Social Media, while relatively new, is rapidly changing. The days when Facebook required new users to be invited to join are long gone and there are currently 1.3 billion active monthly users on Facebook. The number of people using Facebook and other social media outlets means that there is enormous potential for businesses and companies to reach new clients and customers.
While being able to reach over a billion people can be a great thing, there is also a major downside. Over a billion people can also reach over a billion other people. So the question then becomes how do you stand out?
It’s true that small companies won’t have the same reach and influence as giant corporations like Coca-Cola, but that’s just the reality of things. Big companies can send out a Tweet and thousands of people will instantly see it. However the number of people who view social media isn’t entirely important. If you want to stand out you need to make the people that you do reach care about what you have to say. A good way to make people care about what you have to say is to make it more personal.
Are you more likely to want to listen to a story about some person you don’t know or a story about your friend, or family member, or neighbor? You would want to hear a story about someone you know because you care more about them than about someone you’ve never met. As a company, you want people to get to know and connect with your company through social media.
You don’t have to abandon professionalism in order to make your social media more personal. Things like photos from the workplace or just updates on what the company is doing at the moment or in the near future are enough to remind folks about the people behind the company. In other words, try to make your social media social. People don’t want to be friends with a building made of glass and brick with a sign on the front of it. People want to be friends with the people inside the building.
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