Monkey Around With Media in 2016

If you follow the Chinese zodiac, then you will know that 2016 is the year of the Monkey. The Monkey is defined as being flexible and human-like. Along with being the most human in the animal kingdom, they are identified as being quick thinkers. Last, but certainly not least, leadership is one of their strongest traits.

You’re probably wondering why I am telling you all of this monkey-business-hoo-ha. Just think… Well, what sort of qualities do you try to present on your social media?

You guessed it… Quick thinking, human-like, flexibility, and great leadership.

Whether you are serious or sarcastic in the tone of your brand, it is crucial to remain creative and vigilant in order to find what gets your audience to tick.

A large chunk of businesses are on social media, meaning you have a lot of competition when it comes to organic reach. The reach you get is out of your control – to an extent – so make 2016 about covering all of your other bases. Do not jump into paid advertising with terrible content; rather, try to focus on the quality of your interactions before paying for ads. Learn what gets the best organic reach and engagement before investing money into those posts.

Let’s jump into the traits, shall we?

Quick Thinking

From responding to customers to disaster control, what sets you apart from the rest is your response time and how you handle any situation, be it simple or severe. Have quick responses to general inquiries and a well thought out plan-of-action for the difficult scenarios.

Sometimes, your business might not even be mentioned when a customer is referencing you. Alternatively, they might only hashtag the business (ie. #SOSMediaCorp instead of @SOSMediaCorp). If you aren’t properly monitoring hashtags, negative issues might fall through the cracks with serious consequences, potentially tarnishing your reputation. That should not be the reason your business suffers.

Social media managers are able to configure a strategy that allows for any reference of your business to be screened and reviewed to see if it requires a response or not.

Human-like

We talk about being human-like so often. We don’t want to sound like a broken record, so we are going to approach the subject from a different angle. It is no longer B2B or B2C, but human to human.

In the past, we have mentioned how humanness can be portrayed in telling the story of your business – which is great! Do not stop doing that!

Along with this strategy, you should attempt making very personalized replies that empathize with the feelings of your audience! Sometimes, businesses come under fire for using too generic of a response. They are viewed as careless – treating everyone like a number.

You can see an example of this below, where British Airways replied to an internationally recognized cricket player, with the simplest of replies. They came under fire from a very large audience on Twitter, with people mocking the company while using the hashtag #NeveronBA.

@sachin_rt We’re sorry to hear this Sachin, could you please DM us your baggage ref, full name and address so we can look into this for you?

— British Airways (@British_Airways) November 13, 2015

If you can start meaningful conversations and create a personality for your business, people will surely pick up on it and want to interact even more. The benefit of this? Better organic reach and engagement, thus better paid reach.

Flexibility

Think outside of the box… do something different that you never would have thought of! Try using a Meme Generator to make relevant quips about your business, start a blog, or host a giveaway of one of your products!

Some industries, such as dentistry, are oftentimes quite serious in portraying news. I, for one, was terrified to get my wisdom teeth taken out and would have most certainly been comforted by some humour.

Check out the below video for an example! Now that’s something I’d love to see my dentist do!

 

 

Leadership

Remove the words “jealously” and “envy” from your vocabulary. No more comparing yourself to other businesses. Don’t see it as them setting the bar – have confidence and set the bar yourself. When you think negative thoughts and foster doubts, it’s only taking away energy that could be used for positively portraying your business.

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Final Thoughts

Just like a monkey leads their troop, you are the alpha. Your duty is to set the example and become an influential force among your viewers.

As stated above, your social media manager is trained in creating the voice and branding throughout all social media channels. Let’s monkey around and become a troop… a force to be reckoned with in 2016!