Social Media Best Practices

Social Media is a really great marketing tool if utilized correctly. Using the following tactics, you can create a successful social media strategy.

1. Consistency

While each social media platform has its own advantages and disadvantages, there needs to be a consistency that flows through your strategy. Using a consistent voice, consistent content, consistent posting, and consistent aesthetic is how Auburn Advertising recommends remaining consistent. There needs to be a feeling of familiarity to consumers. Brand recognition goes a long way.

2. Have others make content for you

All of the content on your social media platforms does not have to be original. While you can get into some trouble using content that does not belong to you, there are ways to get content made for your use or permission to share photos while making consumers feel special and seen. It has also been found that millennials trust user generated content 50% more than traditional marketing messages.

3. Engage

The main point of social media is to be social, right? So then using social media to create a community can benefit your business. It is not all about pushing out content, but actually engaging with consumers and creating a community surrounding your brand.

"You can get the conversation started by asking for opinions and insights, weighing in on interesting trends, and bringing customers together in online social-sharing communities." -Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University

4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

A key part of gaining web traffic is the consumer's ability to find your brand. Search engine optimization is the practice of figuring out what will make one result come above another, when someone uses a search engine like Google or Yahoo. Forbes outlines some really great resources to teach yourself SEO here.

5. Brand Advocates

An important (and free!) advertising tool for brands to use is brand advocates. These are people who really love your brand, and will post about it on social media without monetary compensation. Read more about the benefits of brand advocates in my previous post here!

6. Plan Ahead

Social media in personal life is usually a spur of the moment thing. However, businesses need to be a lot more intentional than that. Planning ahead of time will help to keep the consistency of your social media presence. It will also ensure that there isn't any lag in social media presence if something happens.

7. Use a Social Media Managing Tool

Using a tool like Hootsuite to manage your social media can be extremely helpful. It allows you to manage multiple accounts, schedule posts, tracks analytics, and more. My favorite feature of Hootsuite is the ability to schedule posts. Social media doesn't only operate during business hours. If you set up posts to be posted during the weekend, Hootsuite will push the content out for you. Obviously there needs to be some surveillancing of the social media accounts, but this takes a lot of pressure off.

8. Use Hashtags and Keywords

Hashtags and keywords are great ways to increase your reach. There are some websites and apps that will help you determine what the best hashtags to use are. One of the best ones is Flume.

9. Listen to Your Audience

Social media's main purpose is community. Use your social media to allow customers to talk to you. Listening to your audience will not only make them feel heard and appreciated as consumers, but it will also allow you to improve your product or service to better meet the needs of your target market.

10. Make it Personable

Give your brand a voice; your voice. Every post shouldn't be a sales pitch. Consumers want to relate to you on social media and see the personality behind the brand.

Following these best practices will help you improve your social media presence! If you have more tips and would like to share with me email me or let's connect on social media!