Bring some Soul to your Social Media

GUEST POST BY MIRANDA CROWHURST

Miranda is known for her role creating and staring in ‘Hey, English!’ videos for Twinkl. She is a co-founder of a language institute in Bolivia and currently teaches International Business at The University of Colorado.

Social Media… I’m not a fan of social media. However, I am a huge fan of the people on social media. Despite the algorithms that push people to hate, every day I see people who come online to share their love; love of their work, of their colleagues and friends, of their lives.

I see it as a responsibility to truly be a part of that; to be part of the good that social media can bring. And that’s not always straightforward, particularly if it’s your job. When I posted videos online for Twinkl, my responsibility was to show my boss how many people I’d reached and how many people now knew about the company. My salary depended on it.

So how can you make online content that works economically and ethically? How can you be nice on social media while also promoting a product? I’m still figuring it out myself, but here are five rules that I have learnt.

How can you be nice on social media while also promoting a product?

1. No cold opens.

“Hey, buy my product!” is about as effective as “Hey, wanna get married?” and it’s a lot more annoying. We’re sick of it. Instead of going on social media to shout about yourself, how great you are and how great your product is, instead go on social media to listen and get to know people. Just like you do in real life. Help people out whenever you can and find out what they need. Then develop a product around meeting that need. This is a long-term strategy but an effective one. A ‘cold open’ is likely to cause people annoyance, and they’ll develop a negative association with you. Is it really worth annoying 99 people to get one sale? I would say not.

2. Develop your ‘best friend voice’.

A lot of people feel like their online persona has to be flawless; she has not a blemish on her skin nor a misplaced apostrophe. But people really want to connect with other people. If you’re making video content (and if you’re doing marketing, you really should be doing video content) talk to the camera as if you’re talking to your best friend. If you’re talking about your expertise, talk about how you built that expertise (you’re not just a know-it-all all) and don’t be afraid to ask questions and admit you don’t know something, too.

Are you looking for fresh Video Post Ideas for your Language School’s Social Media?

FREE Download “21 Social Media Video Ideas e-book for Language Schools” created by Gina Rodriguez, ELT Marketing & Educational Consultant.

The e-book will give you:
*21 prompts that will inspire you to record videos that are unique to your school! ( No more stock videos!)

*A checklist to plan step-by-step your first social-media-friendly video.

*Guidelines for posting and repurposing social media videos

3. The listening loop.

Warning: the following paragraph will make you want new leggings.

So I’ve seen Popflex’s videos around for a while but it only recently struck me just how brilliant they are. She’s been able to perfectly combine great elements into really successful marketing and, I’m sure, make a ridiculous amount of money.

If you’re reaching this, take a deep dive into her videos for ten minutes and get to know her style. If you don’t, I’m afraid I won’t make much sense when I say… these are the things that she absolutely nails.

Popflex’s products are not produced and then marketed. They are marketed and then produced. The customers are brought along for every step in the journey, making the product truly about meeting their needs and listening to their suggestions. Firstly, these videos address a problem (“We need better leggings for sports”). Then, the product is developed, taking on board real customer suggestions (“Nice! But I want it to have bigger pockets!). Finally, the product is revealed.

This is the opposite of a cold call – you are there for the whole journey.

4.   Don’t tell. Show.

When you watch an advert on TV, it doesn’t tell people ‘This product helps you wash your cat’, it shows you how you use the product to wash your cat. Similarly, if you’re trying to let people know that you’re a good teacher, don’t tell them you’re a good teacher, show them an example of great teaching. Not only is this more persuasive, it also gives people value. If you can teach them something online for free, they trust you to be a good teacher in a full lesson. Just like in real life, it’s silly to walk around on social media talking about how great you are. Instead of saying ‘this fantastic product’, say ‘our fantastic customers’. Compliment other people and let them decide what to make of your product.

In recent market research, Gina Rodriguez found out that:

1. The number one challenge for language schools was to come up with ideas of what to post. 
2. 77% of the schools said the challenge was to get across what makes the language school unique.
3. Based on this research she created a free workbook to guide you in generating post ideas for your language school .This workbook will help you generate posts easily that reflect what makes your school special. Free Download here.

5. Be informative, relatable and funny (preferably at the same time).

A social media post that’s any one of these things will make someone’s day better. However, it’s when you nail being all three at the same time that you create something really memorable. It’s hard to be funny, so don’t be afraid to be a little silly on camera. Make fun of yourself first and foremost and laugh at your mistakes.

I hope this blog gives you a few ideas of how you could make your posts not just good for you, but good for the wonderful online community.

Miranda.

Miranda is known for her role creating and staring in ‘Hey, English!’ videos for Twinkl. She is a co-founder of a language institute in Bolivia and currently teaches International Business at The University of Colorado.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________Stuck with social media marketing? Get in touch with Gina. Gina Rodriguez is a Marketing Consultant specialized in language education with 25+ years in the ELT sector. She helps language schools and independent language professionals build an engaging social media presence through training, consultancy and tailored social media strategies. Contact Gina Rodriguez by email at hello@grschoolmarketing.com and book a no-obligation discovery call.