Social media is a vital part of any business in the 21st century. Customers expect to be able to find you online and communicate directly with your company through channels like Twitter or Facebook.
If you’re not using these platforms effectively, then you could be missing out on potential revenue that would otherwise have been yours!
Social media marketing can seem overwhelming at first, but once you’ve mastered some basic skills, it’s actually quite simple! Here are 14 things every social media marketer should do:
| Key Takeaways |
|---|
| 1. Content Diversity: Share a variety of content types, including images, videos, and articles, to keep your audience engaged and interested. |
| 2. Consistent Posting: Maintain a regular posting schedule to stay visible and connected with your audience. |
| 3. Audience Interaction: Respond to comments, messages, and mentions promptly to foster a sense of community and build trust. |
| 4. Hashtag Strategy: Utilize relevant hashtags to increase the discoverability of your posts and expand your reach. |
| 5. Platform Optimization: Tailor your content for each platform, considering formats, audience preferences, and posting times. |
| 6. Analytics Monitoring: Regularly analyze your social media insights to gauge the performance of your posts and adjust your strategy. |
| 7. Engaging Visuals: Incorporate eye-catching visuals in your posts to capture attention and convey your message effectively. |
| 8. Collaborations: Collaborate with influencers, partners, or customers to tap into new audiences and gain credibility. |
| 9. CTA Implementation: Include clear calls-to-action in your posts to guide your audience towards desired actions, such as visiting your website or making a purchase. |
| 10. Feedback Utilization: Pay attention to feedback and adapt your strategy based on audience preferences and suggestions. |
1. Putting Up Regular Content
It’s important to put up regular content. If nothing else, it’ll help you stay consistent with your posting schedule and build a following that expects to see your posts every day.
How often should you post? The general rule is once per day for each social media platform, but some platforms require more frequent postings than others due to their popularity or overall engagement rate:
Twitter: 2 or 3 times per day (you can do this by scheduling tweets in advance)
Facebook: 1 time per day (or more if you have something important happening)
Instagram: 1 time per day
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2. Making Sure Not To Spam Your Followers
Don’t spam your followers. You’ll want to make sure you aren’t just posting links, pictures and text. Likewise, don’t just post videos or quotes add variety to keep things interesting for your audience.
Don’t neglect polls or challenges. These are great ways to get your followers involved in the conversation on social media and can help generate interest in new products or services you offer
3. Focusing On A Niche
Unless you’re a celebrity or another famous person, it’s not likely that you’ll have the same kind of reach as a lot of other people online. The way to stand out is to focus on your niche and give people something they can’t get anywhere else.
This might mean being controversial or different from what everyone else is doing. Don’t be afraid to do this if you want success in social media, it’s necessary for many people!
4. Finding Ways To Grow Your Audience
How to find your audience on social media.
This is one of the most important steps in social media marketing. If you don’t know where your audience is, it can be hard to engage with them and encourage them to follow you or buy from you.
You can either do this manually by searching for keywords that describe who you want as an audience member or by using a tool like Facebook Insights or Twitter Analytics.
These tools will help show which posts are getting more engagement than others so that you know what kind of content attracts people most effectively.
Using Social Media For Business Purposes
Once you’ve found out how many people visit each platform and which ones are most likely to be interested in what it is that your business does, now it’s time for some promotion!
The best way (and usually cheapest) way we recommend doing this is through sponsored posts small ads posted on other users’ timelines/ pages/ groups etc., which will be seen by people following those pages/ groups etc.
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5. Tagging Influencers In Your Posts
On Instagram, it’s not only a good idea to tag other accounts that are related to yours (like brands or publications), but also any influencers who might be interested in what you’re sharing.
This can help with getting more exposure for your post and connecting with new potential followers.
Remember: if someone doesn’t follow you back on one platform, they may still follow you on another! So always tag them when possible; even if they don’t see the post right away, they will eventually see it when browsing their feed.
