Social media. We all know and we all use it. Most businesses are using it these days too. But are they using it successfully?
It can be challenging to understand how to optimise each platform. Here is a simple bullet point guide tailored for Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
- Engage, don’t advertise: talk to fans, ask questions & listen to their feedback.
- Set goals: do you want likes? Increased engagement? Website traffic?
- Understand your target audience, what they like and how you can meet their needs.
- Promote posts to get noticed by a wider audience.
- Target posts to a specific group of people (a.k.a your target audience).
- Use a Call to Action as it will improve your success rate.
- Highlight or Pin your best posts.
- Instagrammers look for inspiration, and less information.
- Showcase application of the product, not just the product itself. Followers want to see how the product will apply to them.
- Increase engagement by asking questions to followers.
- Keep captions short & engaging.
- Use hashtags, tag locations and people to reach a wider market.
- Use higher quality imagery.
- Engage with Influencers to spread your message further.
Twitter
- Short tweets make the best impact.
- Use relevant visuals in tweets.
- Connect with followers with Retweets and Replies.
- Perfectly suited for quick, real time updates.
- Don’t include yourself on irrelevant hashtags.
- Use Twitter handles to get the attention of others, in a relevant way.
- Use direct messages for private information or to resolve issues.
If used properly, social media is a powerful way to engage with your customers, fans and followers. It’s not just about raising brand awareness, you can gain real leads that convert into paying customers too.
