Top Ten Social Media Tips for Businesses

In 2018, it’s essential for your business to have an online social presence. This is, after all, how customers stay connected to your organization in today’s world. Our digital marketing experts have pulled together a compilation of the top ten social media tips for businesses—to help you build your organization’s brand and drive awareness to your online platforms, products, and/or services.

1) Focus on the platforms that align well with your brand & audience

When first establishing social media profiles for your organization, don’t feel pressured to create accounts on every social platform out there. Instead, focus on the platform that best represents your brand, message and audience. Find what connects best with your clients and prospects, and then amplify that platform with high-quality content and visuals.

2) Develop a content & social media plan

When developing a content and social media plan, keep in mind your target audience and what you hope to achieve. You can begin to create your strategy by first researching what your intended audience searches for and reads on social media platforms. Then, you can form a content and social media strategy—be sure to include a timeline, expectations and goals. Put in the work to really drive readers to your social platforms and your site. The greater the quality of your plan, the more likely you’ll draw in prospects.

3) Create & share unique content your audience will find interesting

To really gain traction on your social media platforms, it’s crucial to produce engaging and unique content that not only intrigues your readers, but also sets you apart from the competition. Be sure to create content with your brand identity in mind, while keeping the content interesting, accurate and personable. Additionally, it helps to include keywords in your writing that are considered buzzwords in your industry. With a little keyword research (which can be easily conducted on various websites, such as Google AdWords), your media profile will stand out even more.

4) Leverage what’s trending & utilize hashtags

One of the best ways to stay active with your audience is by keeping up with trends. No, we don’t mean what’s on the Hot-or-Not list in the fashion magazines. What’s trending in the world of social media can refer to popular hashtags that are being recognized right now for millions of users. Pay attention to current events and pop culture—there’s bound to be mention of them on social media, and you can use those hashtag phrases to your benefit.

5) Learn how to schedule posts to save time

Don’t waste time logging into your computer at 5:00 AM just because you want to have the first tweet of the day. Use social media management tools to schedule your posts—you can access all of your social platforms from this tool and can pick dates and times for your posts to go live.

6) Show a consistent brand personality

A consistent voice is key to a successful online brand personality and engaged audience. You need to clearly define who your organization is as a speaker, and then stick with that voice across all social media platforms and your website. You don’t want to confuse your readers!

7) Listen to your audience & engage with them

Social media can really help drive a company’s success—when used correctly. Don’t just utilize your Facebook page to talk at your audience; ask questions, post surveys and respond to comments. If your audience is listening and engaging, it’s essential that you interact back. This will establish respect (especially when you respond to positive and negative comments).

8) Increase your reach with promotions & targeted ads

Social platforms, like LinkedIn, offer ads that target specific users and are beneficial to drawing in people, who might have otherwise never landed on your page. Keep in mind, targeted ads and promotions do have an associated cost, which might not be practical for all businesses.

9) Experiment with new features

Don’t be afraid to integrate newer, more experimental features into your social platforms. Sometimes being the first in your industry to test out the latest social app update can put you ahead of the competition. Sign up for Google alerts concerning social media and app updates—this way you’re never the last to know about Snapchat’s newest filter.

10) Measure your success through analytics

This is key! If you want to know how successful your social media initiatives (and all your hard work!) have been or currently are, you need to track and study your profiles’ analytics. With a number of tracking tools out there, such as Google Analytics, collecting and reviewing your data has never been easier. We recommend specifically tracking your follower growth, the amount of traffic your social platforms bring to your company’s website and user engagement.

Is your business taking advantage of social media?

If you need help developing an effective social media campaign or creating engaging and sharable content contact Sikich’s marketing team today for a free social media consultation.