6. Sharing The Content Of Others On Your Page
Sharing the content of others on your page is a great way to raise awareness for other businesses. You can do this by simply liking, commenting on, and sharing the posts of other pages that are relevant to your target audience.
If you do choose to share someone else’s content, make sure it’s high quality and relevant to your target audience. It should also be shared organically as opposed to spamming users with self-promotional material all day long!
7. Asking Questions And Responding To Comments
The best way to engage your audience is by responding to their comments. Responding to comments helps you show that you care about what they have to say, and it can be a great opportunity for building a relationship with them.
You can also use questions as a tactic for generating discussion around your brand or product. Questions are an effective way of getting people talking about what you want them to talk about!
- How do I get my first 100 Instagram followers?
- How do I grow my Facebook group?
8. Always Putting Out Value First, With Links Or Offers Last
The most important thing to remember when using social media is that it’s a two-way street. Your audience will only continue to follow you if they feel like they are getting value out of you, so make sure that every post has some sort of content in it.
Even if the content isn’t directly related to what you want to sell or promote, it still serves the purpose of showing your followers that there are more than just ads and sales pitches coming from your account.
The best way to do this is by posting things that are relevant and valuable, but also fun. For example:
- Post pictures and videos of yourself having fun with friends (and maybe puppies)
- Share quotes or articles on topics that interest you or may interest others
- Gather questions from people in your community who aren’t already following you on social media and answer them publicly
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9. Making Sure You Post At Different Times Of Day, For Different Audiences And Markets
Example of a good time to post on a specific platform: Instagram, 7 PM-8 PM Pacific Standard Time. Most people who want to see pictures of cute animals will be online then, so it’s the best time to share photos of your pets!
But be careful about posting during lunchtime for your company’s employees; they probably won’t want to see pictures of cute animals when they’re trying to eat their sandwiches.
Example of a bad time to post on a specific platform: Facebook Messenger, 9 AM-10 AM Eastern Standard Time. Most people won’t be watching videos or reading messages during this part of the day because they’re busy getting ready for work or school (or both).
If you send them an invite during this time but don’t get one back until later in the evening, it can make them feel like their friends don’t care about what they have going on in their lives or worse yet (for example).
That maybe those same friends weren’t even paying attention during all those hours between when you sent out invites at 9 AM!
10. Identifying All The Different Types Of Content That Are Available To You On Each Specific Platform, And Exploiting Them Effectively And Judiciously, So You’re Not Just Posting Link After Link All The Time On Twitter, Or Putting Only Pictures On Instagram And Missing Out On Ig Stories
This is probably one of the most important things you can do with your social media marketing–and yet it’s also one of the least discussed or taught. Most marketers don’t realize how much more they can get out of their platforms than just posting links.
You need to think about how much more engaging it would be if you posted a picture or two every day on Instagram instead of just links if you posted stories on Snapchat rather than just links; or if you had someone else write blog posts for your LinkedIn profile (that’s what we do).
And even within each platform, different kinds of content perform differently from one another–e.g., videos on YouTube tend to get way more views than images (though both work well).
Whereas images tend to get way more engagement on Instagram Stories than anything else (but again: what works for others may not necessarily work for your brand).
This means that for any given piece of content from us here at HubSpot–which could include an article published on our website as well as something like a video produced by our marketing team.
To be successful across all channels like Facebook and Twitter where we post it along with other pieces like infographics too.”
11. Always Having One Brand Voice Across All Platforms And Marketing Materials (Email, Blog, Etc.)
The social media expert at your company should be in charge of this. If you have one, great! Now ask them to let you know when they’ve posted something new so that you can check it out and see what’s working for them.
The best thing about the internet is that there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution. Social media accounts are like snowflakes: no two are exactly alike.
That’s why it’s important to analyze each platform individually and figure out how people are using it so that we can make our content fit best with those expectations.
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12. Posting Content At Optimal Times Of The Day, When People Are Most Likely To Engage With It
As a general rule, you should post during peak hours. It’s also good to post when people are most likely to interact with your content: usually in the morning or evening, but not at night. There are a few times of day that are better than others for posting on social media.
