You can set up a social media account in a few minutes, but finding your social media personality and voice is going to take a little longer. Social media is all about engagement, having conversations and connecting with others, but have you worked out how you are going to come across to your followers?
Will your tone by irreverent and high-spirited? Fun and light-hearted? Cheeky? Provocative? “Hey guys and gals we’ve got a blockbuster of a blog post that will blow your socks away!” “Don’t miss today’s blog which has some valuable tips and tricks for improving your social media voice.”
The above sentiments convey roughly the same message, but what makes them different is their tone. When you are writing online, every comment, post and article reflects on your business, and getting the tone right is of the utmost importance.
Social Media Importance
As social media continues to reach into every aspect of our lives, consumers grow increasingly wary of having their quality online time hijacked by marketing messages and corporations that sound like clones of each other.
Whatever social media voice you develop, trust and credibility are earned by being authentic. Many businesses are now convinced that social media helps to build greater loyalty and purchase intent.
The BRANDfog 2012 CEO, Social Media and Leadership Survey revealed that 89.3% of respondents believed that business leaders who use social media are better able to connect with customers; 71% believed that social media participation improves brand image; and 66.3% said it makes it easier for business leaders to connect with investors. Underlying all of that is a dependable and genuine voice.
Defining Your Tone
Defining and refining your tone is probably going to be a matter of trial and error until you get it right. What works for one company may not work for another. Building a loyal social media following starts with getting your tone right. The following tips will help you to find your voice:
Decide what you are going to talk about – before you launch your campaigns decide on the types of content you are going to write about and the themes and issues you will discuss. In doing this, your personality will start to take shape.
Know who you are talking to – creating the right tone is contingent on knowing exactly who your audience is. If you don’t know your demographics use some of the free social media analytics tools to help you discover things like location, age and gender of your crowd.
Be conversational – social media is a casual medium. Although you must never let your professional standards drop do adopt a friendly, personal and conversational tone. Don’t be stiff and formal. A good tip is to read your posts out loud before hitting the send button. That way you’ll be able to detect whether you sound too official or too casual.
Be consistent – once you have found your tone, stick to it across all of your platforms. Don’t confuse your audience by adopting different personas on Facebook, Twitter and your blog.
Find your own voice – do look to see how others are doing it on social media to see what is working and what isn’t, but don’t copy them. Develop your own unique voice and style.
Have Fun
There’s no need to spend hours thinking about this. Just envisage how you would talk to customers if they were standing in front of you. Let that be your guide. And remember to keep it interesting. Nobody is going to stick around if you are boring people to tears.
From MavSocial | Social Media Marketing Software for Business
