The Social Media Trinity: blogging, microblogging and social networks.
We are all particularly well-versed in the benefits of social media, in how it is apparently crucial to have your brand in the ‘social’ platform and how your popularity becomes a measure of your ability to master the media form.
But let’s take it back to basics, if you like, lets deconstruct the Social Media Trinity and decide whether you’re utilising the best social media…
First, the Trinity consists of blogging, microblogging and social networks. Let’s start by breaking these down:
Blogging:
Traditionally a website containing a writer's or group of writers' own experiences, observations, opinions, etc., and often having images and links to other websites.
But, Urban dictionary says it’s a term used to describe anyone with enough time or narcissism to document every tedious bit of minutia filling their uneventful lives. Hmmm that’s not quite in line with the purpose of this blog…
Microblogging:
Microblogging refers to the act or practice of posting brief entries on a blog or social media website. It could be on your blog, on Twitter or even an Instagram post.
Social Networks:
In reference to digital technologies, social networks refer to an online community of people with a common interest who use a website or other technologies to communicate with each other and share information, resources, etc. Here the focus is on the interactions taking place and the business relationships fostered rather than the importance of the platform. Basically, imagine networking at an event translated into a Web- based platform.
So, we call these three resources the trinity because they are the aspects of social media that your business should specifically be utilising. One should be publishing relevant, original and informative content in order to use social media as a free marketing platform whilst seeing ROI. For instance, I could write a microblog every day, cataloguing what I ate, where I drove, who I spoke to, what I worked on, what other people worked on and something I found interesting and whilst it’s ok to incorporate elements of these, a lengthier blog that thoroughly explains something is going to be far more beneficial for your brand.
When it really comes down to it, SEO relies on your content utilising a bunch of key words, a bunch of keywords that are relevant to your brand, the words that a potential client will use to find you on the Web. At the end of the day, it’s better to focus on something small than taking on every possible marketing theology.
Here is what we preach (and we follow):
Post to a schedule. Whether daily, weekly or fortnightly. Post when it matters because time is money and social media sure takes up a lot of time.
Get organised. Don’t let your blogs or microblogs appear haphazard. Sit down and work out a schedule. Decide when and what you want to talk about and really prepare your content; because once it’s out there, it stays out there.
Listen to your social network. It’s ok to look at your competitors, at other brands out there and people who do social media well and look for their patterns, for their tone and get a feel for the way they operate. The network is going to be the audience you target, so make sure you are putting attractive content into the sphere.
Treat your posts like chapters in a book. There must be cohesion, now say it again, there must be cohesion. While it could be more of a ‘choose your own adventure book’, your posts still need to appear as though they are part of a greater whole. In saying that, it doesn’t hurt to shake things up in a while, like maybe having someone else write a post to introduce a new tone or style, it’ll add depth to the brand and excite the reader.
Don’t be afraid to use someone else’s content. Obviously, give credit where credit is due, but if you like a picture, or a blog post or an idea, share it with your following too! Not only is this the essence of social networking, it’ll hopefully lead to a repost of your content by the other business WHICH WOULD BE SUPER GREAT for reaching a larger audience.
Post EVERYWHERE. Post it here and there and everywhere. Don’t just assume someone will stumble across your blog our your social media. You need to plug it across all platforms and ensure that as many people as possible see your stuff, otherwise it’s not worthwhile posting in the first place!
Ultimately, brand to brand, business to business the needs change and the way you navigate the Social Media Trinity will vary. As a service based business, our blogs are a great way for us to profess our expertise. However, we market food companies and embrace the microblog as their dominant medium. What will work needs to be assessed on an individual basis.
P.s. Don’t forget the hashtags.
P.p.s I think this is our longest blog so far!