Peak hours: When most people will see your posts (during lunch and dinner)
Off-peak hours: A time when there is less competition from other influencers who post at peak hours (for example, early mornings)
If you have a small audience and want to build an audience over time then it makes sense to use off-peak times because they won’t be as saturated with other content being posted by influencers who follow similar strategies.
If on the other hand, you want quick results from your campaigns then using peak times can be advantageous since those who see your posts will be more likely to engage with them than if they were posted later in the day or during an off-peak period
13. Learning How To Use Hashtags Properly On Each Platform – And Testing Them Out To See Which Ones Get You The Best Results For Growing Your Audience!
Hashtags are an essential part of social media marketing, as they’re a way for brands and users to connect. If you want more eyes on your posts, make sure you’re using relevant and popular hashtags in your posts.
For example, let’s say that I own a dog walking company called “Dog Walker Dan’s Dog Walking Service.”
But instead of just posting about my business all day long (which would probably get annoying pretty fast), I also like sharing other things that have nothing to do with dogs or business: like cute videos of puppies or memes from my favorite TV shows.
To share those kinds of things without spamming anyone’s newsfeeds, I’ll use relevant hashtags like #cuteanimals pic., #lolz, or even just #funnystuff.
14. Understanding How Data Like Engagement Rates Should Affect What You Post On Any Given Day Or Week – For Instance, If Something’s Popular On Friday Evenings And Saturdays, Try Giving It A Boost Then Rather Than During The Week!
Many social media managers might not realize that they’re limited by their capabilities to handle additional work or ideas. You need to understand what your audience wants, what works on each platform, and which pieces of content are most likely to get them talking.
That way, if you come up with an amazing idea that would take up a lot of editorial time and effort but generate great results (like creating an infographic), then you’ll know whether it’s worth pursuing at all
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Conclusion
No matter where you are in your social media marketing journey, there’s something for everyone on this list. If you’ve just started posting content but haven’t built up much of an audience yet, try some of the suggestions about growing followers and attracting influencers.
If it’s been six months since your last post because life got busy, go back to basics with tips like making sure not to spam followers or posting at optimal times.
And if you’re already a pro at managing digital profiles, check out how well-known brands use hashtags and data analysis to their advantage!
Further Reading
Here are some additional resources to explore for further insights on social media best practices:
Social Media Best Practices Short Description: Discover a comprehensive guide to effective social media best practices, covering content strategies, engagement techniques, and platform-specific tips.
Building Your Social Media Presence Short Description: Learn actionable steps for building a strong and impactful social media presence, including tips on content creation, audience engagement, and platform optimization.
10 Essential Tips to Grow Your Business on Social Media Short Description: Dive into this resource for ten essential tips on leveraging social media to drive business growth, including audience targeting, content strategy, and measurement.
FAQs
How can I improve my social media engagement?
Enhancing social media engagement involves creating valuable content, interacting with your audience, and using visual elements effectively. Regularly post engaging content that resonates with your audience’s interests and responds to comments and messages promptly.
What platforms should I focus on for my social media strategy?
The choice of platforms depends on your target audience. Research where your audience spends their time online and tailor your strategy to those platforms. For instance, Instagram might be ideal for visual brands, while LinkedIn can be effective for B2B businesses.
How often should I post on social media?
Consistency is key. Create a posting schedule that you can realistically maintain. It’s better to have fewer high-quality posts than to overwhelm your audience with frequent but low-value content.
How can I measure the success of my social media efforts?
Use key performance indicators (KPIs) like engagement rate, reach, click-through rate, and conversions to assess your social media success. Track these metrics over time and adjust your strategy accordingly.
What are some effective ways to increase my social media followers?
Engage with your audience by responding to comments and messages, collaborating with influencers or complementary brands, hosting contests, and creating shareable content. Consistently delivering value will attract and retain followers.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.