It's All About Your Fan(base)

One of the most difficult things to do when engaging your fan base via social media is being able to anticipate what they want to know or even see on their screens, for that matter.  It is easy to keep followers interested and engaged when you have a well-recognized brand outside of the world of social media.  Ben & Jerry's, Apple and McDonald's seem to use social media as an enhancement to their corporate marketing strategies.  But what about the local mom & pop businesses and local non-profits?

All too often we see posts on local pages that have nothing to do with the business or organization.  It seems as if these posts are made simply to get the page to show up on a person's news feed.  Granted, not a totally bad strategy; however, posting several updates one right after the other will more than likely turn off the fan they worked so hard to get in the first place.

Many businesses and non-profits cater to a distinct niche demographic.  Their posts, while focusing on that demographic; should also attempt to draw in those who normally would not consider themselves in that group.  However, posting one of the million cat memes out there just for the sake of posting it, is not doing their marketing strategy any good.

Finally, the digital/social media coordinators of these pages need to remember to check their personal political and social opinions at the door before sitting down at the computer to work on their pages.  We all have personal opinions on gun control, sexual orientation, smoking, the "fiscal cliff", women's rights, etc.   The list is endless and so are the opinions out there.  Unless your organization is a champion of one of these causes, posts regarding them are best left for your personal Facebook, Google Plus, and Twitter accounts.

The bottom line is "It is what your fans want to see over what you want to post".