By Anuschka Richards, Sebolelo Leanya and Solomon Nakana

When it comes to social media we often think it’s all about posting statuses, being witty and having good pictures that make you look cool and create more engagement, but really it’s a different ball game when you are managing the social network pages for brands.   As Amanda Sevasti from NativeVML puts it, “it takes a lot of fore thought than just posting on social media randomly” one has to have a content plan, know exactly what to post and which social platform to use. During her presentation we realised that actually planning for these platforms is different due to their differences in what happens and how to get that sought after customer engagement and followers. This is all determined by the careful planning a month before happy posting.

There is a lot of thought going into social media as one has to strategically plan when to post and know what kind of content can draw more engagement. Amanda mentioned that brands should have more personality. They should stop with the advertising and that salesman talk. It is also very important to engage more with your followers and be conversational. What was interesting was the penalising on the Facebook. This doesn’t encourage begging, leave the begging for the funding on that charity project. Instead try to earn likes and engagement by producing quality content. This is what twitter encourages by asking for “Retweets” and it will rock your accounts.

Image Source: Social Media Strategy

Another important element of using social media for marketing, is the amount of control that is handed to the consumer. Suddenly the interaction between brands and customers becomes a two-way thing. And in fact, I think social media gives the customer more power because we all know how powerful word-of-mouth is. Are you more likely to believe what a brand tells you about themselves or what your friends say about that brand? Social media gives rise to the birth of consumer journalism. But social media isn’t only leveraged to gain favour with consumers. It offers the advantage of sharing your opinions and actions with a large, global audience right from the comfort of your own home. It is empowering. Suddenly you are no longer just watching Game of Thrones and commenting by yourself. You are able to become part a larger global audience and through your tweets and posts, you can also become an acclaimed commentator, critic and recognised fan. As long as you keep it Interesting, Relevant and Brief.

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