However, appearing too human can result in errors and missteps which threaten to damage a company’s image.
So this week, Mortgage Solutions is asking: To what extent do you consider social media as part of your brand? How does it affect what you post?
Dominik Lipnicki, director of Your Mortgage Decisions
Social media has increasingly played a large part in our personal as well as business lives.
Platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now form an integral part of our company’s PR strategy, both in terms of client acquisition and communication.
While it is difficult to quantify the exact return on investment when it comes to social media, many of our clients rightly expect us to have that presence and looking into the future, this form of communication will only become more important.
The firm’s social media accounts obviously will be run very differently to a personal account and strategy is key — understanding the desired message and having someone on hand to respond to any comments or messages is vital.
Even when posting as a company, we need to be engaging. People are unlikely to follow an account that only tries to advertise or sell its services.
The various platforms have their own uses and design features.
Twitter is great to react to news, engage in conversations with clients and the industry. LinkedIn can be fantastic at making contacts with advisers and others within the mortgage world.
It’s important to remember, however, that our clients may engage only on one platform, therefore our exposure needs to be as wide as possible.
Many of our clients are acquired by way of the internet, hence social media and online reviews by clients form a vitally important part of our strategy.
We pride ourselves on being easily approachable for our clients through whatever channel they feel comfortable using and we are always keen to explore new ways of being even more accessible.
Martin Stewart, director of London Money
The way business is developing, if your company is not on social media, and using it to the best of your ability to leverage your personal and corporate brand, then you are in danger of being washed away in a tsunami of engagement.
Social media is a minefield in many respects and a continual learning curve as to what will work and what won’t. It is never an exact science but you can learn the mechanics quite quickly.
The issue needs to be attacked early on; the discomfort of social media comes from the nervousness of using it.
Our posts differ depending on the platform because it is important to understand which platform suits your personality best and make sure your audience understands you, which then helps them understand your message.
We have and continue to build our business rapidly with the use of various social media.
There is no other way that a small business can compete with the big players free of charge and we like to encourage all our brands to use social media at every opportunity.
The biggest change we have seen over the past 12 months is the crossover between work and personal social media.
It is now rapidly becoming the cult of personality and in any noisy environment it is important to stand out.
Those who show the human side of themselves, as well as the corporate side, will do very well in the months and years ahead.
James McGregor, director of Mesa Financial
As a growing business, social media presence is a huge part of our brand.
This is one of the key elements to growing our business and it contributes in so many ways. We try to add as much value as possible with our content, while also showcasing our expertise.
This has a huge play on what we post. We always have in mind how our brand will be represented with every post. You cannot be complacent with your brand reputation.
Our posts vary significantly depending on the platform. On LinkedIn, storytelling posts gather a lot of traction. People like success stories.
We post visual content on Instagram, such as large properties or development sites, so people can see exactly what areas of business we are advising on.
Twitter is a great tool for business news and introductions. We have built a large following of brokers and developers there, growing the network that we do business with.
Facebook is the preferred platform for some clients and we have received great reviews there.
Social media massively affects our company, from recruitment through to client acquisition.
We have recruited three of our advisers through social media posting. It also helps to boost brand awareness with lenders.
I mostly use social media for business purposes.
I rarely post in my personal profiles. I’m not sure you can truly separate your social media from your professional life, so if I post online, I will always consider how this post will reflect our brand.
