If you are on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and so on) you will probably agree that there is a lot of ‘noise’ on there. There are so many companies, organisations, media outlets and other parties vying for your attention. For business owners, the million dollar question is ‘how do I break through all the noise to reach my customers?’. There are two examples I have come across recently that may provide some answers.

In between reporting incidences and providing relevant community service announcements, the Queensland Police Service interject with timely humorous posts. They joined in the social media excitement of ‘Back to the Future Day’ (in the movie Back to The Future 2, Marty McFly travels forward in time to 21st October, 2015). Their post, “Officers from the Mount Isa Hoverboard Unit are investigating a crash involving a silver vehicle travelling at 88mph” was accompanied by a photo of police officers apparently riding hoverboards. Within 2 hours, the post had nearly 25,000 likes and 1600 comments! What they have very successfully done over time is improve the perception of the Queensland Police Force with the general public by showing a sense of humour and a ‘human face’.

The other surprising social media success story is NSW Premier Mike Baird. Mike posts on a variety of topics, sometimes purely political (as would be expected), and interjects these with stories about (and sometimes photos of) his family, jokes about current events (he also posted about Back to the Future Day!) and videos documenting his days. He also has a knack for eloquently writing about tragic events (such as the recent Parramatta Police Headquarters shooting), sharing his thoughts and feelings in the process. Mr Baird’s friendly, personable and down to earth posts have raised his profile enormously and promoted quite a different image of a politician that what we are generally accustomed to in Australia. Unlike the pages of most politicians, the comments from likers are overwhelmingly positive.

The lesson for the rest of us? Be culturally relevant, be down to earth, share something of yourself and don’t take yourself too seriously all the time – have some fun with your posts!

Michelle Grice writes a weekly column for business women in The Western Weekender