My head has been full with thoughts about where we’re at with social media now and I could talk about my ponderings and ideas for days. So I’m going to focus on one of the main points I’ve been thinking about: with the ever changing features and functions of social networks and platforms, shiny new developments, massive increase in the number of people creating good content and the quest for award winning content, what really matters for effective social?
‘Relevant content’ is a phrase that bores me to death but I think that’s because it’s been so overused the meaning has become diluted to include many a rationale for the gazillions of posts and ideas that are published. But this is what makes for effective social.
But, before we can get to the creation of ‘relevant content’ we need to know who it’s relevant for. A major group of the ‘who’ is your existing online community and you may have a sense of who they are … but do you really know who they are?
And do you know what they actually want to hear from you on social … have you asked them?
Have you also asked them how they would like to use your social channels?
And do they know who you or your community managers are? Have they seen your diligent and resilient digital assets who are the very people representing your brand and who are often the only immediate connection to someone at your business?
These are questions that have been around since the dawn of communities but I feel their importance have been smothered by epic photos, gifs, memes, videos, quotes and other wonderful things we get to play with in the social media world. That’s not to say these other great functions aren’t just as important. They are so let’s allow them to perform at their very best when used to give the people they’re intended for what they want.
#justsaying