Is your social media messaging on point?
Food for thought: Businesses bounce between dozens of engagements every day.
Post. notes. DM. For some brands, it’s a constant back-and-forth.
But given how fast social com can move, it’s easy to overlook what you say and how you say it.
The thing is, even the smallest of messages you publish can have a big impact on your audience. From the values of your brand to the value your business provides, you can’t ignore your social media messaging.
In this guide, we’ll cover why social media messaging is so important and best practices for interacting with customers.
What is social media messaging?
Social media messaging refers to how you communicate with your social audience (think: followers, fans, customers and prospects).
There are two main elements of social media messaging:
- How to communicate your voice, values and insights to customers Specific for your social presence
- How do you deliver the messages above
Think about how you talk to customers, it can vary so much from channel to channel. Chances are there is some overlap between your social followers, email list, and organic traffic. That said, each of these audiences has different levels of awareness and familiarity with your brand.
Also consider that social media messaging differs completely from platform to platform. For example, Instagram and TikTok lend themselves to short-form, off-the-cuff communication that is informal. This is in contrast to communicating customer service through “professional” channels such as LinkedIn or Twitter or Facebook.
Social media messaging also includes the social media features you use to communicate with your audience. It also includes:
- positions
- caption
- Comments (and comment threads)
- DMs and Private Messages
Social Media Messaging vs Marketing Messaging vs Brand Voice
Many marketers confuse the concept of social messaging with marketing messaging or brand voice.
reality? These represent three completely different (but equally important) pieces of your company’s communications strategy.
Before we break down social media messaging best practices, let’s make a quick distinction:
- marketing messaging It refers to how a brand communicates its mission and the value of its products to the consumers at large.
- brand voice Refers to your personality as reflected by your tone and word choice (think: humorous, informal, formal and/or professional).
- social media messaging Takes the above concepts and succinctly packages them into posts, captions, comments, and DMs.
marketers should All of these under the microscope to make sure they are sending the correct signals to the customers.
Doing this can help you stand out from the crowd and ensure that your audience understands why they should listen to you. All of these elements affect your content strategy as well.
How to beat the 5 most common challenges of social media messaging
How do you know if you’ve mastered the art of social media messaging?
good question! Measuring success with messaging can be difficult, but here’s a good place to start:
- engagement rateIt shows whether your content strategy and voice really drives your audience to interact.
- customer sentimentHighlighting whether people are happy, sad or indifferent with your message.
- messages (or comments) per day, Making sure you are actually communicating with your audience.
It often takes some trial and error to get your social message right. This is especially true for upcoming brands or companies trying to connect multiple social platforms.
Below we’ve outlined the five most common challenges associated with social media messaging and how to overcome each of them.
limited character counts
Trust us: We understand how hard it is, so you only have a few characters to say. Dealing with call-outs, tear-downs and serious customer concerns seems especially difficult on social media.
Solution: Don’t be afraid to transfer communication to another platform. Remember: Social Media Not Customer Service and Support Only To be on social media. Getting people to your inbox, on the phone, or at your help desk is probably going to be more proactive than just social support.
Persistent messaging between coworkers
When you have multiple employees behind it, it can be hard to stick to a single voice for your brand. Delighting customers and handling concerns should be something that everyone is comfortable doing.
Solution: For starters, make sure your team sticks to the style guide. Anything you can do to internally reinforce your brand’s values and cultures is also a plus. If you’re using a tool like Sprout, consider setting up approvals for social messages to make sure they’re always seen with another eye.
having a meaningful conversation
If you’re sweating your organic engagement rate these days, you’re not alone.
Still, that’s no excuse to talk Feather Your audience instead of talking with them. Social media messaging is all about feedback and feedback. Each comment and message is an opportunity to learn more about what your customers want. Those moments don’t happen by default.
Solution: Post questions and prompts that encourage direct feedback from your followers (see below). Likewise, respond to comments regularly to show your audience that you want to have a dialogue. Keep a close eye on your notifications and try to respond quickly.
