Remembering Your Mom’s Advice Can Help With Your Social Media Plan.

When launching Digital Labels new website we knew that we needed to have social media links.  Up until that re-brand there was  a major “dragging of the feet” in regards to the social media aspect of the business.  Reasons stemmed from lack of time and energy,  to wondering if there was value in doing it at all.  I’ve always viewed social media as something kids partake in, a virtual way of passing notes in class if you will.  The fact that forty year olds are on Facebook has always perplexed me.   In all honesty, when I was told that I would have the job of  “Head of Social Media” (Okay I just made that title up – rather I would be the chosen one to post stuff online) I was less than thrilled in my having to jump on the Social Train.

We decided to start with the tried and true Twitter and Facebook.  For the first few painful weeks It was difficult to come up with any “Engaging content’ – A term I still have trouble with.  What does “Engaging Content” mean exactly?  Isn’t the word “engaging” relative to the individual? and the word “content” well that could mean just about anything under the sun.

Yes I understand, you want people to be interested in what you have to say… Yes, I get you want people to like you… Yes, I know you want people to interact and talk to you…  And Yes, this all seems like high school all over again!! (scream).

I attempted  to be “Engaging” from posting  baking recipes to cute animal videos (none had anything to do with our business – we print labels for goodness sake.)  After a few pain staking weeks, infused with my daily mantra of “this is stupid” It finally hit me.  Everything that  I was discovering about social media I was taught by my mother as a child.

Now my Mother doesn’t tweet, I’m not even sure if she knows how to turn on a computer, but her simple life lessons growing up  have helped tremendously with putting us on a path to our social media strategy.

My Mama Said…

1.  “Just Be Yourself” – it’s the advice that my Mother gave me when I was entering High School.  The same goes when dealing with Social Media.  People, customers, anyone out there who is listening can tell when you aren’t being genuine.  Find a strategy that works for your business, something that is inherent to your beliefs.  At our company, we print labels and stickers, but we also guide people and help them through an entire process that can be unfamiliar to them.  We like helping people.  So we try and post articles on tips and ideas that will help our customers do what they do better.  We also post examples of really cool labels and packaging from around the world that genuinely inspires us; Things we like, Things we want to be apart of.

2.   “Don’t Brag!”  –   Go on twitter right now and you will see company after company all guilty of doing nothing but bragging and talking about themselves.  It’s as if they don’t know what else to talk about so they fall into a trap of constantly complimenting  themselves.  Yes, Twitter and social media is a great business tool, and great for selling yourself,  but it doesn’t mean that everyone wants to hear how absolutely incredible you are all the time.  Some of my favorite twitter peeps are the ones who talk about other companies, other stories, other points of interest besides themselves.  Talk about how great you are sometimes, but not every  time… Mix it up People!  No one likes a boaster.

3.   “Be Polite!”  Respond to everyone who messages or interacts with you.  Yes, some of them will be trying to sell you something, some of them may be just wanting a friend to talk to, but the way you represent your company on social media, is the way people and customers see your company as a whole.  Don’t be rude.  Seems pretty silly to say, but I’m amazed at some big companies who have these elaborate customer service policies in place and all that seems to go out the window regarding their social media interactions.   It’s strange.  When in doubt: Communicate Communicate Communicate…

4.  “Always Wear Clean Underwear” Okay so I threw this one in here, but you can still take it to mean “Don’t do things to make others think you stink –  represent yourself well”. Watch who you are associating with,  don’t follow accounts who may not be adhering to the vision and philosophies of your company.  Who you  follow can say a lot about who you are too.

Social media isn’t the beast it once was for me.  I’m slowly starting to navigate and find my way.    There is still lots to learn, it’s a work in progress and I’m certainly no expert but considering many successful companies have between five and seven social media outlets (gulp) it’s really time to hop on or be left behind.

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