Reimagining the way we use social media

In the year 2021, it’s more clear than ever that social media is a necessity for businesses. The coronavirus pandemic affected tons of brand’s. Some companies have had to dive into the digital world of social media marketing for the first time. In October 2020, award-winning social media strategist Christina Jovanna Olivarez hosted a Ted Talk about how the pandemic has reshaped how we view social media personally and professionally. Social media is an ever-changing landscape, but there are a number of foundational marketing pieces that come into focus in Christina’s talk. The key factors she mentions may seem basic, but they have grown in importance significantly since the strategy of marketing has shifted through the pandemic. 

Cultivating a community

If you are a business using social media as a marketing tool for more than just a day, there’s a good likelihood you have some semblance of a community following your brand. If you hope to build and grow that community, it’s important to consistently engage them with the proper content and messaging. In Christina Olivarez’s discussion about reimagining social media, she referenced Sprout Social’s 2020 Social Media Index. 89% of consumers say they’ll purchase products or services that have a consistent social media presence. Therefore, in order to expand your community, the first step is by posting valuable content on a consistent basis so you are always top of mind.

Authentic human connections

Piggy-backing on cultivating a community is making authentic human connections. Posting consistent content is important, but messaging is crucial in this aspect. Messaging is key in understanding how your audience digests content and it should be different on every platform you use. What might be an appropriate message on Facebook may differ from the real-time dynamic of Twitter. One way to create authentic human connections is through Instagram stories. Give your community a look behind the scenes of your business, put faces to names and engage with them as much as possible. In Christina Olivarez’s Ted Talk, she spoke about how a local flea market took advantage of user-generated content to create these kinds of connections. Consumers are 2.4 times more likely to view user-generated content as authentic compared to the content created by brands. Meanwhile, 93 percent of marketers agree that consumers trust content created by customers more than the regular brand content.

Building trust

The third, and final, insight from Christina Olivarez’s Ted Talk is about building trust. Building upon the topic of user-generated content comes the topic of trust. In short, we live in a day in age where people want to know what they’re going to get before they actually get it. 30 percent of millennials alone would not go to a restaurant if their Instagram presence wasn’t significant. The question you have to ask yourself is this - Would anyone be able to trust you or your business based on your social media profile alone? Some simple ways to build trust include sharing high quality content, asking customers to review your company and nurturing interaction on your social channels. In short, you can’t expect consumers to buy what you are selling if you aren’t trustworthy or reputable in your community.

Moving forward...

These three key factors -- cultivating community, making authentic connections and establishing trust -- have become an even larger part of social media marketing in 2021. In working for a university, I’ve found that it’s a unique community to market to around campus. There’s students, faculty, staff, donors, alumni and even potential employees to think about engaging with on social media. There’s a pre-built community of sorts, but within specific colleges are even smaller communities that can be grown through more consistent engagement and messaging that aligns with their voice. When it comes to making authentic connections, student social media takeovers have been successful in engaging the college community on a human level. I think that user-generated content created by alumni or current students doing internships could go a long way in showing the community what jobs are out there for future graduates. When it comes to building trust as the manager of higher education social media accounts, the focus is primarily on putting on accurate, educational and information content that engages all different types of people in the campus community. In all three of these factors discussed, one aspect that is a part of each in consistency. Content consistency is the first step in growing a community, creating connections and building trust.