Everyone wants to be popular on the socials. Are you thriving? Or are you just kind of existing? We’ve told you this time and time again: you can’t just set it and forget it. Social media is time-consuming and kind of a pain in the ass. You can’t fake it. That’s what makes it awesome but also really hard. You’ll read lots of articles on creating a killer social media presence, but the fact is, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter—they’re constantly changing, and it’s becoming more pay-to-play than organic. Still, you can be effective without spending a ton of cash. Here are our tips, tricks and must-dos.
Have a plan
Before you do anything, you really need to map out a strategy to meet the goals you set for your social presence. This doesn’t have to be a 100 page research paper, but it does need to include:
- Research. Know your audience. Know where they exist and understand the type of content they crave. If you don’t take the time to understand them, how the hell will you reach them?
- Goals. One of your goals could be to increase engagement on LinkedIn by 25%. Make sure your goals are realistic. For example, don’t make it “set up TikTok ‘cuz all the young kids are doing it.” We mean, FFS, your audience more than likely is not on TikTok.
- The how-to. Map out the type of content you are going to post. Create a content calendar that details the themes and timing of posts. Most importantly, set aside time to manage and monitor your accounts. If you aren’t going to engage, then don’t even bother. Social media is a two-way street. It’s not just about shoving your content down people’s throats.
- Measure that shit. How do you know you’re meeting your goal if you’re not actually looking at your metrics?
Be an actual human
Stop with the corporate bullshit. No one wants to drink your company Kool-aid. They want to hear, read or watch stories about what makes your brand different or your culture kickass. They don’t want to read boilerplate crap about your products or services. Think about it this way: would you want to hang out with someone that only talked about themselves and was a terrible listener? Create a community, follow other accounts, share posts, comment and engage with your followers. Everyone craves human connections, and they want to know the real you. Focus on the conversations, not a hard sell. Don’t become a door-to-door salesperson, because people hate that shit.
Quality, not quantity
It’s easy to get lost in the sea of content and posts. You could have 15,000 followers but shit for engagement. It is much more important to have a high engagement with your target audience than high vanity metrics. A recent article by SproutSocial makes the point that having 100 followers who regularly engage with you and your content are infinitely more valuable than 10,000 that ignore you. There is a lot more to this social media game, but these are our top must-dos to get you pointed in the right direction.
Be creative, be visual and for the love of all that is holy, listen. We can help.
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