When it comes to interacting with consumers, social media is one of the most effective. It’s a powerful tool for promoting your brand, driving traffic to your website, and meeting your target audience where they are. Understanding the do’s and don’ts of social media is crucial in order to build a successful social media strategy. Let’s talk about them!
The Do’s
1. Know your target audience
Social media platforms can be used to reach anyone, but that doesn’t mean you should appeal to everyone. Do some research to figure out who you should be targeting and then use your audience to define which social media channels make sense for reaching them.
2. Create engaging content
You want to create content that will attract potential customers to engage with your company. Include different types of content like videos, polls, contests, etc. If a current customer or member posts something about your business, share it on your own page or encourage them to use a hashtag to share their experiences and pictures with your product.
3. Be consistent with posting
Consistency is key when it comes to social media. You should post as often as you can post quality content, consistently, so it’s important to create a realistic posting schedule that you can easily maintain for an extended period of time.
4. Stick to your brand voice and aesthetic
Consistency is important for your posting schedule, but also for your brand as a whole. Think of your brand voice as your brand’s personality – that personality shouldn’t change from channel to channel. Make sure your brand strategy aligns with your social media strategy.
5. Stay on top of trends
Social media is constantly changing. New updates and trends emerge all the time, so you need to be ready to shift your strategies and keep up. Research different studies and reports to see what’s working best online and what topics are trending among your target demographics.
6. Respond to your followers
Make sure you’re keeping an eye on each platform you use and engaging with your audience. By answering questions, responding to comments and engaging with other posts, you’re not only growing your digital footprint, but also making your audience feel heard and appreciated.
7. Use compelling imagery
Social media is a crowded space, and using images and video is a great way to grab attention. When your audience can see a photo accompanied with your content, or a video, they’re much more likely to respond or take action before moving on to something else. A text-only post without some sort of visual element may get overlooked in favor of a cool image or video. Use high-quality stock photos and make sure your visuals match your brand voice, color scheme, and style.
8. Show your fun side
Being professional on social media is important, but don’t be afraid to have some fun with it too! Posting relevant memes is a great way to humanize your brand and make your content more humorous, compelling, and relatable to your target audience.
The Don’ts
9. Don’t treat each platform the same
Each social media platform is unique. For example, on Instagram, hashtags are a big thing that can help increase your reach, but they don’t have the same effect on Facebook. Your audience also has different expectations for the content they want to see on each platform, so it’s important to customize your approach for each one.
10. Don’t ignore negative comments
It may be tempting to ignore or delete negative feedback from customers, but this can hurt your business’ reputation. You should respond to every comment, whether it’s positive, negative, or neutral. When dealing with negative or rude comments, try shifting the conversation from social media to another place. Ask the customer to write you an email, direct message, or call customer support.
11. Don’t give into trolls
There’s one exception when it comes to ignoring or deleting negative comments: trolls. If you encounter a negative comment from an online “troll”, delete the comment and report the user. These comments are fake and are purposely trying to hurt your reputation.
12. Don’t spread yourself too thin
Your business doesn’t need to be on every social media platform. Focusing on multiple channels at once can actually do more harm than good. Look at which channels are performing best for your business and double down on those.
13. Don’t focus on quantity over quality
If you post too much, you’ll overcrowd your audience’s feed, which can quickly annoy them and push them to unfollow you. Posting constantly can also lead to less creative content. By reducing the number of times you post each day, you can focus on the quality of the posts rather than the quantity.
14. Don’t forget to proofread
Before posting, you should always check the copy for grammar mistakes, typos and misinformation. These mistakes may seem minor, but they can actually ruin your credibility with your target audience. Have someone else in your company look it over to ensure you don’t miss anything.
Need some help figuring it all out?
Social media requires research, customer service and regular upkeep to maintain an effective social media strategy. With an understanding of these do’s and don’ts, you’re on the right track to gaining more followers and interactions across all platforms. If you need an analysis of your social accounts, or want some fresh content ideas, message us!