Your social media is your digital identity, your legitimacy, and everything in between.

Consider this: you have a personal Instagram account, your Stories are no stranger to the fire and laughter emojis, and you know what’s trending in the social world. That savvy should be enough for you to manage your business’ social accounts, right? Well, ish…

The reason your personal Instagram account is great is because it’s full to the brim with YOUR personality, and the people who follow you love you and respect you already. Your business, on the other hand, doesn’t necessarily have a clear personality online. In fact, most brands have a way to go in terms of winning over the digital world. Trust us, it’s a hard bunch to sway.

The Twirling Umbrellas team has created plenty of websites that bring unique digital personalities to life. More recently, it dawned on us that a good, modern website gets lonely without a thoughtful, engaging social presence. Your brand’s website and social presence go hand-in-hand, meaning both demand the same message and both require thorough planning and a strategy from a team that has its best interest at heart. For consistency, it helps when one team is taking care of both entities.

It’s not the time to wing it

“Winging it” is not an easy feat. Before even writing your first post, you’ll want to have a plan that considers your audience, the platforms they’re scrolling, and what calls to action they’re responding to. It’s a lot of research to begin with. Then you also need to execute this plan. Every. Single. Day. 

It’s important to reevaluate your audience’s needs on a monthly basis. This will set the tone for the next few weeks of posts. This can include giveaways, success stories, user-generated content, or astonishing visuals. And it comes in the form of an editorial calendar which will undergo multiple revisions before its monthly launch.

To give you an idea of the nuances of a social strategy, let’s draw up an example. 

You’re a producer of high-end pet foods in an up-and-coming neighbourhood east of downtown Vancouver. The market is competitive. But you know you’re doing something special because you source your ingredients from local butchers. Your customers are willing to spend good money on their pet’s food. They draw inspiration for their daily life from social media accounts that speak to them. These accounts are subtle, beautiful, and promote Vancouver’s healthy way of life. Your customers are active on Facebook and Instagram. You’ll need to create a cohesive voice for all platforms, one that will let your customers know there’s someone behind that Instagram page. 

That’s where our social media editorial calendar comes in. Of course, since you’re the one who knows your business best, you approve this calendar before it sets sail.

The calendar is broken down by date, caption, image, and theme.

It’s a big time investment. When a social strategy doesn’t get the TLC it needs, it’s often rendered unprofessional and pedestrian.

Your customers are craving your digital you

In 2020, 84% of people accessing the internet were doing so to access social media. This is a part of their every day habits. Of these social media users, 25-31% of them (depending on their age) are hopping on your social account solely to research products they want to buy. Seeing the product is one thing. But having a living, breathing aesthetic behind this digital entity is what’ll sway them.  

Your posts are live. Now what?

It’s a tedious process (which we personally happen to go gaga for!). Once your posts are up, you need to ensure their success. Get people talking about them. Your social media editorial plan should reference engagement. What’s going to make people linger on, like, save, or share your post? 

For starters, you need to actively monitor your feed. Say you check the post every few hours. This gives you a chance to answer comments and create a dialogue. Be nice, be helpful, and answer in the voice you’ve developed for your brand.

Secondly, know your audience. If they’re the kind of people who will gladly share your post to their Story and tag three friends just to win a set of bamboo toothbrushes, go for that route! A toothbrush for 500 pairs of eyes on your product sounds like a good trade to us. However, that’s not everyone’s style. Some might prefer the simpler Q&A sort of posts. 

Another quick tip to get your page some action, get your name out there. Not to suggest that you should feign excitement for other brands. But if a brand or one of your followers puts up a funny meme, comment on it, like it, show it some love. A like for a like makes the whole world aligned (that’s the saying, right?).

Jump start your new and improved social plan with these pro-tips

Your digital presence can make or break you. A website and a couple intersprawling posts is not enough, and it hasn’t been for years, if we’re being honest. We’ve come up with a list of actions that will help elevate your social presence. Read on!

1. Stay trendy. Consider social media trends when writing your content. Is there a tagline that you keep seeing in your friends’ Instagram Stories? Use it.

2. Looks matter. Create a visual aesthetic for your social presence. For instance, when someone looks at your feed, they should notice an overarching concept. Could that be pastel images on white backgrounds? 

3. Show your true colours. Take advantage of this blank canvas to humanize your brand. Let your customers know there’s a comedian or perhaps a sassy wine connoisseur behind that computer screen. 

4. Make friends. Answer people promptly when they reach out to you on social media. This is yet another way to prove that your brand offers awesome customer service.  

5. Link it. Funnel potential customers to your website. Ever wonder why so many captions say, “Link in bio 😉”.

6. Variety is the spice of life. Switch up your content. Videos, images, contests, success stories… Keep ‘em (your followers) coming back for more. 

We’re seriously bursting with ideas. If you want to chat with us about some of them, we’ll be sure to create something special for your brand, and for your customers.