Since 2006, there has been a 365% increase in social media usage. How many of those users are following your company?
Imagine if there was a more efficient way to connect with your audience: a way to keep your business professional yet relevant. The 5-3-2 rule is a simple, but effective method. It models the type of content for every ten social network posts. The beauty of this rule is that you can apply it to any social network that you currently use.
Social Media Tip For Every 10 Posts:
5: Five posts with content from others.
This could be anything from retweeting an article to sharing another company’s blog. Keep in mind that whatever you decide to post should be relevant to your target audience. For instance, if you’re operating a shoe company, a good post could be an article on new findings for arch support. It’s good practice to share your opinion with the article, or video, that you decide to post. Even if it’s only a few words, your thoughts on the subject – Remember, make sure the article you share is relevant to your market.
You might think to yourself, “Why wouldn’t I just write my own article instead of sharing someone else’s content?” That is definitely a good question. The key in social networking is “networking.” Your company alone may only have a small fan base. But, if another company returns the favor and shares your article as well, then your following grows that much more.
3: Three posts with content from you.
So, is it time to advertise your new hovercraft on Twitter? No. – Well, if you have a hovercraft for sale in 2015 you might want to do so. Back to the future, anyone?
But on a serious note, these three posts should be relevant to your audience. At the same time you should avoid direct advertising of your merchandise or service. You should be selling your company’s image, not products. It’s your turn to give the audience an original message, article, or video, which interests them. Back to my shoe company reference, one of your posts could be about your thoughts on the latest cushion technology.
Keep in mind, being original doesn’t always mean writing about a “new” topic. Instead, writing from your honest perspectiveon an interesting topic can be enough, if not better.
2: Two posts with something unrelated to your company.
It’s social networking, real people are following you and real people need a break from the business side of life. You don’t want to be viewed as a sales bot. Instead, post something about your day or something that could make your channel more personable. If there was ever a time to post that picture of your cat wearing that hip tie, it would be in these two leisure posts.
There are many variations of the 5-3-2 rule but I found this to be the most effective. You’re free to mix it the order, just follow this outline for every ten posts you do. It won’t be long until you are a pro at it!
Author: Malane Thou was a digital marketing intern with Primal Digital Marketing (now owned by Bbg, Inc.). He graduated from Rhode Island College with studies in advertising, sociology, and computer science.
