Nearly everyone uses social media. And whether you run a small- or medium-sized business (SMB) or multinational conglomerate, social media platforms are great for their broad audiences, low costs, and high returns. But without careful planning, marketing in these communities can do more harm than good. Here are five tips on how to use your social media effectively.
#1. Choose the right platform
Between Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn to choose from, you may be tempted to sign up for more social media accounts than you’re ready to manage. It may not seem like much at first, but you’d be surprised by how quickly you can be overwhelmed by statuses, commenting on existing posts, and answering inquiries on every platform, which is why it’s better to adopt only a few platforms that can effectively attract your target customers.
Ask yourself these questions before deciding which platform to use:
- Who is my target customer and what channels do they use?
- What do I hope to gain by opening a social media account?
- What kind of content do I want to share and create?
- How much time can I devote to social media management?
#2. Know when to update
Are most of your customers online at 8am or 8pm? With a better understanding of your target users’ habits, you can schedule your posts so they create more traffic, increase brand engagement and, eventually, generate new leads and customers.
Depending on which platform you choose to invest in, you should post a new update during these times for maximum engagement:
- Facebook: 1pm – 3pm on Thursday and Friday
- Twitter: 3pm – 8pm, Monday – Friday for B2B, & Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday for B2C organizations
- YouTube: 12pm – 3pm, Thursday – Sunday
- LinkedIn: 8am – 5pm, Monday – Friday
#3. Use attractive, professional-looking visuals
One of the simplest ways to get followers to share your posts is by uploading high-quality photos, videos, and reliable infographics along with your messages. Studies have shown that Facebook posts with images result in 39% more engagement while tweets with images or videos create 200% more engagement.
#4. Engage with your followers
It’s important for businesses to maintain a healthy back-and-forth on social media. This means beyond sharing useful content, you should also respond to their comments and private messages as quickly as possible. You can build stronger relationships with customers by writing thank you comments to anyone who shared positive experiences with your business, and by addressing negative comments with personalized and helpful responses.
#5. Pump the brakes on promotional materials
With social media becoming important tools for customers and businesses to connect and interact, it is important not to muddy the water with too many promotional posts. A rule of thumb for social media promotions is that 80% of your posts should be shareable and interactive content, while the remaining 20% should be about your business. This will result in more engagement, a more consistent brand image, and a healthier bottom line.
Social media can help your business succeed, but only if it’s used correctly and effectively. If you’re interested in adopting the right social media platform to increase engagement and create a stronger brand reputation, contact us today and we’ll help you get started.