Boring brands can succeed on social media

Posted on Monday November 09, 2015

For many business owners who have dabbled in social media, they may think their efforts have been in vain and growing a large social media presence is impossible. They may go as far to believe that social media simply doesn't work, especially when you don't have an exciting brand like Nike or Google. The truth is you can succeed with social media, even if you have a boring brand. And here is one company that is doing just that.

Owning a "boring brand" is not an excuse for a poor social media presence

You've probably heard of 3M but may not know exactly what they do. However, there's a good chance you may have some of their products in your house. If you have Ace bandages, Scotchgard, or Post-it notes lying around your bathroom or home office, then you are guilty of being an owner of 3M products.

So when it comes to social media, why does this company matter? Simple. They have 121,000 followers on Twitter, which may sound pretty remarkable when the name of this brand isn't Apple, BMW or Taylor Swift. So how does a company like 3M succeed? Here are a few things they do well, and you can do too.

Invest in people

If you're the sole person shooting out tweets, updating the status of your business's Facebook page or writing articles to post on Linkedin - all while you're trying to run your business - it's no wonder your social media presence is failing. You know as well as anyone, that you don't have the time for it. And for this reason, it's impossible to put your full effort into growing a social media presence. So why not hire at least one expert (or maybe a few) to manage it for you? You'll likely see a noticeable uptick in your followers. And even better, you'll no longer be distracted with social media, and can focus on growing your business. What's not to love about that?

As for 3M...you may wonder, how many people do they employ to manage their social media presence? The answer is about ten, which is a very tiny percentage of the 90,000 employees who work there. Obviously, with 120,000 followers, their efforts are paying off.

Shoot for more content over quality content

Quality content is undoubtedly important, but quality should not be an excuse to avoid publishing content. As a business owner, that means you can't review and approve every post and article that goes out. You need to trust your social media team to do their job. What's more, you may fear that your team could commit some social media faux pas and accidentally publish content that outrages some of your followers. Here's a news flash for you: it's likely going to happen at one point or another. 3M publishes content quickly. Do you think they've posted content that some of their 120,000 followers have disagreed with? Of course they have. When you speak to the masses, there is no way to please everybody. So sit back, accept it and trust your social media staff. Mistakes will happen, but nothing engages your followers more than fresh, timely content. That is except for this last pointer...

Ask questions

Many social media platforms are all about engagement. If you're aiming for more followers, you need to engage your customers and prospects. And a perfect way to do so is to ask questions. Not only does this create a connection between your brand and your customer, but it also attracts new followers. 3M posed the question, "what does science mean to you?" to their Twitter following with some incredible results. The tweet generated more than 500 favorites and 200 retweets. This is an example of the power of a question. So when it comes to social media, remember to ask questions, respond and engage. This is what many of the platforms are designed for.

What it comes down to is that your business already provides value and improves your customers' lives in one way or another. If it didn't, no one would buy from you and you wouldn't have a business to begin with. So leverage that value and educate your customers on social media. You are the expert, and there are people out there who are interested in what you have to say.

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