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How to curate your online brand – Emma Coffey

by: Emma Coffey, head of sales at Goldsmith Williams Solicitors
  • 05/04/2017
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How to curate your online brand – Emma Coffey
Less is more, right? It’s a principle that has guided so many great pieces of art, design and writing since… forever.

But is this a concept we can ever apply to social media? Surely platforms like Twitter suggest that more and more and more is… well, just that – more?

It’s something we all know – the news cycle, our Facebook feeds and Instagram notifications are 24/7. Social media doesn’t sleep. Blink and you could literally miss it.

It seems only logical then that posting as much social media content as possible is the way to go; especially when it comes time to think about those pesky (although vital, might I add) end-of-the-month engagement stats your boss loves to read.

 

Is this really best practice?

On our GW company social media platforms, we are trying to take a step back from this more is more approach and really get back to the basics.

That’s not to say daily social media updates aren’t important. We’re all fighting for the consumers’ attention. A steady stream of content – which, for most companies, translates to at least one post per day on each platform – is imperative.

However, I think it’s time to take a step back and really consider the value in what we are posting on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Indeed, the trend for a curated approach to social media content is very much a thing right now. So much so, teens are supposedly posting a maximum of 25 pictures on their Instagram accounts – continually going back to delete those that don’t attract enough likes.

As such, they are curating the best possible online representation of themselves.

 

Best possible version

Now, as anyone who follows my own person social media profiles will know (hint – sharing is caring), I am not advocating any of my property colleagues go to these extremes.

However, let’s ask ourselves a similar question – is each piece of content I’m putting online representing the best possible version of me (or my organisation)?

None of us should be posting on social media to tick a box or daily quota.

So, let’s break down this idea of the curated approach to social media.

Obviously, the term curate comes from galleries and museums wherein curators carefully select a collection of art or objects that appeal to a specific audience.

To apply that to our social media content, we would need to:

 

Plan content around themes our audience loves

This involves taking a step back from what we personally find interesting and looking more strategically at what interests those in your audience demographic.

GW’s primarily female Facebook audience is aged mainly in their 30s and 40s. Each month we pick a new topic to focus the bulk of our content around that we know interests that particular niche.

Highlighting our charity efforts – and posting engaging imagery of those who have benefited from the donations we make to local and national not-for-profits such as puppies at the RSPCA or kids being treated by local hospital charities – has seen our engagement levels sky-rocket recently, for instance.

While this content isn’t directly property-related, it will enhance the organisation’s reputation in the mind of the potential client.

 

Sharing other content tying into audience loves

I recommend sticking to the 80-20 rule. Your social media accounts are just that, yours.

However, using about 20% of your social space to share relevant partner content is a great way to network, save time and show that you are up-to-date with the trends.

 

Sharing only the best information

Posting or sharing stuff for the sake of it… well, what really is the sake of that? All content should work towards achieving one or more of the following:

  • Improving your brand’s (or your own) reputation,
  • Increasing brand awareness (or what it is you personally are all about),
  • And, of course, driving traffic to your website and ultimately converting to leads (or a personal goal e.g. making a certain amount of networking connections each month).

Are you really, truly presenting the best version of yourself or your brand online? That’s the question I pose to you this month.

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