Social media for both personal and professional users is all about being, well, social. It’s about posting stuff that’s interesting to people — whether you’re a private individual posting funny pet videos or an accounting professional posting unique insights into the latest financial reporting trends..
But social media can be exceedingly frustrating for an accounting firm that’s trying to stay current and utilize a digital marketing strategy to build its brand, develop new business, and fuel growth. New platforms are always popping up, as well as additional ways to get in front of prospects online, and more tools to gather, manage and analyze data.
It’s easy to forget that social media is about connecting and engaging with people.
If you’re feeling anxious about how your firm is using — or not using — social media and getting confused by all the new developments and changing trends, relax. Despite the constant flux, two fundamental social media rules have never changed. If you keep these in mind and use them to evaluate social media options and opportunities, you’ll be just fine:
1. Be human every day, in every way.
Before you post anything, ask yourself: “Will this be interesting to another person, especially our target audience? Will it trigger a positive reaction? Will it encourage them to engage with us?”
The overwhelming reason why professionals are attracted to social media is because it’s so effective at helping individuals connect and network. Social media provides endless ways for users to find, access and engage with information that interests them. Businesspeople find social media highly effective for researching competitors, business partners and potential employees. It excels at connecting you with people you know and would like to know.
That means if your accounting firm wants people to be interested in you, you need to post information that will be interesting to them. As humans, we have an insatiable curiosity about what other humans are doing, experiencing, learning and accomplishing so it’s important to humanize every piece of content you post online. Business professionals like to read what experts have to say about a topic, so be sure to identify the author of any pieces you publish, highlight their expertise, and tag them to make them searchable.
Any firm announcements you post online should be about people, not accomplishments (at least not directly). Highlight your employees’ achievements and industry contributions. Include photos of them in action, not their professional headshots.
Virtually every social media platform makes it easy to engage with others, so take every opportunity to do so. If they post comments, “like” your posts or respond in any other way, be sure to respond quickly and appropriately. Make positive suggestions. Provide more information. Reinforce your firm’s expertise and become a reliable resource for them. People like to be recognized, respected and responded to. That means addressing all questions and issues — especially the negative ones. Do not ignore them — you risk damaging your brand and reputation. Always engage with a positive attitude and a problem-solving approach. The benefits can be enormous.
2. Be a helper.
A well-known story was told by Mr. Rogers about when he was child, anxious about bad news he was seeing on TV, and concerned about what to do. His mother told him, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
This advice holds true even in today’s uncertain business world. Organizations are always looking for help with financial reporting, taxes, payroll and other accounting-related issues that keep them awake at night. Put your firm in the position of being a helper, ready and able to lend a helping hand as an expert with the answers.
When you consider sharing content on social media, always ask, “Can this piece help my audience?” Sharing helpful, relevant and inspirational content makes you a trusted voice to your audience and helps you develop a reputation as a leader in the digital space. Instead of being overly self-promotional, become the trusted resource your client is looking for. Be a helper.
Don’t overthink your social media strategy.
You can drive yourself nuts trying to keep up with the latest platform updates or this week’s popular social media channel. Instead, focus on putting a human face on every social media touchpoint with which you choose to engage.
Use these tips to keep on track and avoid the mistakes that can trip up business professionals online:
- Post helpful content you’ve produced that’s useful to your audience;
- Share relevant, valuable third-party content your audience would find interesting;
- Engage your audience with polls and provide insights about topics in which they’re interested;
- Celebrate and promote your people and partners, not your firm; and,
- Tag the people in every post.
And don’t:
- Repetitively post your service offerings and self-congratulatory firm news;
- Directly message new connections with your elevator pitch — they’re not interested right now;
- Only post your firm’s content — instead be a trusted resource for ALL accounting information; and,
- Hoard content and discourage sharing.
It’s all too easy to get drawn into the mechanics of social media and miss its larger purpose. Focus on being relentlessly helpful to an audience that is searching for a trusted and reliable source of expert information in the wilderness of questionable content that is the web. Be helpful and success will follow.
