Social media is a tricky business, especially if you’re a business. Sure, we’ve all been on Facebook, and most of us, by now, have explored Twitter. So it should come as no surprise that companies are looking for ways to exploit social media in order to grow their brand. But where do you start if you’re new, or your current strategy just isn’t working out?
74% of marketers see an increase in traffic with just SIX HOURS of social dedication. But what exactly does that dedication entail, and how can you be sure your effectively reaching your audience in a way that’s both tactical and engaging?
Here are three ways to make sure you’re on the right track with your social strategy.
The Party Rule
During the last party you were at, were you one of those shy introverts hanging out in the corner, or were you the life of the party with everyone’s eyes on you? In most cases, you’ll fall somewhere in the middle—and that’s a good place to be.
Social media gives you an opportunity to build a presence for yourself, but you want to spend just as much time talking about you as you do other topics that keep the conversations flowing. Good listeners are just as valuable as good speakers, and the same can be said of your business or organization. Get your audience involved, as you’ll find they’re much more willing to engage when they know their voice/opinion is heard. Talk too much, and they’re likely to meander over to the punch bowl with your ex-girlfriend. I wonder what they’ll talk about…
Timing Matters
There’s a time and place for everything, and the same is true for social media. Figuring out which time to post for your visitors is crucial to social media success, as it should be tailored toward your desired audience. And each platform (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.) has different peak times to post.
Facebook: 75% of engagement occurs within the first five hours with each post’s shelf life lasting between 2-5 hours. Post 3-4 times a day around morning, noon, and night.
Twitter: The average shelf life for Twitter is around 2.8 hours—if you’re lucky. Because the life of your Twitter post is shorter, consider posting more to cut through the clutter.
LinkedIn: LinkedIn posts can last a little longer, on average 24 hours. But understand the difference in the audience, as LinkedIn’s site is full of professionals. Maybe don’t post a picture from last week’s bar crawl.
Optimize Your Profiles
Social platforms today are much different than the days of old. Remember when you could completely design your MySpace page with different backgrounds, HTML code, and even your own song? Not so much anymore. But there are other ways you can grab your visitor’s attention, but once you have that attention, what can you do next?
The answer is simple: link to your site. You want to give visitors an option to continue forward if they liked your post, so attach product pages or other site links to your posts to help drive traffic back to your brand. Start with URL’s, headers, and logos and go from there. With the right mix of content, links, and images, you can build yourself a powerful ally in social media, which will help produce leads and happy customers.
If you feel like your social needs need more discussion, feel free to contact us today, or download our free guide below!
