It can often seem like social media is the modern day Big Brother, and that all of George Orwell’s nightmares are now rolled into one big, intangible (but very real!) multi-platform monster. But should you fear the monster? Or feed it? Sometimes, the best answer is both.

Whatever channels you use to connect with your target audience, whether online or off, having a strategy for how you will communicate is vital. Deciding what information you should and shouldn’t share should form a big part of that strategy.

Finding balance

With almost everything, it comes down to balance. Social media and an online presence can be the difference between reaching and engaging with your audience, and putting all of your success and potential in your audiences’ hands. You want to give them a little bit of your business to munch on, but not the entire cake. As Lisa Rosh says in a Harvard Business Review article, ‘Be yourself, but carefully.’

It’s all about personality

While it might seem daunting to share any information with your online audience at all, a certain level of transparency is necessary for your audience to recognise your business as being accessible, and even relatable – as opposed to an invisible head sitting behind a computer screen (now that’s Big Brother!). Posts that give your company personality are going to put your business in front of the right audience, and make sure it stays there. For example, sharing ‘behind the scenes’ photos can be really effective – and sometimes giving away ‘trade secrets’ can make you seem more accessible and trustworthy.

Searching for SEO

On top of that, without social media pages or content on your blog, Google isn’t going to be in any rush to promote your website. The term SEO can seem daunting – and superfluously thrown around by marketing agencies – but for many businesses, being top of Google’s rankings is key to their success. Search engines are more likely to put your business at the forefront of the market if they know you’re producing quality content.

The concept of ‘quality content’ is broad, and ranges from your company’s achievements, to a blog post providing educational advice for how to do something. The more original content you’re creating, the better off you’ll be – and to create that level of content, you need to be comfortable sharing information about your business, what you do, how you do it, and who your people are.

Keep it sensitive

So when does sharing your business become a problem? Finding that balance can be tricky, and you need to share enough to make it interesting, but not enough that it becomes potentially damaging. Anything that is intellectual property and you would prefer wasn’t shared should be kept private, or saved for face-to-face conversations with clients. In addition, try to avoid sharing sensitive information about the background happenings in your business, and always check with employees before sharing anything about them online!

Be yourself

No matter what you do, being genuine and honest is the only way to go when it comes to communicating with your audiences. We hear from enough people and companies these days that it’s easy to distinguish between those who are genuinely themselves and those who are trying to create an image very different from the reality. Making things up or exaggerating can do irreparable harm to your brand and your customers’ loyalty

Finding the balance between interesting content and oversharing is something all businesses need to master, but it’s not impossible – and it could be the difference between getting ahead, or getting left behind.