What’s the one key metric you track on your company’s social media? If you’re like most marketers, it’s engagement. After all, the more your audience engages with likes, comments, and shares, the more successful your social media. Right?
It depends on how you define success. Yes, high engagement means you’re noticed more. But your audience might not notice you in the right way. That’s because some types of posts, which tend to attract more engagement, can hurt your brand more than help it, especially when used in excess.
This is especially true with self-promotional posts. Yay—you’re at a trade show! Yay—you’re donating to a charity! Yay—your employee’s kid made honor roll! This is all fantastic news. You’re probably rolling in likes, comments, and shares. But if you make nearly every post-self-promotional—all in the name of engagement—you’ll quickly be regarded as the company that can’t stop talking about itself.
That’s why you should aim for a healthy content mix that combines self-promotion with education. Here’s your opportunity to share tips and links to articles related to your industry. Sure, educational posts rarely generate the same buzz as a self-promotional Facebook album. You might even say educational posts are boring. But over time, they’ll brand your company as smart and devoted to helping others.
A healthy content mix is like a healthy diet. While a double-fudge chocolate cake would be amazing to eat every day, your body will eventually hate you for it. You need to eat plenty of sensible (and sometimes boring) foods like leafy greens and lean proteins to make your body strong. (I’m writing this while devouring a peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich, which may or may not be good for me. This is why I’m a social media manager and not a nutritionist!)
At Delaware ShoutOut, we wish you and your content mix the best of health! Reach out if we can help you in any way.
