Pro- Tips for Making Your Company More Successful on Social Media
- Select the right platforms, not just the best
There are many social media platforms to choose from, most with different mediums to achieve the same purpose. For example, Youtube is for videos, and Twitter is for updates in the form of text (“Tweets”). Find the ones that serve you and your company best. For example, if you are a real estate agent, Pinterest could be one of your strongest assets for updating followers on new listings. Users respond to all different types of multimedia, make sure you use as much as possible!
- Use the analysis tools to make necessary strategy changes
Some social media outlets such as Facebook and Google Plus, have built in analytics services that allow you to monitor how effective your posts and other strategies are. These services give you insight into what posts your audience likes and which ones are not getting the interaction you desire. The most important thing you can do with this data is APPLY it to your strategies and not just read it. Using the information to improve your post to post interaction is very important. NOTE: not all posts will work on all social media outlets. You may have to tailor your posts to work for each outlet before posting.
- Timing and content are everything
Since no business is the same, no audience will be the same either. What works for car mechanics as far as content and posting times will not be the same for investment bankers or cleaning companies. Use your analytics tools to find out what time your audience is online and send your posts out then. If it is after hours, post right before you leave work or use a third party posting service to execute your posts at a precise time. But what do I post? Multimedia is key, especially pictures. Studies consistently show that images have become a dominant factor in posts. Getting people in front of an image greatly enhances your ability to get them to execute your call to action.
- Remember: This is Business, Not Personal
Having a personal account on social media is great. It allows you to be you after work hours and gives you great understanding and knowledge about how each platform works. Your business is a different entity altogether. It does not have the same objectives, views, feelings and interests that you do. Keeping these personalities separate can make or break your social media success. Being successful on your personal accounts in terms of “likes,” “followers,” or “re-tweets” does not guarantee you the same success in business oriented social media. Keeping it separate is key, don’t forget!
- Engage, excite and compel your audience
Creating posts that cause your audience to feel excited are important because they lead to your goal, being shared. To do this make sure you or your social media manager know what kind of trends the internet is sharing at any given time. Do not copy others, but rather learn from them and adapt your strategy accordingly. Find out what works and what doesn’t. Another important thing is to keep the offers flowing. Give people a reason to follow your campaign and reward them for doing so. A call to action is also very important. Make sure you have a way to drive traffic to your site. Hopefully, you’ll have a landing page to help watch your visitors to see how successful your campaign has been.
