Social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are platforms to create and develop communities of people who are interested in your products and services. It’s worth remembering, therefore, that creating high quality content for social media requires special skills:

The main difference between social media content and website content is that the former can be a dialogue, and a place where a community comes together to discuss topics relevant to your business.

What’s social media for?

With social media, you can answer questions and find out your community’s concerns. Social media is a platform for quality market research where you discover how people respond to and value your products and services.

In addition, social media is a place to announce news and developments in your business. You can also comment on general changes occurring in your sector.

Keep it real

Social media sites are not direct selling platforms, so content should not contain sales copy. It is acceptable to invite your community to try out new or improved products, but such invitations should not contain hard selling techniques.

People expect honest dialogue. If your business makes a mistake, or there is a fault in a product, then you need to truthfully address the issues. This will result in your business being respected.

Don’t join in the abuse

Social media sites have been hit by a phenomenon known as ‘trolling’, which is where people abuse, bully and shame others – particularly those in the public eye. As people are often misquoted, abuse can often be based on misinformation.

No matter what you feel personally about an issue, avoid associating your business with hate campaigns and public shaming.

Social media sites are vital platforms to promote your business, providing you know how to create quality content that engages your followers.

John Murray

John is every inch the wordsmith and loves a game of Scrabble above all else. With experience writing for newspapers, John’s time at university was spent studying Creative Writing – something which comes across in his love of the pun.