The importance of having an online presence in the 21st century

It goes without saying that having a strong online presence is a must for every company operating in the Digital Age – it’s an important marketing and advertising tool for any business. Which platforms businesses use depends on their strategy, but as a standard it is important to have a mobile responsive website and strong social media pages on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The content that is used across these channels is arguably more important than having multiple channels – there is no use in using every platform available to your company but the content that is shared is irrelevant, or infrequent. This is definitely the biggest lesson that I’ve learnt so far this year. Content creation is the most important aspect of your social media and website strategy, and all content that is created should be in line with the Corporate Identity (CI) and business strategy of the company. As I am in charge of content creation for our social media, I’ve come to learn that even though posting a picture quote directly from Google for #MotivationalMondays is easy, it’s not smart. Other than our #ClientNews, #IndustryNews and #InterestingRead posts, I try to create content that is in line with our CI. This means I make use of our corporate colours and icons to personalise the picture and make it ‘MANGO’s’.

In doing so, our communities are able to recognise immediately that the picture was posted by us. I feel that it’s a useful tool in helping people link the colours and icon used in a picture to the company’s brand. Instead of using random images, I use free-to-use stock images from sites such as Pixabay where I choose pictures relevant to the quote I’ve chosen and edit them as required. Below is a ‘then and now’ example of a picture posted in February and a picture posted in May. See the difference? Now, people are able to link the picture to MANGO-OMC because of the picture’s elements.

                Then                                                                        Now

Not only is the actual content of a post important, the details such as grammar and spelling are extremely important too. Ensuring that your grammar and spelling is correct portrays professionalism and attention to detail. As an aspiring PR practitioner, I have come to realise how important these aspects are in the Public Relations and Communications industry.