Removing the Politics from Your Social Media
I had a recent conversation with a longtime friend of mine who had inquired into what advice I might have for someone who used Facebook to promote her business. The problem she was running into was she wanted to be able to continue accessing Facebook to post on her business page, but she was running into one continuous problem. Yes, you guessed it – a barrage of political posts.
It has been a crazy several weeks following a crazy several months as politics was on the forefront of everyone’s minds this year. Whether it was arguing about state questions or debating political policies or sharing disagreements about preferred candidates, people have been exposed to the worst social media has to offer. And, just like my friend, they are frustrated with having to see it.
The problem for many is they are exposed to a constant barrage of political rhetoric whether they want it or not. My friend, along with many others, just want to be able to post on their social media business pages without having to accidentally notice a post bashing their beliefs.
As we have often advised many of those who inquire as to our social media management work, a combination of social media sites is preferred by those who are considering working with a business. Because of this, we have always recommended not just using one social media site but at least three – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And it goes without saying, you just can’t pretend you are actually growing your business if you aren’t using at least one social media platform. It is 2016.
The benefit of Twitter is there are a great number of users, and the general public scours it frequently for a variety of reasons. The downside of Twitter is that it is easy to get lost in the all the posting that takes place on the popular social media site. Frequent posting can help with this, but it does require lots of content and attention.
Instagram is great for photos, which we always recommend. Especially if you are having a photo contest, Instagram can be effective if you strategize it correctly. But mostly, Instagram is something you want just to appease the younger audiences.
Last, but certainly not least, is Facebook, the elder of the social media sites. Facebook pulls in all age groups, and especially those who are the decision-makers and money-spenders in the business world. Say what you want about millennials taking over the job market, but they still rank well below the other generations when it comes to contributing positively to our economy.
So, yes, it can be tough to market your company on social media these days, given all the political rhetoric going on. Which is why it is important for businesses, large or small, to avoid the distractions and the concerns with what is on social media. That is what we are here for, and our phones and email servers work great. Contact us and we will get started not only managing your pages but also putting together a social media strategy that will build your business. And that is a stance we can all agree on.
