version of me would have loved to see LGBTQ representation at such a mainstream level.

But, then I thought, “What does Spencer Gifts have to do with Pride month?” “Why is my bank’s ATM using a rainbow to encourage me to open an IRA?” “Why is this blatant cultural appropriation being tolerated?”

It’s not. Folks on Twitter are in an uproar of some businesses who have jumped on the Pride Month bandwagon, despite having policies or stances that are decidedly not pro-gay throughout the year. Just slapping a rainbow on merchandise this year has backfired.

OK, I’m almost off of the soapbox. The point is, customers are savvier than you might think. If a rainbow-themed ad raises my eyebrows, I will do my due diligence and research to find out if that company is putting its money where it’s marketing is. If it’s just a timely way to attract eyeballs with pretty colors and you don’t really believe in equality, you are not getting my dollar — and I’m going to share why, likely on social media.

What are My Results?

We’ve used a megaphone repeatedly to remind you to audit your marketing efforts on a regular basis. We do it for our customers and we do it internally, too. By measuring our in-house social media efforts, we discovered that Twitter was a great spot to share quick notions about the marketing industry, while Facebook garnered more engagements with posts that demonstrated the personality of our team.

(That said, I had to be reigned in a bit when I was posting too much about pets and the horror genre — two of my personal interests — when the posts were becoming less relevant to our company brand and target audience.)

For our clients, we do a regular analysis to see what types of posts and messages are engaging, and we do a deep dive into analytics each quarter. Just as Google’s algorithms keep changing without warning, the same happens for social, so we adjust our strategy rather than keep on doing the same ol’ thing.

As the summer holidays approach and you get tempted to post about the Fourth of July and Labor Day, be mindful about your audience and message. Oh, and May the Fourth be with you.

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