Creating effective business social media not just fluff!

I keep hearing people mentioning the F-word when it comes to social media!?

Fluff!

When they think of social media, their mental image is of endless cat videos, and teenagers sharing their version of the latest dance routine.

So, when you talk about your company’s social media it may be written off as the fluff that their teenager at home could create, but at The Thinking Cap we know that?effective business social media is not the same.

Social media channels such as TikTok and Instagram may have a reputation for being fun and, well, social… but this doesn’t mean that they’re not places where businesses thrive – in fact quite the opposite is true.?

There are huge opportunities for companies to market themselves to new audiences and play to their strengths using an effective business social media accounts.

The strength of effective business social media

The people who think that social media is all fluff have missed the importance of it as a marketing channel.

The fact that social media is a more fun, informal channel gives a unique platform for businesses to show their company culture and show ‘behind the scenes’ insights into the life of the business.

The messaging and the tone of voice used on a company’s social media may well be very different to that which you read on their website or in advertising materials.?

But when used well, effective business social media can be an extension of the company’s brand, and often gives much more recent updates and information than their website.

So how can a company use their social media well, and avoid being open to accusations of producing only fluff?

Value vs. fluff

Your business social media needs to weigh up how much of what you produce is bringing value or adding fluff.

Bringing value…

The best way to bring value with effective business social media is to make sure that it is incorporated into a company’s overall digital strategy.

Your digital strategy includes website content, blogs, downloads, landing pages, offers, event management, advertisements… the list goes on.

And your company’s social media will bring value if it’s offering similar content and is integrated with all of the above elements, keeping it relevant and on-brand.

Often a great way to do this is to actually recycle content that has been used elsewhere within the business.

You may have produced a vlog with some ‘top tips’ which could be turned into a social media caption or a section in your company newsletter, whilst short clips from the video footage itself could be used to make a great TikTok video.

Or perhaps a post that performed well earlier this year could be reposted on another platform, adapting it to suit the audience there, so that it brings similar engagement again.

Creating good social media content takes a lot of effort, so don’t feel you need to start from scratch every time but repurpose the good stuff into a new channel.

…and adding some fluff

It may surprise you to hear that at The Thinking Cap we’re not totally anti-fluff.

But what are we actually talking about when we say the word fluff in relation to social media?

By fluff we mean the very informal, often amusing things we see on social media, whether it’s a meme or a video, or an update from someone’s personal life.

Fluff can be frustrating on social media, when your feed is clogged with things that aren’t relevant to you, and that you never thought you’d see when you followed a certain page because you didn’t expect them to post something that wasn’t relevant to their brand.

So why do we think that fluff can still have value?

Because it doesn’t have to be irrelevant and frustrating.

There can be a middle ground where you show the personal side of your company by sharing a funny meme about your industry or a silly video about your product.

But the key is that it can’t be meaningless fluff; it has to be relevant to your company and your brand.

The algorithms which govern social media are often based upon engagement; the more that users engage with your content, the more people it’ll be shown to – and if you’re making them smile, they’re bound to spend longer on your posts and share them.

So, if it takes some fluffy content to get the engagement going, that can only mean good things for people viewing your business more widely – if the fluff that they’ve seen is something that drives them to your company, rather than being completely irrelevant.

You can read more about how to avoid meaningless fluff in our April blog , where we dive into more of the details of how to be strategic with your social media.

The key to knowing the balance of value vs fluff is to use both in the right amounts. It’s all about connecting with your audience, and if sharing a funny video is the way to do this, then go ahead and do it!?

How can The Thinking Cap help with effective business social media?

You may have read this article and thought, ‘that’s helpful, but I’m not sure where to start’.

That’s where we come in.

We’re a husband and wife team with years of experience in social media.?

We offer a huge range of services to our clients from writing content and spotting social media trends to directing videos and managing exhibition stands.

If it’s anything to do with your content creation and social media, we can help!

Why not take a look at our content workshops, which will help you to manage your online content so that in time your business is able to do this internally?

Or if you’d like to talk to us for help tailored to the specific needs of your company, we’d love to hear from you. Book in a call today and we’ll be delighted to help to you work out the perfect value to fluff ratio for your effective business social media.