I’m sure you’ve researched successful corporate social accounts, and discovered some fun ones. There are many round ups that include memorable content such as Taco Bell (@tacobell) and its sassy comebacks, clever retweets and witty banter. While the fast food chain has seen incredible success, as HuffPost says, “Whoever runs Taco Bell’s Twitter account deserves a raise,” the same approach wouldn’t work for a B2B enterprise technology company or a medical device manufacturer.
This doesn’t mean your social accounts need to be boring. A B2B brand that immediately comes to mind when thinking of successful social voice is IBM (@IBM). The company keeps things conversational and creative with language and images, all while maintaining its serious position as a thought leader in enterprise technology. Social media has become an incredible marketing tool for every kind of business, allowing gained visibility and traction with potential clients and employees too. To implement a successful corporate social media program, first identify your social voice, from there strike the right balance in the tone of each social post, thereby elevating your brand to new levels.
Finding your voice and sticking to it
Something as simple as posting one semi-controversial tweet or using a hashtag incorrectly can damage your brand’s image. This is why it is important to determine your voice before you begin. When identifying your company’s social voice, think about what personality you’d like your brand to be remembered for. Is it professional? Or approachable, energetic, humorous? Deciding your voice can go a long way in determining how you craft your content. If you don’t decide up front and begin posting without a voice in mind, your social may seem disjointed, and in turn less human.
To discover your company’s voice, ask the right questions. What makes your company different from your competitors? Highlight that. What is your company’s mission or values? Highlight them. What is the tone of past content your company has produced, e.g. a blog or ad? Utilize it. Who is this content for? Tailor to that audience. Are there other companies you’d like to align with? Emulate their social accounts without copying them. Your voice should be authentic and consistent with the goals of your program.
From there, you can decide the appropriate tone to take by looking at your target audience, content and goal for each post, as well as the social channel.
Who’s going to be using that hashtag you spent hours brainstorming?
It’s important to identify your current audience, but also who you’d like to gain as followers. Strike a balance; you want your natural audience to get excited about the content that you’re sharing, but you also want to make sure you’re sharing the type of content that will attract new followers to help your brand grow and succeed. It’s important to regularly monitor any feedback, negative or positive, and adjust on a timely basis. If you’re professional and informative thought leadership posts are receiving more engagement than your goofy, happy-hour staff pictures, adjust accordingly, all while keeping in mind that each type of post can perform significantly differently on different channels.
As a rule of thumb, Facebook and Instagram tend to lean more toward employee engagement and lighter company culture and recruitment subjects. LinkedIn tends to be more thought leadership, professional content, and Twitter lies somewhere in between. While the content and tone may be different for all three, maintaining the same voice (personality!) across accounts is key for a cohesive brand story.
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