Three questions
Quotes are one of the easiest post actions to take when curating a social media account. It’s pre-created content AND it’s pre-digested content. Win-win!
A pretty quote to start a day can make a day pretty. An inspiring quote during the day can give you the extra support to get through the rest of it. A funny quote at the end of the day can provide a small but powerful tension release.
Win-win-win!
Michael Scott would be so proud. 😉
Around here, we have a love-hate relationship with quotes for two interrelated reasons – misquotations and misattributions. Information is spread more rapidly then ever before and we just don’t have the capacity to parse everything we consume within the split second it holds our attention. As a result, it is bound to happen that people tweak, change, revise information including quotations from various people to make it more … digestible.
It isn’t just hyperbole to say most people don’t care if you have an accurate quote or quote attribution. If the quote speaks to them then they are likely to hit the like and/or share button and up will go your engagement counts.
What they may care about, however, is the ‘why‘ related to your posting of the quote. Is posting quotes a regular part of your brand identity? Is it part of your social media strategy? Is the quote reflective of your business values? Is there an intention behind the quote besides chasing the ever-changing algorithms?
To help us and you answer the “why” we’ve identified three questions to consider before hitting the publish button on your next (maybe not so) great quote.
Does the quote add value to your brand?
This is a deceptively simple question to answer; if even one person likes or shares a post then of course it added value! But not all quotes translate the same depending on context and audience. And if you are just posting the same hundred quotes everyone else is posting or have posted, is there true value to your effort?
In another way – is your quote post more killer than filler?
Take for example We the Urban which is one of our favourite sites and Instagram feeds. They’ve turned their feed into a quote factory to align with their business values. They often set them up by topic and then drop common sense quotes or statements on each subsequent slide.
They are presenting themselves or rather the brand as the quote source (unless otherwise attributed) creating an organic and friend-like connection with their followers. They’ve continued with this approach building reliability and validity with its audience along the way. And it is through these three key actions and outcomes – consistent, reliable, valid – they’ve established a purpose for their quote posts and added clear value to their brand.
Does the quote add meaning to your brand?
Sometimes we just love something someone said so much that we need to post it. We get the impulse – we have it too!
It may match your brand identity or business values or it may not. It may match the perception of your brand identity or business values or it may not. There may be no meaning at all and if so, then you should ask – why did I post it?
Or taken a different way – is your quote post more filler than killer?
If you haven’t posted quotes before and then boom! plant one randomly your followers may wonder what’s going on. It could stand out in a less than positive way even if you provide a decent caption in explanation. You may even see a dip in engagement, though this could be meaningless in the broader scheme. The pull-through to minimize this is to keep the quote ‘on brand’, whether it be with the text, the person quoted, or the style.
For example, fashion illustrator Jamel Saliba usually posts illustrations from her portfolio as well as themed items. She has the rare quote post and when it does happen, it retains her illustrative style and brand colouring. You know it is a Jamel Saliba post. And while this post received less than normal engagements it does not deviate from her brand and it reinforces ‘elegance’ as a key element of it. The post is still consistent, reliable, and valid.
Does the quote reflect you as the brand owner?
You’ve answered the filler and killer questions – so now what? If you structure your accounts to include quotes as part of your post planning process (say that quickly 3 times in a row!) then the actual posting is less a consideration than the actual quote. The words you are putting out into your feed.
Now is when you consider – is your quote post a thriller?
In a different way, is your audience going to recognize you in the post and make them want to like it or comment?
You have to find a good one and make it stick.
It can be good to post quotes from famous people or works of literature, film and such; often someone else is able to express exactly what we need and it’s an incredible feeling. The quote lends credibility by association to the brand, however minuscule the association may be.
Or, just quote yourself. You have good thoughts and good ideas! You may have noted the We the Urban and Jamel Saliba examples we used here both deploy quotes or thoughts directly from the brand. The quotes appear credible because the brand is reliable and the words can be validated by other posts. This could be you too (for the low low price … just kidding!).
Of course, no matter which way you go if what you quote isn’t something your audience would perceive as part of your brand story or narrative thus far the quote may fall flat. (The exceptions are, of course, social movements or the like which transcend brand.)
Or the quote may bootstrap to your brand but feels false even with a good caption. Viewers may question your reliability as an authentic narrator – albeit fleetingly. This is especially true if you change-up your posting strategy; it takes awhile for an audience to build and then rebuild. Audiences are fickle, ya know?
Ultimately though, just ask yourself – does this quote speak to me and do I believe it can speak for me? It’s the latter part of this question which is sometimes left out of the equation. If you can’t give a barbaric yawp of ‘yes’ then don’t do it. If you don’t believe no one else will either.
So now what, right?
We’re not suggesting you not post quotes nor are we suggesting you go and post every quote you see that meets your posting criteria. Only you know what is appropriate to your brand.
What we are suggesting is it may be worthwhile to take two beats before posting a quote and ask yourself these three questions –
- Is it filler?
- Is it killer?
- Is it a thriller?
Nail the answers to these in 3 seconds or less and you’ll be golden.
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