With privacy walls coming down and shareability going up, a valid question has been posed: “Is it okay to talk about what happens online, in real-life?” Understandably, the people behind personal profiles and fan pages may be confused and cautious about what to post and how to avoid uncomfortable conversations about online content.
Today, without a doubt, the answer is YES, it is perfectly acceptable to talk about online posts, in fact I encourage it.
Companies and individuals know that it is absolutely okay and now socially acceptable to talk about online activity. One might even assume that it’s expected. Now, everyone seems to understand that delivering a message worth talking about is the reason individuals and companies decided to “join the conversation” in the first place.
This new world requires all users to think as much about audience (friends and family? or customers and fans?) as content (e.g., video clip, special offer, or update).
Choose concise messages that can be shared easily and uniformly through multiple social media sites. Most importantly: expect the response. That is, know how you’ll answer the questions that might arise, anticipate the phones ringing, customers coming in or the comments at your next get together. Consider your posted message to be the icebreaker or teaser of the story your followers are anxious to hear about. This gives you the chance to skip the small talk. Continuing the conversation in real life is exactly what your followers expect. The opportunity to really impress your followers is in the execution of what’s being discussed.
Writing and scheduling an update may be simple to some, and if done right, the reaction it can deliver will yield some awesome results. Big promises for interactions are fine, as long as you can deliver. Thanks to the transparency of the online world, followers will catch on to empty promises faster than ever, which will have an amplified reverse effect than the one desired. Represent yourself truthfully as they represent themselves. Finally, remember that branding is marketing. Who you are, what your organization is, and what you do in “real-life” should extend naturally into the virtual world.
Being social about social media is the key to successful messaging. Think about memorable commercials you talk about with friends. Like billboards, radio announcements, and fliers, social media is another marketing tool—but one that gives you more control over your message, metrics on effectiveness and even insight about your audience. Don’t betray your audience by pretending they don’t exist off the Internet. Instead continue the conversation, give them something to talk about, and, as always, be in on the chatter. It is, after all, a two-way expressway, one with off-ramps to the real world, a world filled with real bottom line results.