If tomorrow we meet with some common friend and leave us having a conversation, it is likely that we began to know each other through a conversation. After a while, the chances that the relationship ended in friendship would most likely depend on our ability to show ourselves as we are and the common interests or hobbies we encountered in those first few minutes.

In Social Media does not work the same

If you are in Social Media with a personal profile, you can do what you want and start as you want, but if your presence in social networks has a commercial or professional purpose, you should start the other way.

For a professional presence in social networks, you should not use the strategy of “opening profiles and, on the go, learning” (i.e. non-strategy). The explanation is that the process of “friendship” between follower and company is quite different in social networks.

Start upside down

First of all, it would be important to remember that social networks are virtual spaces in which people interact and not a new channel for brands and companies bombard us with advertising messages or unwanted advertising. Brands that want to have a future in social networks should plan a medium- and long-term relationship strategy with their followers, in which the main objective should be to provide added value to their followers, usually in the form of content.

However, this is not always the case and there are many brands and small businesses that enter social networks without any strategy and end up overwhelming or boring the follower.

To avoid this, you have to start the relationship upside down: think about who your target audience is, what content they can be of help and in what style we should serve them. This is important because in social networks there is usually no second chance and a follower will not spend much more than a few seconds to walk the timeline of the brand or company and decide whether to follow or not.

The Importance of Content Strategy

In order to ensure that the impression received by the follower in those few seconds is the one desired, in addition to the previous work of defining the target audience and the selection of contents, both own and third parties, it is convenient to do a small programming.

In this programming should be considered the best times of publication and the convenience of publishing some or other content depending on, for example, the day of the week in which they are to be published.

For example, the beginning of the week will be more convenient for more serious and professional content, while the end of the week will be the time for more playful and lightweight publications. The previous analysis will also be fundamental to choose the time slots in which the contents will have greater possibilities of reaching the target audience.

Knowledge of the ecosystem

The advantages of doing a previous study do not end there. Taking time to observe how people relate to social networks will also facilitate understanding of the unwritten rules that govern relationships in these channels.

This will prevent certain behaviors that may be aggressive or annoying to users, who may report the mark for spam, causing, in the worst case, the account closure.

It should be borne in mind that in these environments, it is not easy to differentiate the brand that acts incorrectly knowing the one who does it out of clumsiness or inexperience. Either of these assumptions produces a terrible impression.

Start relationship

If a follower appears on your brand page for the first time, you should be able to get a quick impression of what you will usually find in a few seconds. This will highlight the differential value of the brand, increase the chances of it becoming a follower and, in addition, help create the emotional connection needed to sell.

And all this is achieved with a good content strategy, so, do not be in a hurry and do the job well.