I’ve done a few similar blogs on social media in the past, but since the various platforms are ever evolving and attracting a newer, broader user base each day, I thought it was time to cover the bases on posting strategies.
Today, I would like to offer you six strategies our most successful clients implement when engaging with their audiences on social media. Emulate some or all of them (and be willing to spend a little money on some good professional writing), and I believe you will start noticing significant, positive differences in how people interact with your content. Let’s get right to it, shall we?
#1 – Post Regularly
I’m going to lead with the obvious one here and just offer a brief word about it. I cannot emphasize enough how important consistency is with this. I can remember attending a seminar for upcoming internet marketers and entrepreneurs way back in the mid- to late ’90s. Back then, the closest thing we had to social media was sites like LiveJournal, Usenet, and BBS systems.
Even then, this concept was driven home to upcoming marketers: You have to produce good, optimized content and keep it flowing. Back then, the key concern was load times on webpages because, having crunched all the numbers, it was estimated that the average person would spend only 5-10 seconds waiting to see something interesting load on a page before clicking away.
The thing about social media is that you often don’t even have the luxury of 5 seconds. You want to produce content that is interesting enough to make someone stop scrolling. That might give you 1 or 2 seconds to sell the content – 5 if you are extremely lucky. The best strategy in this instance is to simply have enough content locked and loaded that it shows up in people’s feeds all the time.
In some cases, you can even repost content and get away with it. In fact, it’s a common and effective practice on Twitter. Don’t just load in one tweet and rebroadcast it 500 times. Have 10 or 20 or 30 that you can schedule and randomize using one of the many social management tools available for free or at low monthly cost. I’ll get into how to schedule your posts in a few minutes.
#2 – Use a Mix of Original and Curated Content
The former should take definite precedent over the latter, but you do want to use both. Original, branded content is a powerful tool in the “stop scrolling” arena. Once people recognize your brand and associate it with great content, they will stop to look.
Curated content comes in handy because it shows that you are conscious of current trends within your niche or that encompass the interests of the people in your target audience. What kind of content does your ideal avatar like to see? Start by developing and curating content that aligns with his, her, or their most fervent likes and interests. You can then modify the content based on the feedback you get from likes, shares, retweets, comments, and the like.
#3 – Follow Popular Trends
The best way to sharpen your social media skills is to pay attention to your competition and emulate the things they do that prove to be particularly successful. Take particular note of how major corporations within your niche approach social media. You can learn quite a bit about both how to approach your own audience and how not to.
Believe it or not, some big companies are very irresponsible with their social media. Some have it down to a science. You have plenty to learn from both ends of the spectrum.
I would recommend that anyone trying to build a social media empire check out this book. It’s a few years old now but the core message is still solid, and it will give you some really great ideas. It will also show just how much certain large organizations still have to learn about social media. Knowing the vulnerabilities in your top competitors’ armor can only help you get where they are faster.
#4 – Use Well-Researched Hashtags
Don’t think that you are going to create a hashtag that will go viral overnight. This is one instance where it is very advantageous to piggyback on the success of others for your brand’s own benefit. It is perfectly ethical, and it will help you reach a point where your own voice matters more.
Here is a list of tools you can use to plan your hashtags. Approach this part of the process in much the same way you would researching keywords. We don’t simply pull keywords out of thin air (and if you do, we need to talk…), so why would that ever work with hashtags?
#5 – Post When Your Audience Is Watching
Use some of the aforementioned social media management tools to analyze when your posts get the best engagement. These trends will take some time to emerge, so be patient and keep your eyes on the numbers. Start by analyzing your engagement trends by the month, then modify as needed. Then start analyzing by the week, then the day.
It might take a few months to build up some momentum, but if you can start aligning your posting habits with when your audience is most likely to engage with them, your ROI on content creation and social media management can really take off.
#6 – Have Fun with It
As a final takeaway, don’t stress over the process. Be patient and let things evolve. In the meantime, have fun creating or searching for cool content and engage with your audience in real-time. Nothing will help you grow your audience faster than letting them know that there are actual people driving your brand.