Page 60 - How to write effective business English your guide to excellent professional communication by Fiona Talbot

Telling your story through social media 49

focus always has to be about creating good-quality content and
coherence between your website and your communication off that
platform, including social media posts. How engaging both are af-
fects your visibility and could impact on your SEO ranking.
Google’s guidelines for SEO state that pages must be written pri-
marily for users, not for search engines: ‘#1: Focus on the user and
all else will follow’ and this rings true for social media generally.
Beyond that you will need:

● ● a clear structure that’s easy to read;
● ● useful links that add value to the text (that is, don’t link for the
sake of it);

● ● to engage social signals that are likely to improve your visibility.
Social signals mean the interaction your website and social media
posts are gaining (visits, likes, shares, dialogue, etc). It’s about real-
izing that you’re no longer just broadcasting, you need to be part
of a conversation – and a listener too. When everyone is an author,
make sure you’re generating content that’s valued. Write things of
interest, offer value, project a brand that engages, get involved –
and show you’re interested too.
Look at this Facebook offer from Pizza Express (fast-food
company).

CASE STUDY Create your new favourite pizza

Pizza Express posted a Facebook offer, inviting diners to join them in
celebrating their new Spring menu. Their enticement was: ‘create your
own pizza to feature on our Autumn menu.’
The winning pizza would join the favourites on their menu and
‘£10,000 AND a holiday for two to the Amalfi Coast could all be yours!’
Emblazoned at the side of the page was: ‘Free Dough Balls for every
entry!’, ie every entrant is actually a winner.
The success of the offer is in the result and they were instantly
eliciting positive interaction, such as: ‘Thanks/Cheers/BIG THANKS!!/A