Writing engaging social media posts for your channel partners can seem like a mystery. What do your followers really want to hear? What will make new partners want to follow you? Figuring out what will make your followers share, like, or re-tweet your posts can be frustrating and seemingly without a logical pattern. As PC Magazine so eloquently put it Just be brilliant and interesting−easier said than done. We’ve assembled seven tips to help you create more engaging social media posts.
- Audience. If you want to increase your followers and more importantly their level of engagement you need to provide a reason for your partners to connect with you. A few questions to consider: What do your partners need from you? How can you help your partners solve their own pain points? We will get more in depth on this question throughout the following tips, but it’s important to remember to always begin with your audience in mind.
- Message. Have a clear set of topics to help your audience understand if you are a good fit for them to follow. For the channel, ideally you should create partner-facing social media profiles, for example McAfeeChannels, this way all of your posts will be channel-specific.
- Listen. Before posting out to your social media listen to your partners to understand what they consider important. Topics of interest to your partners may include industry-specific news, new innovation, or tips on how your partners can grow their business. The group managing your company social media accounts should be cognizant of your partners pain points and the latest industry news.
- Content. Contrary to what you might think, your social media platforms are NOT a soapbox to purely announce your company’s achievements. The primary function of your social media posts are to engage with your audience by providing them content that helps THEM (review tips 1 & 3 again). When you share your own material, such as a relevant blog article, infographic, whitepaper, etc., make sure it is helping your partners.
- Simplify. In writing your post use as few words as possible, ideally 1 to 2 sentences that leverage emotions and leave your partners wanting more. This could include a question to your audience; a sentence on how the article you’re sharing will solve their pain points; a slightly controversial statement; a list description; or other catchy brief headline. Over the next week, take note of which social post you choose to click on and which ones you don’t click on, this will help to give you an idea of what is engaging to your partners (remember, your partners are people just like you).
- Personality. Social media is not a place to be boring. Don’t be afraid to use a little humor or take an opinion on a post (staying within your companies guidelines of course). Personality helps to elicit an emotional response, which leads to higher engagement. If you are using a visual platform (e.g. Twitter or Facebook) feel free to post photos of your channel-facing team or partner events.
- Promote. What about me? Everyone loves a little recognition and your channel partners are no different. Try to post once a week recognizing an accomplishment of a channel partner (calling our their social media handle or page of course).
While each audience is slightly different, these tips should help boost your partner engagement. What other strategies have you tried to increase partner engagement on social media? Which ones worked and which ones didn’t work? Leave a comment below!
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