Social media is a secret weapon when it comes to marketing a business. It’s a unique creative space where brands shine, and companies build long-lasting relationships with customers and prospects. To stay afloat in the digital age, it’s essential for businesses to have an active and impactful online presence.
Here are PaintedRobot’s top 10 social media best practices to help revamp your social media game:
1. Choose Platforms Wisely
Software companies are pumping out new social media platforms every day. It can be overwhelming. In the case of social media, the more is not the merrier. It’s important to understand that each platform caters to a different demographic. Facebook, for example, has over 1.73 billion daily users, 54% of which are female—the majority between the ages of 18 and 24. On LinkedIn, 57% of its more than 567 million monthly users are men. Before making an account, consider if a platform is suited to your target audience.
2. Post at the Right Time
When it comes to social media, timing is everything. A post shared at 9 AM on a Monday will have a different impact than one shared at 11:00 AM on a Tuesday. Do your research and get to know when people are most active on different platforms. On Instagram, the best times to post are between 2 PM and 3 PM. On Twitter, it’s Wednesdays and Fridays at 9 AM. These times might differ depending on industry, audience, and region.
3. Measure Success and Set Goals
The most successful social media campaigns are those that are closely monitored and evaluated. It’s important to frequently assess the success of each post to know what works, what doesn’t, and where there is room for improvement. Social media—and the trends that go with it—is constantly evolving. Businesses must develop long and short-term goals to stay on top of the game.
4. Engage in a Dialog with the Audience
No one enjoys getting inundated by salesy content in their feed. Social media should be used as a tool to develop a relationship with current and future customers. You can engage with your online audience through commenting, tagging, liking, and sharing. This not only strengthens the community surrounding your business – it helps build your brand and show the “human” side of the company.
5. Define a Personality and Voice
Personality matters in the social space. What you post on social media goes directly to another human being for consumption. In the right context, people generally appreciate humour, cleverness, or inside jokes referring to a recent pop culture moment. Before you start posting, it’s worth defining a personality and voice that reflects the company’s core values. Consider the following questions: Who is your target audience? What type of energy do you want your brand to give off? What type of language does your target audience use?
6. Use it as a Tool for Feedback
Social media can be used to mine valuable information from customers and prospects. By encouraging the audience to share their opinion through polls, surveys, and forms, you can gather important information about their wants and needs. In turn, this can be used to modify or further develop your brand, product, or message.
7. Post Visual Content
Humans are visual learners. We have a much easier time digesting digital content when it’s explained using an illustration or photograph. On social media, posts with a graphic element have a higher success rate than text-only posts. On Twitter, tweets coupled with images receive 150% more retweets than those without. On Facebook, posts including images see 2.3 times more engagement than non-image posts.
8. Expect Negativity, and Handle it Earnestly
It’s normal to receive the occasional negative comment online. Be respectful, and try to see the issue from the other person’s point of view. If you made a mistake, be honest and acknowledge the problem as quickly as possible. Take the conversation offline, and if necessary, pass the individual’s contact information on to your customer service representative for further reconciliatory action.
9. Go for Quality, not Quantity
Social media is an art – posts should be carefully curated and reviewed before sharing. Each post should have a definitive goal and purpose, and be targeted to a specific audience. Do not post just for the sake of posting! This will help build trust and a following on digital platforms, increase engagement from the audience, and increase the chances of being found in search engines.
10. Acknowledge that it Takes Time
A final and important tip to remember: developing a social media presence takes time, effort, and considerable resources. Building a following does not happen overnight – it’s a product of consistent and diligent effort on the part of the marketing team. If you’re struggling to see the light at the end of the tunnel, you’re not alone; more than half of small and medium-sized businesses say organic social media is one of the biggest time sucks. That said, the rewards are worth it, with 73% of marketers confirming social media marketing has been effective in promoting their business.
A presence on social media is a must for any business in 2020. Creating an account is easy – making it have a desired effect on customers and prospects is the tough part. For more information on Social Media best practices, please visit our social media marketing category.
