Best practices for digital communication : situational analysis

Whether the aim is to highlight your entity or to create a space to express yourself and share the activities and projects you are undertaking each day, developing a community around your vision is the first step towards a successful online strategy.

However, simply creating a Facebook, Instagram or Twitter account is not enough to succeed. Indeed, building a discussion around all your activities requires time, resources and staff, as well as continuous monitoring to ensure constant, effective and well-targeted communication.

Major current trends in social media communication

In 2022, the major trends for developing a solid social media presence are focused on four key practices :

- Conversational marketing : Providing a space for mutual expression is one of the keys to building an online strategy. When publishing quality content, in line with your mission and vision, you need to not only generate interest but also invite your community to give feedback and interact with your points of view, actions and activities. Creating personalised interaction with Internet users makes them feel valued and, in turn, gives them a forum to express their opinions freely. So, do not leave your community to its own devices by offering only a ‘window’ into your brand; instead, make community management a priority. Reply to messages, back up your viewpoints when necessary with well-constructed arguments, figures or supporting illustrations. There are numerous ways of communicating with your audience on social media, so don’t miss out on this opportunity to strengthen your presence. Reply to comments and inbox messages, create surveys or quizzes. In short, ensure an interesting, constructive and lasting conversation with all your followers, or the audience whose attention you are trying to attract.

- Publish stories : Faced with the increasing number of communication mediums and formats, there are now numerous types of content populating our social media newsfeeds. Articles, videos, photos, infographics or even podcasts have now become the norm and are very popular among Internet users who keep coming back for more almost mechanically when they connect to their accounts. Following a page and staying loyal to the content it offers therefore requires continuous effort. The major trend at the moment is to post stories. These are short-lived, dynamic pieces of content allowing you to capture the attention of Internet users who are increasingly interested in event news or information, which constitutes a win-win strategy as they enable your entity to be active and present on a constant basis.

- Offer information while asserting your presence : In the vast ocean that is today’s Internet, where (almost) everything is within our reach, it has become more and more difficult to know whether the information presented to us is real or false. In this context, for any content that you create and want to share with your communities, it is essential that you make sure it is entirely true by carrying out research beforehand so that you can provide verified and high-quality messages to Internet users. This is background work that will enable you to establish a good reputation and become a point of reference and a serious player for your cause. So, check your sources, do not hesitate to cite them if you need to, call on specialists and invite qualified experts to confirm your positions and actions. The ultimate mistake would be to run the risk of being labelled as a producer of fake news, which could considerably harm your reputation.

- Republish existing content by innovating : The content you produce has a longer shelf life than you think. This provides a good way to economise and maximise the value of the work you create. For example, if you produce videos and post them on your social media platforms as you go, it is entirely possible for you to recycle them later on when the occasion presents itself, and to repost them when the issues they cover coincide with a current event or a world day, for example. To give them a fresh look, you can also revamp them a little by updating some of the information or even shortening them for greater impact. Indeed, posting very short videos is all the rage! 30 seconds max. is all it takes now to reach out to and pique the interest of Internet users looking for increasingly succinct content.

Why is it important to have a strong digital presence?

As mentioned above, simply creating social media accounts is not enough to be “visible”. Your digital presence needs to be built around a well thought-out strategy that then allows you to gear all your messages and the content your produce towards the position and objectives that you want to achieve. Establishing a good image of yourself will give you a greater chance of being followed, listened to, quoted and recommended by Internet users who cross your path. To exist among the thousands of accounts currently present on social media, a good digital presence is key to your success. Without it, it will be difficult to give visibility to the messages you create and want to share with as many people as possible. A good digital presence means a sustained level of activity, in all possible forms, formats and content. Vary your messages, create a weekly schedule to plan your posts in advance, continue building a narrative around your story and your actions.

In sum, you need to be in constant contact with Internet users to ensure you are part of their day-to-day routine. If you don’t, you could quickly be forgotten and your presence may never be seen due to a lack of content or a long period of inactivity.

Discover the complete guide : Best Practices for digital communication