Social. Media. According to newspapers, these two words have either made you leap for joy or curl up at the daunting existence of those platforms in a fatal position in your pyjamas. Either of these responses is probably the reason you’re here: either you love all about social media or you’re thrown into a panic-induced sweat by pure thought.
Like it or not, it’s here to stay, and social media is more critical than ever to your business ‘ success in these social distancing times. It can be both an exciting venture and a daunting process to take on the responsibility of managing your social media accounts, particularly when you’re working from home like many around the world. Have no fear, we are here to tell you that you’ve got this and to give you a few pro-tips.
1. Get on a schedule.
You may have heard the old adage that “information is king.” If that’s true then scheduling software can be regarded as the court jester that makes life in the kingdom enjoyable and also slightly easier. If you’re like me, you’d rather not be stuck to your phone or manually write content hour after hour, through work, even in the middle of the night.
The ideal solution: Tools for handling social media. There are a number of apps offering their users the opportunity to schedule content in advance and free up your time while saving you from the hours that manual posting will take. Depending on your particular needs, there’s definitely an app or application that would suit your management style perfectly, and most will have more tools — such as analytics — that will give you the chance to track your social media from a single dashboard.
2. Don’t underestimate the power of a hashtag.
Hate them or love them, hashtags can be an outstanding way to touch new social media audiences. It’s quick to get carried away with them and tackle to any post at the full level, but don’t get lost thinking too wide. Using common hashtags such as # love or # summer will place you in the mix of other similar posts, but when targeting audiences who are already interested in your business, there is another form of the hashtag to consider niche hashtags.
But hashtags should not be limited to only your posts; add them to the bio of your profile, too. Recently, Instagram introduced the ability to add clickable hashtags to your profile, making your account more searchable and pushing social media followers towards branded content.
3. Boost blog traffic by promoting them on social media.
Blogs and posts online are a perfect way to create the online community of your company and keep the followers engaged. So if you didn’t think about starting one, go and do it now! If you’ve just started one thanks to my advice or already got one up and running, that’s fine, but don’t stop just adding your content on your own platform.
Publish the post on your Social Media pages to boost traffic to your website. Seek to schedule a few posts about your blog and include, if possible, a clickable link to it (Facebook and Twitter have that feature, Instagram takes a bit of extra finesse to offer users links). This will help users locate their posts quickly and raise their opinions on the site-a win-win!
4. Partner with micro-influencers.
There is a growing trend in influencer marketing. It is a form of the social media marketing that involves product placement and advertisement from social media users in a specific industry (influencers) with a broad following.
Partnerships with micro-influencers provide the ability for small companies to tap into influencer marketing without the expensive and often arduous process of selling their goods through top influencers. Seek to scan brand-related hashtags and look for famous social media users who share a passion for your industry.
If you have found a few potential candidates, seek to determine their interest in working with your brand — some are going to work for cash, some are going to barter, some are likely to accept the product in return for posts. Find only one person who is passionate about your product or brand and in no time will you be on your way to reaping the benefits of influencer marketing.
5. Understand the ideal times to post.
To post or not to post, that’s the dilemma we’ve all faced when determining whether to click “publish” on our brilliant development of social media at 12 am. If you’re a celebrity with millions of global followers, it’s best to wait for your particular audience to find out the best posting times. Through platform has a general time when most users click through — but beware of adhering to these guidelines — they’re very specific, and no audience has the same habits.
To decide the best posting times for your audience, start by making educated guesses about time slots that could draw traffic, such as morning and afternoon commuting or lunch breaks. Pay attention to which times you receive the most traffic, and from there, tailor your plan. Fit it into your plan as you set in Hack # 1 the scheduling technique you’ve learnt. This isn’t a one-time fix, however; holidays and major events like the COVID-19 crisis will alter the regular schedules of your followers. Pay attention to those shifts as they fluctuate and adapt the marketing strategy for social media accordingly.
6. Focus less on vanity metrics, more on engagement.
By term, vanity metrics are known as the number of likes and followers you get on social media. Buying into the idea that these are a true indicator of the quality of your content is incredibly simple but in fact, interaction should be the number one priority. Hundreds of likes on a social media post will prove your posts are performing well, but interaction such as feedback and discussion can demonstrate that people are genuinely interested in the services or products of your company and the details you share.
Many social media sites provide free analytics tools that can provide insight into what kinds of content on your profile receive the most interaction. All of them offer a free analytics tool on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram that will help you find out what your followers really are doing. Similar to when deciding posting time, play with content and adapt regularly to post what your followers are most interested in.
7. Harness the power of Instagram Stories.
It is time to add to your toolkit the feature Instagram and Facebook Stories. Stories allow users to post images or videos that appear at the top of your feed and vanish within 24 hours, instead of a regular post. They are a goldmine for engaging with fans, collecting feedback, and new, enjoyable way to promote your company on social media. It’s safe, of all the best.
Try posting a few times a week to your Story and add items that viewers can connect with, for example, questions, surveys or other stickers. But watch out for over posting — users will rarely click from a single brand or account via hundreds of Story posts. Instead, aim to keep it around 10 Story posts for sharing your content while keeping viewers engaged.
8. Check out new small-business Instagram stickers.
In response to the difficulty brought to many small businesses by the COVID-19 crisis, Instagram has created stickers to add to your Story. These stickers are specifically designed to bring more traffic to your company.
Small business users also have the option to attach stickers while sharing an Instagram Story, which includes buttons to buy gift cards, donate to a fundraiser, or order food. — button enables users to connect to a partner site where they can complete the action like buying food or donating money — helping support the company with a button press. These stickers will help keep your social media audience linked to your company in a time when convenience and contactless shopping is the new standard (insert sigh of relief).
