Why you are potentially damaging your company’s reputation by marketing on social media.
Social media wasn’t designed to market Safety, Security & Risk Management services but, in the absence of an alternative, companies will use those channels because of the perceived reach, but will often create content that attempts to engage an [inappropriate] audience in a way that may negatively impact their reputation.
Safety, Security & Risk Management companies contain experts in their respective fields. They are not digital marketing agencies. The larger companies will be able to invest in digital marketing capability, but most SMEs tend to engage in social media in a less-than-strategic way! That is to say, they don’t approach marketing from the point of view of understanding who they are trying to reach, i.e. what is their ICP – Ideal Customer Profile.
On TikTok, Instagram, or Facebook… etc, the majority of followers have no interest in the services being showcased. They didn’t go on to these channels to solve a security-related challenge. Even LinkedIn, the “business network,” is not ideal as a means to promote capability – although you can target demographics with adverts at ever-increasing cost, it remains that most people don’t sign up to LinkedIn to keep informed about the latest offerings in the market. That’s not what social media is for.
What you cannot do, easily or at all, with social media is compare and contrast the actors in the market – seek out options, access customer testimonials, review pricing alternatives, view compliance documentation, watch capability previews and demos via video. Instead, buyers using social media, due to limited sourcing alternatives, waste precious time talking to companies with a potentially less-than-optimal solution to their problem, and an equally suspect history of delivering it.
So, when thinking about social media, consider:
- Facebook: videos and curated content.
- Instagram: photos, quotes, stories.
- Twitter: News, blog posts, and GIFs.
- LinkedIn: Jobs, company news, and professional content.
- Pinterest: Infographics and step-by-step photo guides.
Understand your ICP. Understand what platforms attract what kind of user base. Understand the message you are conveying. Understand how you are conveying it, and why.
Better still: use a network designed specifically for, and dedicated to, marketing to the Safety, Security, & Risk Management community!
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Marshal is a digital hub for Safety, Security, & Risk Management services. For stakeholders accountable for protecting lives and safeguarding assets, we help make procurement and recruitment of diverse capability easier, faster, and more transparent.
Visit https://marshalhub.com/