Customize Your Messaging
Being run-of-the-mill will not help your brand on social media. Beyond your brand voice, staying one step ahead of trends is the best way to stand out from the crowd. From breaking news to the latest meme formats, it’s important to keep your ears to the ground.
Solution: Trendspotting and social listening can confirm what your audience is talking about without any second guesses. Likewise, do a competitive analysis to see how you can change your message compared to your competitors (think: tone, type of content).
Managing messages between platforms
Again, messaging isn’t one-size-fits-all on social media.
This doesn’t mean that you have to write down every single social media message from the beginning. Doing so is a massive time-sink. Still, you’re on the hook to make sure each message fits the appropriate format and character count for a given network.
Solution: Use a publishing platform like Sprout Social to make quick changes when you’re cross-posting. Instead of composing your messages manually, you can manage your assets and captions side-by-side. It also gives you extra time to authenticate and approve your messages if needed.
Social Media Messaging Strategies by Platform
The top five reasons people follow brands on social media, according to the Sprout Social Index™ All The networks are:
- Learn about new products and services (57%)
- Stay up to date with company news (47%)
- Learn about promotions or discounts (40%)
- Entertain (40%)
- Be Educated (34%)
And so your social media messaging strategy should cover these points at some stage.
But as mentioned earlier, each platform is different when it comes to which messages resonate.
To sum things up, we’ll break down best practices platform-by-platform based on recent research and social media demographics.
Personality and personal connections should be your priority on Instagram.
Whether you’re warm and welcoming or just want to crack jokes, create your account feel Like it is being run by a human being, not a bot.
According to recent Instagram statistics, the platform continues to be the center of social shopping and influencer marketing. Beyond your human side, it’s important to communicate affordability and ease of use when discussing products.
Facebook is a mixed bag when it comes to messaging.
Consider that two-thirds of adults consume their news through Facebook. Timeliness matters when it comes to content, as does driving discussion and (hopefully) friendly debate. Focus on finding a balance between informing your audience and choosing their mind.
TIC Toc
Don’t dismiss TikTok as a free-for-all where you passed Talking like a teenager to gain traction. Fact: TikTok notes that education drives most of the content discovery on the platform.
translate? Users see some new “Hack” videos and “Did you know?” Are eager and hungry to learn. Content dominates the platform for a reason. No matter what you post, your content should say “Hey, check” This out.”
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LinkedIn is a hotbed of inspirational content, professional advice, and hot tech. Anything you can do to share unique insights or firsthand experiences is a plus, especially as the popularity of storytelling grows on the platform.
Messages on Pinterest should focus on usefulness and inspiration. The popularity of observation-focused content on the platform speaks for itself. The fact that 40% of Pinterest users claim they are inspired by shopping on the platform speaks for itself.
In short, empower Piners with products and show them how your products or services look like in action. Affordability and urgency are key here.
Although Twitter has a reputation as a news hub, 42% of users say that entertainment is now the most important reason to use the app. Content-wise, going the “edutainment” route with a mix of news stories like, “Did you know?” And the remarkable research is all too popular.
The platform is one of the most popular places to handle customer service concerns as well. The transparent nature of Twitter means that every interaction with a customer is essentially public.
Not unlike Instagram, it’s important to show your human side on Twitter. This is especially important when interacting with customers. Simply put, your responses should never be copy-pasted.
Does your social media messaging come through loud and clear?
Getting your social media messaging right should be a top priority for brands that really want to engage their audience.
Sticking to our tips and answers to the most common messaging challenges can get you on the right track. The sooner you are able to articulate your value and the understanding of your followers, the more likely you are to create loyal customers.
If you haven’t already, check out the latest Sprout Social Index and the latest data to see what customers really want on social media.
The post Social Media Messaging: How to Build a Winning Cross-Platform Strategy first appeared on Sprout Social.
