Let’s face it. Social media isn’t going anywhere. In the world of marketing, brands reach their target audience through owned, earned and paid media. Owned media includes your website and, yep, your social media brand pages. So how do you make social media work for you? Let’s dig into some of today’s top do’s and dont’s.
DO
1) CHOOSE THE RIGHT PLATFORMS FOR YOUR BRAND
Each social media platform offers various ways to engage your target audience. Where are your potential customers? What are their media habits? You want to meet them where they are to engage with them and drive them back to your website. Here are a few characteristics of a select group of social platforms to help you choose the right place to grow your brand.
Facebook – the big daddy. Facebook remains the most-used social platform worldwide by both users and marketers worldwide (93%). For most consumer and B2B brands, it’s important to be there.
Instagram – the social butterfly. Instagram dominates social streaming (81%). If you have video content, you’ll want to post to both stories and the grid. Over 44% of Instagram users shop weekly, so if you sell products on your website, this platform is for you.
LinkedIn – the suit. If your business and website target other businesses (B2B), LinkedIn is a good platform to explore. It boasts one of the highest-earning ($75K) and most educated (51% college-educated) bases on social media.
TikTok – the little sister. The social platform has grown exponentially and is now considered a must for many consumer brands and e-commerce businesses. Among Gen Z users, 39% consider TikTok as THE place to learn about products that they buy.
2) BE CONSISTENT
Your brand and website design should be the foundation for the look and feel of your social pages. Elements from your website such as layout, icons, colors and messaging can easily be woven into posts and into imagery on your various social pages. Be sure your cover images coordinate with your website design. Instagram also provides a fantastic opportunity to propel your brand to greater heights through the use of the grid and the highlight cover images.
3) POST REGULARLY
Whichever platforms you determine to be most strategic for your business goals, be sure to post content on those pages on a regular basis. In general, the more content you post, the more website visitors you will enjoy. That’s why it’s important not to bite off more than you can chew by starting pages on too many platforms than you can’t manage on an ongoing basis.
4) STEP UP YOUR VIDEO GAME
Video continues to explode on social with views increasing 258% on Facebook and 98% on YouTube. Whether it’s an Instagram story or native TikTok video, there are tons of content ideas you can explore including behind-the-scenes, product feature, interview, live, user-generated content, reveals, website launch, events, how-to’s and more.
Whatever You Do, DON’T…
Don’t engage with trolls.
Don’t share your political views. (Unless, of course, your brand is politically-based.)
Don’t ignore follower questions and comments.
Don’t post the same content on every social platform.
Don’t neglect stories.
In Conclusion
Learn to love social media, and it will love you back. Get to posting! And if you need any help with social page set-up, strategy, content development and management – you know where to find us.