social media
Got a Social Media Personality Disorder? We Can Help.
From the moment your company starts to post, pin, or Tweet content, you introduce a brand new version of your company to the online world—a social media personality.
Someone connected to your company, but also quite separate, with a unique set of behaviours, attitudes, and characteristics.
And because this personality hangs out with your prospects and customers 24/7, you need to take it seriously.
But what if your social media persona just isn’t working for you? It earns you few quality leads, generates little customer engagement, and even less online revenue. It’s not even someone your actual brand would ever be seen with, and it could be doing your company more harm than good.
Before you throw in the social media towel completely, maybe it’s time to get some help.
A quick search will show you all sorts of studies breaking social media personalities down into various categories. But we’ve come up with our own list of the most dysfunctional culprits, along with some practical treatment advice.
1. The Chatterbox
This social media personality gets around. On every platform, at every hour of the day, it goes on and on but never really says much of anything. The Chatterbox believes that more is more—no matter what.
The good news? The Chatterbox knows how to work hard for you. Generating that much content of any kind takes a lot of time and effort.
The bad news is that your prospects and customers roll their eyes whenever your stand-in enters a forum or sends them a link. They feel saturated, bored, and even a little irritated.
The Fix
Rein in your Chatterbox by going back to the basics:
Develop a solid list of goals. What does your company want to achieve through social media?
Clearly define your company’s brand—the qualities that make it unique.
Identify your ideal customers and learn about their social media personalities:
What platforms do they use?
What kind of content appeals to them?
When are they most active, and how often?
Listen carefully to your audience, and they’ll tell you a lot about themselves. Also pay attention to what your competition is doing.
Based on what you learn, come up with a solid strategy for your Chatterbox:
Let it loose on your audience’s favourite platforms, but encourage it to listen carefully to them before it even opens its mouth.
Provide it with original quality content to work with—content that is appropriate for each platform and geared directly towards your prospects and customers.
Develop a posting schedule that’s appropriate for your audience and stick to it.
Decide on the best way to measure your success, based on your goals. Measure regularly, then tweak and rework as needed.
2. The Know-It-All
The Know-It-All has good intentions—to be a helpful problem solver—but comes across as arrogant and above it all.
Unlike the Chatterbox, the Know-It-All rarely speaks unless it can amaze the whole platform, often correcting or arguing with others.
Its reason for being is to establish your company as an expert—and it may be succeeding—but it’s also alienating your prospects and customers.
This becomes painfully obvious when your company has made a mistake or is being criticized. Instead of acknowledging the problem, your Know-It-All either ignores the problem or goes on the defensive because it wants to save face.
The Fix
The Know-It-All has a lot of potential, but needs an attitude adjustment.
Being an expert is only one characteristic of a healthy social media personality. Coming across as open, interested in others, and human will allow your audience to truly engage with your social media personality.
So tell your Know-It-All to chill. Ask for help and advice. Crack a few jokes and tell a few stories—chitchat now and then. And don’t forget the best fix of all—to acknowledge mistakes, listen carefully to your audience, and respond openly to honest criticism.
3. Beautiful But Dumb
This social media personality has no personality. It’s got an attractive Facebook page, a blog, and is signed up on all the different platforms—but nobody’s there.
Beautiful But Dumb rarely posts content, and on those rare occasions it does, the content is always recycled, never original.
Its blog, while pretty to look at, has only one or two entries from a couple of years ago . . . need we say more?
The Fix
This all-too-common personality develops when a business isn’t set up internally to sustain its social media goals. When a handful of employees are saddled with social media as an afterthought, and don’t have the time or resources to make it work, here’s what we suggest:
Invest in implementing your social media strategy properly. Either develop the support internally, or outsource to a company like North Shore Strategic Content.
If you invest internally, don’t assume that one team member can create all of your content and singlehandedly bring your social media personality to life. That person’s role should be as a liaison, gathering content from all members of the team, and outsourcing essential showpieces.
If you decide to outsource your entire campaign, look for a company that wants to become a part of your team. They should understand your brand, your culture, your social media goals, and have a clear grasp of who your customers are and what makes them tick.
They should also be able to work closely with all of your departments, incorporating the voice of each one into the creation of your new social media personality.
4. The Pusher
The Pusher has one thing on its mind—to sell, sell, sell. It mentions your products and services wherever and whenever it can and rarely talks about anything else.
According to the Pusher, the only kind of video worth producing is an ad, and Facebook pages, blogs, and e-newsletters are just fancy coupon books.
This kind of attitude may work at trade shows, but online, it makes for a very lonely social media personality.
The Fix
Encourage the Pusher to embrace the true nature of social media.
Sure, there are times when you need to promote your company’s products and services, but social media usually calls for a soft sell approach.
It’s a way to relate to your customers—to turn prospects into engaged, educated, quality leads.
So rather than pushing your agenda, listen. Find out what your prospects and customers are interested in, and focus on those issues.
5. Multiple Personality
This confused character says something in one forum, and completely contradicts itself in another. It comes across as stern and severe, fun and flighty, or calm and reflective all at the same time.
Multiple Personality’s lack of continuity confuses your prospects and customers, making it hard for them to trust your social media personality, or your company.
The Fix
Too many cooks are spoiling your broth. It’s great that your team members want to participate in your social media outreach, but they’re all saying something different.
Make sure they understand your company’s goals and strategies and have a solid grasp of your brand’s online voice.
Make them a part of the process. Share your engagement results, and brainstorm with them on new ways to engage your prospects and customers.
Who Do You Really Want to Be?
The ideal social media personality is interesting, charismatic, and creative. A leader and a listener, it’s always there to help. Someone who knows what your prospects and customers are thinking before they do, someone they want to spend time with, and someone they come to rely on.
It takes a lot of commitment and hard work to create the ideal social media personality. Let us help. Contact us today for a free consultation.