What can you talk about when you don’t have anything to talk about?
Are you going through a dry spell? If that’s the case, and you don’t have any breaking news from your company, your team are taking their holidays, and there haven’t been any events to go to, what on earth are you going to post on your social media channels??
An early Ramadan ahead of the long Dubai summer has meant that most events and big ticket news items have been put on hold until September at the earliest, leaving those of us here in the UAE without much ‘live’ interactive content and therefore dwindling social media posts. That shouldn’t be the case however, yes, live event coverage is one of the easiest pieces of content to collect and post, but with a little bit of thought and effort, you can use the summer months to create a whole collection of new content, which adds value to your audience, rather than simply documenting events/news.
We’ve included three of our suggestions for non time-sensitive content that could be collected/created and shared during the summer months (and maintained/repeated again later in the year). If you’d like to hear more suggestions, or brainstorm content ideas with peers, please do get in touch with us to join one of our workshops.
FAQ’s
When you tell people what you do, what are the first things they ask? Are there any common misconceptions about your industry, job role, the region? What are the most common questions you get asked on social media, when people email you and when you meet people for the first time? List the questions, no matter how basic you might feel they are – if one person has asked the question, you can guarantee there are others who would have the same question for you. Draft responses to those questions – maybe address each one, or group them together in blog posts as a hub for your enquiries. Think about how you can share the information visually – could you record videos with someone giving the response, or possibly just the audio which could be overlaid onto an image, and/or could you create a simple graphic with the question and answer?
Problem solving
We hate to break it to you, but people are not really interested in your product or service, or the awards you’ve won, or how long you’ve been in business, or who you know. They have a problem and they need a solution, which you may just be able to help them with. As my dear friend Matt Wilson puts it – people do not buy a drill bit because they want a drill bit, they want a hole, but actually they don’t really want the hole, they want to put a screw in the wall, but in reality the screw in the wall isn’t what they care about, they want to put a shelf up, but even the shelf doesn’t really interest them, they only want that shelf in order to be able to put their books up on display, or put ornaments out of reach of the children, or to add to the feng shui of their home or office – whatever the reason, this is their motivation, it’s not out of a love of drill bits, screws or shelving. If you know the motivations of your audience – the real emotional driving force behind the buying, and the problem(s) that they need solving, then you can create content around these solutions, beyond simple recommendation of your products/services. If you were that drill-bit vendor, you could create content that appeals to whichever of those motivations is behind your audience, whether its tips for decluttering, creating a safe home environment, improving feng shui, etc. Again, think about how this could be delivered through a series of videos or images, whether as tips, or in a step-by-step format.
Common complaints/issues
No matter how good you are, people will complain about you at some point, somewhere (whether you choose to seek it out and listen is another thing altogether!) In the same way that you have frequently asked questions, I would imagine you have common complaints or issues too. Most of the time these issues focus around the product/service itself not being as expected, the price of the product/service, or the actual service/manner/attitude of your staff. Most people would prefer to keep these issues buried – deal with them on an individual basis as they arise and take them offline as quickly as possible. This is standard crisis comms and issues management response for social media. However if it is an issue or complaint that has occurred a number of times, then it might be a better idea to address it head on and publicly, so that when the next person raises it, you can direct them to the answer/explanation on your website, rather than consistently going through the same process on social media. It also means if anyone googles the issue, they will hopefully see your response first. These explanations/issues responses are best delivered through video format, as you will garner more trust by showing a human face with real genuine expression. These kinds of videos help to improve perception and trust in the brand because you are being proactive, honest and authentic – they turn what was originally negative sentiment into positive sentiment for the majority of your audience. Are there any issues/rumours/misconceptions/complaints that you could address proactively?
There are obviously many more forms of content that work well during less active times, if you’d like to know more, or discuss any of the ideas above, please do email us sam@footstepcommunciations.com for a consultation, or to join one of our monthly workshops.
Thanks – have a great week!
