Sharing posts from other users is helpful on social media for several reasons. First, it helps associate you with these other businesses and influencers. This can help you bring over some of their followers, and it builds trust if the posts you’re sharing are from recognized experts in their fields. It’s also a good way of keeping your followers engaged without the need to create new content yourself. But how do you determine what posts to share? Here are a few tips.
Know What Your Followers Want
You can’t know exactly what every single person following your social media is going to want, of course, but you should have a good idea of what your overall audience is looking for. Sharing content from others in your industry (not direct competitors, though) is always a good place to start. Think about what someone who is interested in what you have to offer would want to know about or may have questions about. This type of related content is usually good to share. For example, a florist might share a blog article about the meaning of different colored roses or information about a local flower festival.
What Brand Are You Creating?
While you may personally find a meme hilarious and want to share it, stop and think if it fits with the brand you’re cultivating. For some businesses, it’s very on-brand to be very informal and share jokes every now and then. For those projecting more of a formal, professional brand, though, sharing these posts may not be appropriate. Share them to your personal social media, but keep them off your business pages. Also be very, very careful with sharing anything offensive. You don’t want to lose followers because of a shared post.
Where Is the Shared Post Coming From?
Is the post’s author well-known? Do they have a positive online reputation? While you don’t always need to share posts from major personalities or brands, it does help build trust and can increase your followers. At the very least, you want to make sure the posts you’re sharing are not spreading false information or lead to low-quality sources that would poorly reflect on you. Pages with a lot of ads, for example, may come across as spam. Check the link before you share it to see exactly what you’re offering your followers.
Need some help finding great posts to share or with your social media campaign in general? BlendIM can help. Our professionals have years of experience in social media marketing. Contact us today to discuss how we can help you.
