Is social media meant for information or engagement?

I look at how companies use social media and they make it look so easy. Effortless. Natural. Then I try to use social media and it reminds me of a baby trying to crawl. Along a tight rope. While drinking a bottle of milk.This is the daily battle I face when creating content for my companies’ social media platforms. I decided to start looking into other brands to see who is doing it well and what they are doing. Being the curious person that I am, I also wanted to see if luxury brands can do it better. The results came as a bit of a surprise.

Barefoot is consistent across all platforms. Their website tells the same story as their Facebook and Instagram.

The images used to represent the brand are consistent without being repetitive. They create their own content which makes the brand seem more authentic. Barefoot has over one million ‘likes’ on Facebook. Each video post has at least 2,000 likes and all of their videos and images are shared. The videos on Facebook are in line with the images they post on the other platforms. The create platforms for their consumers and followers to engage with each other. It begs the question if social media is more effective when used to inform or when it is used to engage followers.

It is clear the marketers know exactly who their target is. They show the experience of being a part of their brand and consuming their products while still making the product the focal point of every image. The videos show other ways their products can be consumed as a way to educate their audience. They educate in a way that pulls people in and causes them to pull their friends in as well. The key is that they know their audience, the way they think, and what speaks to them.

RdV’s website portrays the company as a luxury brand. As you can see from the picture, it is sleek and clean. I was confident that I knew who they were marketing to until I looked at their Facebook and Instagram pages. The product was not the focal point in over half of their pictures. Their followers would need to dig to find out exactly what the images were trying to convey.

This is in stark contrast to Barefoot where the images tell a story without needing to read a caption or go to the website. The engagement on the social media pages of RdV was almost non-existent. The Instagram pictures used were the exact same as the Facebook pages. They told the story of their company clearly but not in a way that caused their followers to engage.

At this point, I was frustrated. How do you make people like, comment, share without asking? What draws people in to your brand? Then it hit me and wanted to hang my head in shame. Both companies are telling a story. Their story.

Barefoot tells the exact same story over and over. RdV seems to tell two parts to one story. The first part is told on their website and the second part is shown on their social media platforms.

I learned that marketing is all about telling a story to a specific group of people. Successful marketers can tell the same story with pictures on Instagram that they can using words in a blog post. They can create content in a way that their customers can read the first part of their story on the website and continue reading the last half of the story on Instagram with little to no effort.

I realized that my issue is not that I do not know how to use these platforms. I can post a picture and add a caption. My struggle was having my story accurately represent my brand and the type of clients I want to work with. Yes, I may struggle along this tight rope now but I will continue to study and analyze other brands, my target market, and become confident in the way I tell my story. One day soon, I will be able to dance across the tight rope while drinking a glass of wine.