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Social Media Best Practices: How to Make the most of Your Platform

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Social media marketing is a powerful tool that can help you generate leads and increase your brand awareness. However, there are many social media best practices to be aware of before diving in headfirst. In this article, we will discuss how to make the most of your social media marketing.

Identify your goals

Social posts are an efficient way to connect with your target audience, but you need a social media strategy and goals in place before diving into the social platforms. If you start by identifying your goals and you’ll be able to set a social media strategy that will work.
For example, are you looking to grow brand awareness? Find your brand voice? Build authority within a niche topic? Drive traffic back to your website or store locations? Educate people on new products or services that you offer?
If you aren’t sure what your goals are, try taking a look at the key business objectives. You can also ask yourself some questions: What do I want to accomplish? Do you have any other specific goals for social media marketing? Do I need to be on all social media platforms? What social media channel will help me achieve these goals?

Conduct a competitor audit

When you analyze your competitor’s social media accounts, use the results as a benchmark for your own social media marketing. Compare audience size, engagement rate, and demographics to find brands of similar size in your industry.
Find out what makes a great social media post for your industry. Look at what your competitors post. What kind of stories do they tell? What kind of lifestyle do they illustrate?
Is it mostly content they’ve created, stock photo and video, or user-generated content? Do they use a lot of graphics, illustrations, or non-photographic content?
If they create original content, how much would it cost you to produce something similar? Can you afford to hire professional models or influencers? Can you pay for a location if necessary?

Creating content on a budget

If the answer to these questions is no, don’t worry. Some of the best content in online was made for free. If you have specialized knowledge and can make how-to videos, this can be great content. Video’s of people having fun or being silly (ie – crazy Tiktok dances) can make for great content. A marketing budget will make things go easier and faster, but you can definitely do a lot on the cheap, or for free.
Don’t forget to look at where they post. Are they on multiple social media platforms, or do they focus on just a few?
If it is determined that you have room for improvement, create an editorial calendar with relevant content ideas at least three weeks out.
When creating images keep in mind that your bigger more successful social media competitors have found some success tactics. Ensure you are including the same elements in your images that they have.

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What types of social media content should I post?

Here is a list of successful social media image components:

Lifestyle:

On some social media networks (we’re looking at you Instagram) users primarily come to see images of an idealized lifestyle they would like to be living.

Memes:

Memes can be fun and informative at the same time, if used correctly with an educational message for example “Does this meme affect how we feel about people?”

Quotes or stats

If you’re going to post a quote or stat consider adding an actual photo of the person it belongs to. This can make your image more engaging and relatable.

  • Infographics
    These are great because they appeal to people who like visuals, but be sure that there is information in them (not just pretty images).
  • Celebrate milestones
    Celebrating milestones is a good way to get people excited about your brand, but you also want to be sincere.
  • Behind the scenes
    People love seeing what happens behind the scenes so this can be a great way for them to feel more connected with your brand and appreciate it on an even deeper level.
  • Events
    Events are great because you can engage with your fans and show them what it’s like to be at the event.
  • Videos
    Videos allow you to show your fans what it’s like for them on social media and offer more insight into the lives of influencers.
  • Challenges
    Challenges and social media go hand-in-hand, so make sure that you are participating in challenges yourself. The sillier the better is a good bet. If your challenge is is entertaining enough, it just might go viral.

 

Engage with your Audience

The main goal of a social media campaign is to engage your audience. Take advantage of the fact that even if you are not actively participating in conversations, people may still be talking about your brand or industry and use this as an opportunity for engagement.
Social channels will suggest other social media accounts that they think you might like to follow in order to increase exposure at key points during the signup process, so take note!
Use hashtags and keywords relevant to what your business does to help target these users who may have already visited your website before signing up on Twitter or Facebook. For example:
– If you own a restaurant, consider using popular food words such as ‘burger’, ‘pancake’ when tweeting

Interacting with different demographics

When interacting with different types of people, make sure that content is relevant to everyone so there will not be any confusion or negative reactions. For example, if posting about sports for a male demographic, do not include hashtags about fashion.

Create a plan for social media content that will meet those goals

I have good news and bad news. The good news is that thousands of brands just like yours have found a way to be successful on social media. The bad news is that if you don’t have a plan to execute on your goals, it’s easy to lose track and never see your social media account get any traction.
You need to have;

  • A plan for content (those posts don’t create themselves)
  • A source for image and video content (especially for Instagram and Tik Tok)
  • A calendar filled with posts that will be published every month

This is where the actual execution of your social media marketing strategy gets real. If you have social media team members that can shoot photos, create graphics, write copy, and use scheduling tools, then you’re good to go. If not, you may need to hire a social media marketing agency or a few freelancers to help you.

