Best practices for digital communication : what strategy should I adopt on social media?

Social media presence approach

Firstly, assert your presence on social media by following these eight key steps :

1- Audit your presence : if you are already present on social media, carrying out an audit of your accounts is key to helping you understand what’s happening on each one. This will enable you to take a step back and analyse what works and what doesn’t, understand whether there are any accounts pretending to be you and “stealing” your followers, whether your visual identity or your account manager profiles need adjusting or even whether you need to create new opportunities to better develop and involve your target audience.

2- Define a strategy : we can never stress this enough – establishing a strategy will allow you to better organise and deploy your messages on social media. Whether you have just completed the audit of your existing social media accounts or are right at the start of this adventure, be aware that this step is indispensable and will allow you to build your image through a consistent editorial line, a well-developed discourse and scheduled posts. This is another necessary step back that will enable you to act and react more effectively, to refine your content in advance and constantly perfect your brand and image. Create an annual strategy, then break it down into monthly or even weekly aims, if required, for greater precision. Ensure your communication is meaningful by using the key themes that characterise your raison d’être. Writing down all your objectives and what you want to relay on paper will not only be a source of creativity for your future content, it will also ensure a more effective presence for your communities.

3- Listen to the conversations : learn to be attentive to the headline stories and trends on social media. This will allow you to ensure your messages are relevant in today’s world and ride the wave of success of the subjects that interest and appeal to Internet users the most. Stick to your values and your mission, but do not hesitate to seize an opportunity to take part in the conversation. This will also generate a positive image of you and will establish you as a reactive, informed and relevant player. And for even greater comprehensiveness, read the comments and listen to the conversations that Internet users are having about the subjects closest to your cause. By doing this, you will gain a greater understanding of your target audience and how to integrate their various visions into the future content you want to produce. This is a way of creating closeness and greater appreciation of your social media accounts.

4- Be present : start by choosing the right social networks, especially the most popular ones, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. Be active to gain recognition, develop a community and foster loyalty by interacting constructively with it. Always bear in mind the primary objective behind joining each social network, what identifies you and what you want to share through your actions. Finally, to guarantee your presence, create relevant, quality content, determine how often you will publish content beforehand and draw up a content schedule to help you plan this.

5- Always be prepared : social media monitoring is an integral part of a good social media strategy. Whether you do this via tools that are available free of charge or for a fee (Brandwatch, Hootsuite or even Talkwalker), this will allow you to set up an active monitoring system that will enable you to access valuable information about your various target audiences and find out more about their interests and affinities, giving you the knowledge to approach them more effectively in future. You should also stay prepared by keeping an eye on what your competitors are doing. By doing this, you can analyse the best practices linked to your activities and take inspiration to create increasingly relevant and innovative content. Monitoring also means being ready to anticipate periods of criticism. By regularly analysing trends and comments on social media, you can adjust your communication and thereby avoid taking a stance against the general opinion of your target audience. Lastly, for good reputation management, analyse the tone of all exchanges and comments in which you are mentioned.

6- Respond and help : don’t forget that it is important to respond to your community when they contact you. Whether you receive questions or requests for information or details, make sure one or more of your staff members are on hand to offer a quick response. Good moderation allows you to create a strong bond and even a lasting relationship with those interested in you.

7- Initiate dialogue : don’t wait for people to come to you, as this might take ages, or even be entirely unsuccessful. The very essence of a social network is interaction. So, try to vary your posts so as to present a range of increasingly more attractive content. Engage in the conversation, call out to your community, get them to participate, ask them for their opinions on your actions and positions. This will give you a greater chance of generating loyalty and attracting other people to your page.

8- Build your community : to create a solid and engaged community around your various social media accounts, you need to be patient and create daily engagement. Your communication must be suitable for the features of each social network. Your posts must be recurrent, interesting and relevant for your community.

4 steps for developing a social media strategy: The “POST” method

To help you develop an optimum social media strategy, simply apply the POST (People + Objectives + Strategy + Technology) method, which we invite you to discover below :

Step 1 : Determining target audience and human resources

So, you have a message, but to whom do you want to address it? What types of Internet users do you want to reach out to and what community do want to build around your page? By answering these questions, you will be able to determine your target audience, understand them better and therefore produce content that perfectly meets their needs and expectations. What’s more, your communication depends on the means at your disposal. Human resources are essential for good management of your social media accounts. Therefore, you must appoint a person/people to take responsibility for your constant communication (community manager, communication officer, etc.), and allocate their roles clearly to ensure optimum performance.

Step 2 : Setting clear objectives

For each social network on which you are present, set specific objectives. This will allow you to align your online presence and your content creation. Whether your aim is to increase your visibility, create a community around your identity or your positions, display your expertise or something else, depending on the objectives you want to achieve, you need to adapt your communication in line with this aim and publish content that is consistent with both your vision and that of your target audience.

Step 3 : Developing strategies to implement

By implementing a strategy, as mentioned above, you will be able to better steer your actions and have to hand a document to which you can refer to check whether or not you are on the right track. Start by establishing a realistic and concise plan: choose your objectives, research your target audience and the competition, carry out an audit of your social media presence, configure your accounts and improve your profiles, create your content schedule, produce impactful content and, lastly, monitor your performance and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Step 4 : Choosing the best technology

To achieve all your objectives, it is a good idea to use dedicated tools to manage your social networks and help you accomplish your mission. In addition to the tools that are available free of charge, such as Meta Business Suite for Facebook and Instagram in particular, there are also now numerous other tools accessible in trial or paid versions, such as Buffer or Hootsuite, that will provide you with an overview of all your accounts, saving you time and increasing your effectiveness. What’s more, these tools will provide you with numerous benefits: permanent, targeted monitoring, a deeper knowledge of your target audience, simpler interactions, better planning of your posts, reactive, customised moderation, simplified management of your campaigns and even a managed e-reputation.

Discover the complete guide : Best Practices for digital communication