The beginning of a new year is the perfect time to evaluate business strategies and look for ways to improve. Whether you have an established social media business presence, or are just starting out, there are many social media best practices to consider. Let’s discuss a few of them in this blog.
Nail down your strategy.
Even if you’re a social media veteran, I recommend taking a step back to look at your overall strategy. There are a few important aspects to consider.
First, look at your business goals for 2017 and consider how your social media strategy applies to those goals. If you’re looking to reach a new audience, for instance, you may want to introduce a new social media platform to your repertoire. Or if customer retention and loyalty is a primary 2017 focus, look at ways to tweak your social media strategy to better reach and engage with customers.
Another key part of your social media strategy is establishing your “voice” on social media. The type of content you post, your language and the tone you use should represent your brand. A more serious business, like a law firm, will likely have a different voice than a restaurant. Choosing a “voice” can seem a bit abstract, so start by building out your buyer personas. Think of the type of content and language that appeals to your target customer, and go from there.
Create a content calendar and posting schedule.
One of the most important factors in a successful social media presence is consistency. However, that doesn’t mean you have to be chained to your computer to post every few hours. One of the best social media practices is creating a posting schedule and content calendar.
First, decide how often you want to post on each account, and what time of day. (For instance, you may want to post daily on Facebook, weekly on LinkedIn and three times a day on Twitter.) Once you have your schedule developed, create a social media content calendar of what you will be posting (here’s a downloadable calendar to get you started). I recommend planning posts on a regular schedule (for instance once a week or once a month) and then scheduling them in advance in bulk. This practice can greatly streamline your social media initiatives. In the next section, I share some tools that are helpful for bulk posting content.
Take advantage of timesaving tools.
There are countless social media tools available today that add efficiency to your social media program. You don’t need a ton of different tools, but choosing a few of the right ones will save you significant time.
The first social media tool that everyone should use is a publishing tool. Tools like this allow you to schedule social media posts ahead of time, in bulk. For instance, you may schedule all your posts for the week Monday morning. A few of my personal favorite publishing tools include:
- Buffer—allows you to create a schedule for each of your social platforms and add posts to publish at your established times
- HubSpot—a tool Accelity uses and loves
- Hootsuite
- SproutSocial
The other key social media tool to have in your toolbox is an analysis tool. Social media analysis tools help you track the success of everything you post, so you can continually improve your program based on results. Your social media publishing tool will likely have an analysis component, which may be all you need. You should also look at the analytics within each platform you use. More robust social media analysis tools include:
There are unlimited ways to optimize your social media presence, but start with these social media best practices to start 2017 out strong. To learn more about social platforms and strategy, watch the video below, or check out this ebook.