Posting with a Purpose in IMC

November 14, 2022 0 Comments

By: Amberlyn Pearce

(Photo by: Josh Krakauer via LinkedIn)

What does it mean to post with a purpose?

Posting with a purpose means understanding the goal behind what you are posting in order to achieve the results you are looking for. It’s posting with intent; this will help you get information across successfully and make the difference you are hoping for.

Building a Plan

Many people associate quality with quantity, and most of the time that is not the case with social media. You can post multiple times a day, but if the content isn’t good, it will either be ignored or misunderstood. It is important to be passionate about your brand. Whether it’s a product, a service, or an idea, you must be willing to stand behind it 100%. People want to see content they can connect with. This will change depending on your audience. This starts with evaluating your audience, having a plan, and finding ways to attract customer engagement.

Attracting your Target Audience

In IMC it is very important to be able to alter your communication depending on the target audience. For example, if you were trying to gain a child’s attention, you wouldn’t post the same thing as you would if you were trying to gain an adult’s attention. You first must figure out what your target audience likes, you can do this by practicing different posting strategies to see if you can attract a bigger audience. You can do things like posting more frequently, “centering posts on topics of interest, such as coming up opportunities for scholarships, continuing education credits, conferencing, or other upcoming events” (Rieger & Rozmus, 2019). You can also try adding more visuals such as photos, videos, and website links along with the usual weekly posts to make it more appealing to look at. Feedback from your audience can also be very helpful. You can request feedback by engaging in participatory posts. Examples of this would be surveys, asking questions, or posting opinion polls. Your post becomes more personal when your audience can interact and feel as if they are a part of your brand. This has been proven to be a successful way to learn about your audience. After experimenting, you can compare the engagement from before to the engagement now. Navigating new strategies to attract engagement and making the changes necessary is crucial to success.

(Photo by: Neil Patel)

Keeping your brand diverse!

Having a diverse brand is essential for the success of your business. Diversity is having a variety of genders, sexual orientations, cultural backgrounds, races, ethnicities, and skills in the workplace. It is important to acknowledge and support differences and celebrate the change in the communities. This will not only help satisfy your customers but will also bring in new customers. That’s why it is key to be able to communicate in a way that relates with these different groups of people so that they will see personal value in their belonging.  “The generational diversity of the workforce continues to evolve and, with it, the communication strategies to reach and engage each cohort” (Rieger & Rozmus, 2019).  

How to maintain your growth

When trying to maintain the growth of your brand it is important to know your consumers, understand the market of your brand, stay updated on the latest trends, and keep up with what is going on throughout the world in relation to your business. Keep your content inviting and interesting, this will make your customers want to come back for more. Stay dedicated to your brand and focus on your long-term goals. In efforts for your brand to continue to grow, you should always be on the lookout for new opportunities and ideas. Analyzing your competition, identifying their weaknesses, and capitalizing on their mistakes will only make your brand stronger. It is also good business practice to keep records of your progress and make sure to have a solid plan moving forward to keep your business moving in the right direction. Be willing to make sacrifices and take losses in order to find out what works best for your business. Stay openminded to new ideas, think outside the box, and be willing to accept change. It is important for your brand to be unique, having something that makes you stand out over the rest is crucial when growing your brand. Remember, your customers should always be your top priority, for they are the main source of your revenue. Lastly, make the most of every opportunity and don’t take your success for granted.

(Photo by: Kayla Matthews)

References

CategoriesCommunication Studies