Have a Plan! Remain Consistent. Use Hashtags sparingly on FB and Twitter, but use many on Instagram. Be personal. Know what each platform focuses on.
It’s no secret that social media is a prime tool in building your brand, and getting your business out there. It’s also no secret that the social media world can be intimidating, maybe even a little scary.
So, we wanted to give you some tips to prevent the hauntings of social media mistakes.
Plan Accordingly
Like the quote goes, failing to plan is planning to fail. The good news is that you can begin planning at any time. Brainstorm while you take your run, or when you get inspired by something in the store or on the web. Then write it down and start to plan. Plan what times to post, and what you’ll be posting on. This keeps you organized and present in the social media conversation. Build a strategy for each social media platform to keep you focused when you’re going back and forth between Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Maintain Consistency.
The voice of your brand should sound similar across each social media presence. This means that no matter who is writing your content, it sounds like the same writer, and conveys the mission of your brand.
This does not mean to use the same content on each platform. Keep the meaning of the post, but change the wording so it is appropriate for the target audience. You may also find that you have a different target audience for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. This is because different demographics often pick their favorite type social media and stick to it. It’s also important to remain consistent in the number of times you post. Don’t go all out one week, and go missing the next. Remember if you’re out of sight you’re out of mind.
The Rule of Hashtags
Hashtags can be used on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to help your audience find you in searches. The Facebook hashtag search is not the strongest, and may not always pick up your posts. So don’t waste a lot of the audience’s time with tons of hashtags, instead, use no more than two or three.
Twitter officially recommends to only use one or two hashtags. Because Twitter capitalizes on hashtags, you want to make sure that they can’t be associated with offensive phrases, and that they are broad enough to encompass your target audience, not just a niche.
Instagram rocks hashtags for everything. This is the platform to use as many hashtags as are relevant to your post. You can even google search common hashtags for your state, region, brand, and topic. Reports show that using 11+ hashtags on Instagram improves your visibility by 77.6%!
Be Human
Your social media is not the place to act like a robot… or a zombie. People want to know they can relate to you, and that there is a person behind the posts. This means engaging, which is a fancy word for communicating with your audience. If someone retweets your posts, thank them, maybe ask if they have any questions you can answer. Comment on others Facebook posts or Instagram pics. Be present.
Respond ASAP to social media messages. People usually want an answer within an hour of posting, which isn’t always possible. However, being present and personal provides that extra boost to keep customers from slipping through the cracks.
Keep Focused
Don’t forget, Instagram is ALL about the photo. You can get high quality photos with apps like Snapseed. Be sure to change up your photo perspective and experiment. This is where creativity really gets to flow, so play around with what works for your business.
Twitter is about those one-liners. Content writing should grab attention, and can include links or photos. By retweeting, you engage your audience and bring attention from other followers.
Facebook is where you can have more to say but try to keep it to 180 characters. People don’t want to read a book when they are scrolling through, but they do want to hear what you have to say. Teach, them. Your audience appreciates when you give them purely educational content. This doesn’t mean a2 +b2 = c2, it means that there is something you can teach them about your business, product, or values.
There is a lot of advice out there when it comes to social media. Research your competitors and see what is working and what doesn’t. Then go for it! These tips will keep your head above water, and you should be posting like a pro in no time!
Sources
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/12/small-business-hashtag_n_3991246.html
http://www.mariaaldrey.com/blog/marketing-and-social-media-trends-2015
http://thefreshexchangeblog.com/2014/07/5-twitter-tips-growing-personal-brand/
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