Whether you are just starting to use social media for your business or you are a seasoned pro, here are 12 tips that will help you take your social media efforts to the next level.
1. Be Consistent
Consistency is key when building and engaging community regardless of social media platform. Do not post 5 things one day and then wait 2 weeks or a month to post again.
You can use tools to help schedule posts such as HootSuite if it becomes overwhelming to post frequently while having to login to each account each time. However, you will not get as much engagement when you post from a third party site as you will when you directly post within the specific platform.
2. Use Variety
Use a variety of different post types for each platform. Vary content between helpful tips, photos, status updates, quotes, and links.
3. Be Relevant
Know your audience and what they care about. You serve as a source of knowledge about topics related to your brand. Put content in front of your audience that they will care about and will want to share with others. If you would not want to see it on your social media platforms from other brands, your audience certainly does not want to see if from you.
4. Do Not Be Too Product-Based
You need to be genuine in your efforts. Your audience will get annoyed if you push your brand or products at them too heavily. Social media serves as a way to create engagement and keep top of mind presence. People do not want products pushed at them in their social world. Promote your brand, just do it sparingly and genuinely.
5. Engage with Engagement
As you start to engage with your audience, they will start engaging back. Be a part of their conversations and keep the conversation going. People will stop liking and commenting on things if they feel like no one cares. Being timely with engagement is also important. Respond to people as soon as possible.
6. Do Not Over Post
While it is important to post often, there is a fine line between providing relevant content at the right time and over-doing it. Never fill your social media platforms with multiple posts a day, all at the same time. Doing this often will annoy your audience.
7. Do Not Sync Everything – Vary by Platform
Many people try to save time by having all of their social media content sync so the same messages appear everywhere. You want to limit this as much as possible. Each platform has a different type of community and a different goal. Even if you are using the same pictures or types of content, vary the messaging used on each platform.
8. Be Visual
Social Media is becoming more and more visual. Use pictures of your brand/products to represent what your brand is all about. You need to paint a picture in your audience’s mind.
9. Stay True to Your Brand Image
Your brand has a certain image that it needs to uphold. Make sure you have this image in mind when you post. Your tone, messaging, and content should all reflect your brand.
10. Pay Attention to Grammar
Edit, edit, edit. With social media, messages are spread faster than ever before. Make sure that if your message is going spread, it is carefully crafted. Check for flow as well as grammar mistakes. Also, pay close attention to punctuation and capitalization. Be consistent.
11. Experiment
There is no special formula for what works and does not work across platforms. Every social media platform, every audience, and every brand is different. You have to try things out to see how your audience responds. It is trial and error until you see what works in creating engagement.
12. Be ROI Focused
Social media can be a great way to create and engage audiences, however, it can also take resources such as time and money to do a good job. Constantly evaluate your efforts and make sure that you are reaching the goals you set for each platform. Adjust resources accordingly to make sure you are getting a good return on your investment.