2017 which is around the corner, use of social media will gain more and more importance. It is very easy to get caught up in being repetitious, especially when you’re using more than one form of social media. How often have you found yourself in this situation… you have a special deal your dealership is offering. You assume you can post the image and text on all of your social media accounts, literally copy and pasting the message from Facebook to Twitter (watching out for Twitter’s 140 character limit of course), and so on down the line through your various social media accounts. This is repetition, using the same text and image across several social media accounts – and this is what you need to avoid.
You might think repetition is easier (and it is) and that there’s no harm since different people use different social media accounts (wrong!). While some people only use one social media account, many customers will follow your dealership on two or more of your social media accounts and this is why you must be careful not to confuse consistency with repetition.
Consistency is about delivering the same message, not the same wording.
The reason repetition is easy, and dealership often fall into this social media trap, are endless: lack of new content, creative lapses, feeling the need to post when there is nothing ‘new’ to post, etc. The problem with repetition, however is that it will bore, even annoy your audience. In a nutshell, repetition should be avoided at all costs.
But you want to advertise your latest offer on all of your accounts, and no one is saying you should neglect any of the accounts, or that you should devise completely different messages for each Social Media channel, far from it. You want to reach 100% of your followers, not just the 35% that may follow one social media channel or the 40% who might be following another. The question becomes, “How can you be consistent, promoting the same message, without being repetitive?” The answer isn’t as hard as you might expect.
Methods for Posting a Consistent (Not repetitive!) Message
- Change the wording or even some of the details - You might post “Great lease deal starting today on Ford F150 $279/mo. for 24 mos.” on Twitter, but expand on the details for Facebook where you don’t have a 140 character limit.
- Use Different Images – Maybe you’re still pushing that Ford F150. You must have more than one image for it. Perhaps an exterior shot of a Red F150 goes on Twitter, while you use a White F150 with a different angle on Facebook. You may have delivered essentially the same message to people who follow you on both, but you’ve provided different photos, giving them something new to look at.
- Combine messages – Maybe your Facebook audience asks more questions and gives you an opportunity to be more casual. Your twitter account might, on the other hand, be a venue for delivering the facts with less banter. Only you can say how you want to approach your various social media accounts, but consider the personalities involved in each when creating your posts and you’ll find yourself creating different posts while delivering essentially the same message.
- Post your messages/images at different times/days – When you post at different times of the day and night, you’ll find you may have updated or additional information to add to a post, making that post inherently different.
Once you get started (with just a few posts), you’ll discover it doesn’t take much to give your posts their own individuality without losing the message or risking repetition. Focus on changing one element each time, and see how your customers respond. You may see patterns develop, giving you insight into the type of consumers following you on the various social media channels. However you approach social media, keep in mind that Repetition is Easy, but Consistency is Effective.