A few weeks ago, an artist I follow on Twitter tweeted an update: Blog post! New work for upcoming shows! I clicked the bit.ly link, but instead of landing on her blog, I landed on a Facebook status update instead. I tried clicking on the update title, but that took me to some other Facebook page — at which point I gave up, no longer interested enough to search for the link to her blog.
Rule #1: Posting Facebook updates to Twitter sucks. Don’t do it.
Twitter is not the ugly step-sister of Facebook. It’s user base is smaller, but made up of influencers – young, mobile, urban professionals who consume, create, and distribute information at a rapid-fire pace. If you’re going to have a Twitter account, it’s worth taking the time to do it right — that means creating unique posts for Twitter instead of cribbing from Facebook.
If you want to tell people on Twitter about your blog post, just link to your blog post. Don’t link to a Facebook post about your blog post. That’s one extra click to get to your content, which means one more chance for your audience to abandon you.
Rule #2: Posting Twitter updates to Facebook sucks. Don’t do it.
That’s right, I said it: automatically posting your Twitter updates to Facebook sucks. Why? Because it annoys the people who follow you thru both channels and gives them a reason to unfriend or unfollow you on one of them. Why would anyone subscribe to duplicate content? Also, it’s LAZY, and everybody knows it.
If you’re auto posting FB to Twitter or Twitter to FB, it means you don’t have a differentiated strategy for your social media. And the reason you don’t have a differentiated strategy? You don’t understand your audience, i.e. your customers, which is the whole point of social media. [1]
3 Steps to a Balanced Social Media Lifestyle
Now that I’ve told you what not to do, this is where I tell you what you ought to be doing. Don’t worry, it’s super easy, and conveniently packaged for you to add to a Powerpoint presentation that your boss will love.
Step 1: Identify the critical content that you will tell all your friends & fans about.
When good stuff happens, you want to shout it from the rooftops. So when your company lands a new client, tell everybody. When you’re nominated for an award, go crazy. Even when you’ve updated your blog or posted a video to YouTube — it’s cool, we’re all interested. Plan to post this info across multiple channels, just don’t post it word for word with the same updates. (See above: lazy.)
Attention Bosses of the World: This should be the smallest amount of your social media content, not the largest. Spamming everybody with every little update is not okay. Make a list of what content qualifies and STICK TO IT.
Step 2: What do your Facebook fans want to hear from you? Figure it out.
You’ve got Facebook fans – awesome. Hopefully this group contains some actual clients and customers (and not just your Mom, your wife, and your intern), so what are they here for? Behold, I offer you 6 suggestions for Facebook exclusive content.
- Photos of products you sell or manufacture
- Photos of your office, your employees, your recent trade show booth, etc
- Special deals/discounts for FB fans
- Info about industry events you’re participating in
- Articles about trends in your industry that clients would want to know about
- Mini case-study: profile one of your clients and how they’re using your service
Adapt to fit your business, and don’t be afraid to try stuff out. Remember, the key is knowing your audience. Give the people what they want!
Step 3: Talk to people on Twitter
Yeah yeah, we’re all tired of hearing “Twitter is about conversation.” But even though it’s been said ten thousand times before, I know a lot of people are still confused about how to jump in.
Remember, your Twitter audience is different than your Facebook audience. It hopefully has your clients and customers, but it also contains your competitors and peers. Proceed accordingly.
Here are 6 ways to have a conversation on Twitter.
- Learn your Twitter tools. Do you know where to click to see if people are talking at you or about you? Do you know how to search for your company’s name? The links are in the sidebar of your Twitter home page. Use them.
- Find people to follow. Follow people in your industry. Follow people in your city. Follow people with the same last name as you. Just follow a bunch of people and then — LISTEN.
- Post updates that encourage conversation. Good examples: posts that share new information, express an opinion or ask a question.
- Post links to articles and info about your industry and interests. This can include retweeting (RT) good stuff you find on Twitter. Work on finding the right mix of serious articles and funny cat videos — it will depend on your industry and your followers.
- Reply to people who post nifty things or ask questions that interest you.
- Reply to people who reply to you!
If you’re doing all this, you won’t even need to steal content from your Facebook page. You’ll have plenty of activity happening on Twitter to keep your followers interested and engaged.
One final word
Is handling social media really this easy? It is and it isn’t. Beware posting too much personal content in your business FB or Twitter updates, and always remember to be professional and courteous, especially to unhappy customers. But for most companies, there’s only one real challenge to engaging in an effective social media strategy: finding the time.
[1] Then why can you update Twitter with Facebook and Facebook with Twitter, if it’s such a bad idea? Because these two companies are in the midst of a fierce competition right now. Would you pour Pepsi into your Coke? I didn’t think so.
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