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Choosing the right social media channels

Different social networks work best for different types of brands and businesses. Find the right social media platform for your industry and your content. For example, a luxury fashion brand will likely find that they have more success on Instagram while an Yoga studio may be able to reach their audience better with Facebook ads. It’s up to you to figure out which channels are right for your company by experimenting and seeing what works for your business.
Some of the top ones are:

  • Instagram
    Instagram is an excellent marketing channel for industries such as fashion, food and beverage or virtually any visually-oriented lifestyle product. It is also a great way for influencers to get exposure from their social media following.
  • Facebook
    Facebook is an excellent marketing channel for industries such as entertainment, social media influencers, or social media posts require longer-form content. Facebook ads can be targeted to specific demographics and is a great way for businesses to expand their reach without much effort.
    Facebook advertising has been shown in studies to be the most successful social channel when it comes to lead generation with an ROI of $65 per dollar spent on ads.
  • Twitter
    Twitter is an excellent marketing channel for industries such as social media influencers, or those that require shorter-form content. Twitter ads can be targeted to specific demographics and is a great way for businesses to expand their reach without much effort.
    Twitter advertising has been shown in studies to have the highest ROI of social channels with an average $136 return per dollar spent on ads.
  • LinkedIn
    LinkedIn is king for businesses in the B to B space. LinkedIn allows users to create a direct connection with your company through groups and/or by following you as an influencer or thought leader on social media.
  • Pinterest
    Pinterest is an excellent marketing channel for industries such as wedding planning, photography, and Interior design. The platform has an older audience with a majority of users that are women between the ages 30-60. If your product or service involves a lot of visual planning (kitchen remodels, wedding dresses, etc) Pinterest is a great way to get in front of your customers.
  • Tik Tok
    Tik Tok is a heavy hitter for Music labels, clothing retailers, carmakers have all started using the video social media app as part of their social media strategy. This social media platform that allows users to post 15 second videos. The app has exploded in popularity and brands are now finding ways to use Tik Tok for marketing purposes.
  • Youtube
    Youtube is popular with an older audience than other social media platforms, with the majority of users being men between the ages 18-49. Youtube allows users to post or watch videos. YouTube’s key demographic makes it one of the most important social media channels for BFSI and tech brands as marketing on this platform focuses on product demonstrations and how to videos for brands that want to promote themselves.

Do not use your personal social media accounts for professional purposes

While it’s fine to share your professional work on social media, and you should use these platforms for networking purposes as well, any business-related content that is posted must go through a separate channel.
This means creating an official profile or page that only represents the brand, with no personal information attached. Keep posts relevant and clean of irrelevant content.

Know your audience

It’s important to understand who you’re writing for and what they need. If your content is too specific, it will only be useful to a small group of people; if it’s too general, everyone else won’t know why they should care about your blog post.

Start with the basics:

Readers don’t want opinions or advice on how social media works — they just want facts and tips that are easy to implement right away. Provide value by starting out simple (e.g., “What time do most people use Facebook? How can I best engage them?”).
Acknowledge different levels of experience, but make sure all stats are cited/source so users feel confident in using your information as practical resources. Keep questions open-ended and opportunities for further discussion to avoid sounding preachy.

Use hashtags to increase engagement

Start by exploring all the social networks that may be relevant to your marketing strategy, and select which ones you will focus on. Be sure to create a social media calendar so you know when posts are going up and what type of content is being shared. Find out who your target audience is on each social network and determine how they like to engage.
Different hashtags may be relevant for different types of content, so research what is being used by your target audience and use those keywords in the appropriate context. This will help to show up on social media search results as well as making it easier for people searching these terms to find you.

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Think about the tone of voice you want to use in your brand

The best social media content reflects the brand’s values and personality, which is why it’s important to stay true to those core ideals when you are creating a post on any of your platforms. You will want to be sure that whatever tone you choose matches up with what people might expect from reading the title/company.

Write posts that are concise, informative, and entertaining

What social media best practices will help you keep your users engaged and coming back for more?
To start, write a couple of sentences that provide value to the reader. Focus on writing original content about topics relevant to your audience or industry. Write in an engaging voice with personality while still being informative; do not be salesy but don’t shy away from controversial topics.
Interesting topics such as which social media platforms are best for marketing your business or what kind of content is most effective on each platform keep your readers engaged. Just don’t forget that your opinions should be backed up with scientific evidence so users know your advice it trustworthy.

Engage with other users but don’t spam them

Do not overpost or repost the same content on social media platforms; it will come off as spammy to your followers and may even turn them away from following you altogether. It’s better to space out your posts so that users don’t become fatigued with seeing company updates in their newsfeeds, and
Keep these posts relevant and fresh. It’s better to post better content less frequently, than to churn out a ton of low quality content over a short period of time.

Be consistent with posting time and frequency

Your social media followers will appreciate your consistency. Post consistently at the same time every week, if you can. That will help them plan their schedules accordingly and increase engagement with your content.
Trust is built over time. You want to make sure that your followers trust you and are comfortable engaging with you. This will happen over time if they feel like they know what to expect from you.
If you consider the people you trust the most, it’s likely that you see them often and you’ve known them for a while.
Social media is an incredible surrogate for keeping in touch with people. Your social media presence can be a stand-in for your actual presence. When done correctly, it can make your social media users feel like they know you, even if they’ve never come in contact with you in real life.

Social Media Best Practices Summary

Conclusion paragraph: The conclusion of this blog post is to create a social media plan that will meet your goals. It’s important to identify what type of content you want, how often you’ll be posting, and the times at which you’ll be posting it. You also need to consider who your audience is and if they’re on any specific social platforms. To create an effective strategy for your brand, think about the tone in which you should speak with them–whether it should be friendly or informative–and whether or not there are appropriate hashtags available for use within each individual platform. Once these steps have been taken into account, begin drafting posts based on those guidelines so that their ultimate goal can be met while following social media best practices.

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