Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Oh My!
I don’t even know where to start with this one. I, the professional expert, am overwhelmed by social media. Social media best practices is gonna have to be like a mini-blog within this blog. But let’s start with a broad view. I think it’s really important to identify the differences in each site - and how they are all kind of like different worlds. Once you understand who you should be in each world, you’ll know how to best attract the attention of the audience you want.
DISCLAIMER: I am writing this to tailor to insurance agents. If you’re a florist don’t come to me for social media advice because it’s totally different for your industry. I’m not the one.
Facebook Persona
Think of your Facebook persona as like, who you’d be at your graduation party or your wedding. EVERYONE in your life is there - family, friends, co-workers, etc. You want to come off as your most genuine self, even though most of the people here know different versions of you. There is the most opportunity here because it is the most comprehensive audience. Don’t be overly formal or you will struggle to connect with your followers. Don’t be so informal that you come across as unprofessional or immature. Like at your wedding, you’d probably act like yourself for the most part but you’d watch yourself a little bit because your grandparents are there. This is your best platform and definitely the social network where you’ll get the most return on investment of your time or your advertising dollars.
Instagram Persona
Instagram is who you are with your peers. If you’re one of my insurance agents, the ones that wear red, you only recently were even allowed to have an Instagram. Millennials and after are the primary audience here. Anyone over ~45-50 may use the app, but they aren’t spending most of their web time there. It’s unlikely they’ll make purchase decisions here. But those 45 & below that do spend every waking second on Instagram are big value to marketers and advertisers. This audience thinks Instagram is cooler, younger, and more relatable. There are no great aunts on here writing weird comments. We actually buy things off Instagram ads. If we have consistent engaging content, we’ll retain our following. Instagram is huge for brand building.
LinkedIn Persona
LinkedIn to me is like an extremely overcrowded career fair. There’s like WAY too many business people here promoting. There’s very little genuine engagement. It’s hot. There’s no food. You just want to get in and get out. On LinkedIn you should be very professional and borderline stuffy. I don’t even know why people still use LinkedIn, but I get asked about it often enough that I’m including it. I do not recommend advertising on LinkedIn. I have never even heard a true success story of recruiting & hiring on LinkedIn, but if you insist on having one, this is what you should lean towards. Hiring and also connecting with other business owners. Again, I think LinkedIn is oversaturated, and the overly professional feel does not allow for genuine connections to form. Any time you spend on LinkedIn would be better invested on Facebook or Instagram. That’s my honest opinion, if you don’t agree, I still like you and encourage you to follow your dreams.
Hopefully this helps clarify who to be and where. All social platforms are not equal. They serve different purposes, with different audiences. I wrote about them in order I find them to be important and valuable to insurance agents. Notice I didn’t even mention Twitter?
I will have tons more posts on Facebook and Instagram! Stay tuned, and if you ever want to submit a topic idea please do - martina@uptownmarketing.com