NETWORK WINTER 2020 | Page 58

WHEN SHOULD YOU POST TOPICAL CONTENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA? (AND WHEN SHOULDN’T YOU...?) When posting about current events on your professional social media, your stance should align with your business values and benefit your audience, writes digital marketer Nicola Moras. I n usual times, most business owners are aware of what’s going on in the world, even if they don’t habitually watch mainstream news channels. It’s disseminated through our social media newsfeeds so we all know what’s going on locally, nationally and globally most of the time. In unusual times, such as these, every business owner knows what’s going on. Recently, we’ve seen the very fast spread and rapid increase in frequency of people talking about COVID-19. With around one in five posts being about COVID-19, it’s something that businesses just can’t ignore. People like sharing and engaging in issues that are topical. That doesn’t mean that you, as a business owner, should always talk about these things, however. Many of your audience are looking to you for leadership and inspiration, but how do you choose when and if to talk about events such as these on social media? There are five main questions to ask yourself when deciding. 1. Do you want to talk about it, or do you feel like you have to talk about it? There will be times as a business owner when you’ll feel like you have to talk about something that’s going on in the world or that’s in the news. At other times, it will be more a case of ‘I want to talk about it’. For example, we have seen schools release statements about how they’re dealing with school closures and staggered re-openings across the country. This is not something they want to talk about, it’s something they have had to talk about. 2. Why do you want to talk about it, or why do you not want to talk about it? If you don’t want to talk about something that is going on in the media, then don’t. It seems obvious, doesn’t it? This point calls for you to have a good conversation with yourself about why you do (or don’t) want to talk about something. When something happens and you decide you either want to talk about it or feel like you have to talk about, it’s crucial you determine why you feel this way. Is it to educate your audience? Is it to inspire or motivate them? Is it designed to share the values of your business through what you’re discussing? 58 | NETWORK WINTER 2020