Organically Conquering Social Media

For any growing business, social media is key to gain awareness and build a brand. And I'm not talking about creating a Finsta or tweeting like Wendy's. For those who are unaware, a finsta is a secondary, usually private account, where the content may not be as curated as their main account. Meanwhile Wendy's has gone viral several times for their unfiltered responses on their Twitter account (As shown in the header photo). What these examples do show is how organic content on social media can increase consumer engagement. Compared to traditional forms of advertising where posts are paid, boosted, or sponsored to increase engagement, an organic social media strategy can make just as big of an impact!

Beyond Building a Brand

Organizations should start at organic posts before moving on to paid social posts with simple tactics as replying to comments or creating original posts. A reading from my Branding course, "Putting the Relationship Back into CRM", went into detail on the ways Customer Relationship Management can improve that are tied to natural social media posts. One of the main takeaways was to get to know customers as people, thinking beyond loyalty, and taking responsibility for relationships that are 2-way. Creating content that attracts, engages, & delights users, replying to comments, reviews, or concerns consistently can make all the difference in building an engaged community online. These relationships will in turn benefit your organization as happy consumers will become your biggest advocates.

Finding the Value in a Social Media Strategy

Connecting with your target segments in a way that goes beyond numbers is the greatest value social media marketing offers. With the endless amount of platforms available to engage with consumers, several sites have started up in order help organizations manage their social media presence. Two examples are HootSuite and Sprout Social, both sites that help organizations manage, create, and post content from one site. These management tools can help with monitoring and engagement efforts with features that include publishing content & campaigns, reporting and analyzing, keyword filtering, and more. Shit That I Knit does a great job of keeping their platforms consistent and integrated with one another. The home page is clean and easy to navigate, shortly below the initial page there is a Instagram Feed that takes you to their account with some of the recent posts. There are many call to actions that feel organic such as their blog posts and newsletter sign ups, examples posted below. They use of their company name is incorporated in other aspects of the site with the reuse of 'sh*t' in tag lines. The consistency and offering of other content leads users to find value in STIK that goes beyond purchasing a hat.

Take Aways

Now that you are aware of the powers of an organic social media strategy, you can go out and conquer every platform out there! Things to keep in mind as you develop your strategies:

Stay consistent and relevant with organic contentHave your market clearly defined so you can best speak to their interests!Aim to build meaningful relationships