In a popular advertising campaign for Wendy’s in 1984, an 81-year-old woman named Clara Peller demanded to know “Where’s the beef?” at a fictitious fast-food restaurant.
That question went viral and eventually became a catchphrase whenever anyone was looking for more of pretty much anything.
It’s the same question I have now for brands, businesses, marketers, anyone and everyone who uses social media for professional reasons.
Where’s the beef?
After all, you only have one chance to make a good first impression. And if you ask me, far too many of you are mailing it in when it comes to publishing and sharing content on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media channels. Far too many of you are either skimping on your efforts or simply overlooking the details.
What do you think your audience of followers, fans and friends on social media thinks when you don’t engage with them, ask questions of them, respond to them, or share anything even remotely firsthand and personal about yourself with them?
While it’s important to have a steady, unrelenting cadence of content to share and disseminate, you also need to be creative, impromptu, resourceful, authentic and strategic in how you communicate with others on social media.
You don’t want there to be an outcry for more beef.
You want your audience to get more than a small taste of who the people are behind your brand and what makes them tick. More importantly, you want them to know that you’re actually interested in their success and well-being, not just your own internet fame.
Along with examples you can study and learn from, here are three ways to beef up your social media program…
1. Don’t be shy
Chalking up any lack of personality to a brand’s desire for privacy simply doesn’t cut it anymore. Audiences expect – and deserve – more than the equivalent of talking heads. Give them everything you got. The more you put out there, the more you’ll get in return. Leave it all on the social media floor.
Example: Gary Vaynerchuk on Facebook
2. Take pictures
Words alone aren’t enough to succeed on social media. Even if you have the best writing chops in the business, you need to accentuate your content with a variety of visuals.
Stock photos are just the beginning. Custom, candid images you take yourself should be a critical component of your social media stream, not to mention video clips, GIFs, animations, illustrations, infographics, you name it. A picture of any kind is worth a thousand words.
As I wrote here:
As a copywriter, I hate to admit this, but even the best written content can’t always capture the right tone of voice. Personality, mood context – none of that’s easy to get across in words alone. Pictures of whatever you’re doing, wherever you are, are more realistic, intimate and explanatory. Video is even better.
Example: Jimmy John’s on Twitter
Give me my sandwich pic.twitter.com/GhdYwp8z0e
— Jimmy John's (@jimmyjohns) June 13, 2016
3. Seize the moment
What’s the one quality of social media that you’d be hard-pressed to find in any other marketing channel? Immediacy. Unless you have a way to get on TV or the radio live, there is no easier way to involve an audience instantaneously than Twitter, Facebook and the like.
Coincidentally, communicating in real time is also the best way to attract attention and spark engagement on social media. Anything happening now trumps everything else that is either scheduled, contrived, or both. Capitalize on any opportunity that arises to socialize on the spur of the moment.
Example: Patriot Place on Twitter
🏃 in @TheColorRun tomorrow!? Stop by @Showcase_Live by 6PM tonight to pick up your bib! pic.twitter.com/7k3nehtTdu
— Patriot Place (@PatriotPlace) June 10, 2016
Those are just three ways you can beef up your own social media marketing program. To read the original version of this post, where I listed a total of 10 ways, follow the link included in the note below. And, of course, please don’t hesitate to contact us anytime here at Overdrive Interactive if you have any questions. We’d be delighted to provide you with assistance.
Note: The original version of this post, “10 Ways to Beef Up Your Social Media Program,” was published on ClickZ on June 14, 2016. To read the post there, click here.
If you’d like to beef up your social media program, the social media marketing team at Overdrive can help. Please don’t hesitate to contact us today.
