Got your social media communication right?

When everyone started using Social Media for brands in early days, content writing was looked upon as just that - ‘content' writing.  It focused on the basics, i.e., providing information about the product, having some quirky updates on something related to the brand, some polls, some crossword / unscramble games, quizzes about products or related items, and some interesting insights on brand profile.

Well, we have certainly evolved since then. With social networking sites changing the very nature of human communication, especially with newer interfaces and more importantly, newer ecosystems we think differently now. The focus on simple engagements in a bid to get more conversations, comments & retweets alone is now history. With the evolution of social media within the country, audiences are all the more aware about what brands stand for.

What does this mean?

 Someone wise in our industry said -

"The true measure of your Klout is not by the ranking you get, but the community you build and more importantly how you engage with them."

As always, social media is not about broadcasting but about engaging and invoking a thought within your audience and driving home a point at the end of the day, which then relates to your personality as a brand. Today’s content and communication is more about how well you know your community, how well you moderate it and how comfortable the community is to reach out to you. To do all this, communication is the key.

How do get our social media communication right?

• Ask yourself one question - What will my brand be known for when the audience consumes my content?
• Research your brand on various other platforms and what they are doing through other channels.
• Identify the key / core element that your audience relates to. Some good examples : MTV India  (Youth & Bold entertainment), Kotak Mahindra Bank (Making Money Simple), Kingfisher World (King of Good Times), Fosters (Art of Chilling.)
• Break up your target group.  Give a character sketch to whoever you are talking to.  Try to guess what kind of content would really make him/her engage with your brand.
• Identify what kind of communities this target group audience is already talking in and converse with them over there.
• Identify keywords that relate to your brand and start looking for conversations across the web using tools like search.twitter.com, Google discussion search / groups, socialmention.com (The key lies in conversing with them and not promoting yourself.  So talk to them.)
• Have a focus on the central theme of what your brand stands for. Try to find communication pegs that revolve around that central theme.
• Decide what tone and what manner you would like to communicate with your audience.

Some Good examples of brands getting their social media communication right:

Hippo 

Philosophy:  Root of all evil is hunger. Kill Hunger, Kill Evil.

Their Angle: Hunger

Communication: They revolve all their communication around Hunger and zone out broadly the content and communication on Hunger, Food etc.  They use their Hippo mascot across the social media platform. They have created a character sketch and a way of talking that extends itself right from the TVC to the various platforms on Social Media such as uploaded videos on YouTube, Facebook page, Twitter)

| Website |  Facebook  | Twitter  |

TVC on YouTube: 

www.hippofighthunger.com

Kudos to Creativeland Asia for coming up with a fantastic microsite. You have to check it out for yourself to experience the excellence of their communication and how it talks to its userbase. They have a great engagement which talks to them, all revolving around Hunger.

1. Hippo Vs Hunger: Short game where you have to feed various personalities (Hitler, George Bush, Saddam Hussein, Joker, Rakhi Sawant, Dawood) to kill the evil inside them.
2. A day in a Hippo’s life: Interpretation of great speeches by Hitler, Saddam Hussein via Radio in Hippo’s words. A funny take on how Hungry these personalities were and relating that to their philosophy.