Sharing is part of what makes social media social. It shows the your potential audience that your content offers more than just a hard sell. No one is going to spend more than a minute longer than they have to for a hard sell. Sharing not only encourages trust and engagement, it boost the likelihood that they will share/recommend your content to others.
So what should you be sharing? Goodness, the list is endless.
What to share
- Answers to questions you get all the time
- Profiles of outstanding employees
- Announcements about new achievements, big wins, events you will be attending
- Tips and tricks that address challenges common across your target audience
- News from the industry or industry you serve or work in (always with some value added observation that puts a bit of a YOU spin on things)
- Quotes from happy clients
- Surveys and questions (it’s nice to include these on a semi-regular basis to your audience feels they have a role and input).
And that’s just off the top of my head, we’ve got lots and lots of ideas for what you can share. It’s all part of the content planning process we undergo with clients.
Balance in all things
Obviously, share you own content but mix it up as well. Best – and most effective practice – is the 70-20-10 rule.
- 70% of the content should add value and help build your brand
- 20% should be content from others and;
- only 10% should be directly promoting your business.
What? Did I say 10% Yes. And why? Because building trust is the end game on social media and you do this by providing value added content, not just sales and promotions.
The tricky 20%
Sourcing your own content and sharing your own promos is one thing but where do you find the 20% of the content that isn’t yours.
- Follow/connect with industry leaders & read industry publications/websites. These are the accounts your target audience are following. Be where they are and engage those thought leaders and writers on topics your audiences are interested in.
- Look up the speakers from events and conferences you may be attending. Engage them about the event. If they answer with a tag (and they should), your mention reaches all of their followers as well.
- No event coming up? No worries. Tag your favorite influencer in a post about relevant breaking news or a recent article in their area of expertise – and ask your followers to chime in as well. Encouraging engagement is key.
Making sure you’ve got the right balance is an important part of content planning over all and something we help with all the time at Modern Parlance. Get in touch and we’ll have a content planning coffee and see how we can get your content output balanced just right.