11 Secrets to
Social Media Success
By Olivia Rizzo
·
DECIDE ON THE GOAL. Decide
what is most important to develop your focus:
Connect with audience? Gain advertisers? Gain
fans? Image? Drive to website traffic?
·
MAKE THE BIO IN YOUR PROFILE
DESCRIPTIVE. Using
important keywords in a bio also helps to bring
your social media page high in a Google search.
Hashtags that apply
to the business in the bio draw people in.
A photo that
displays the business is also an important
factor for the profile, for example, the latest
important photo posted to the business website.
If the business is a magazine, use the magazine
cover.
a.
For
Facebook: Fill out all the information requested
in the bio portion of the profile. Make sure the
information is complete and accurate.
·
POST “SNACKABLE” (SHORT AND
INFORMATIVE) CONTENT.
Focus on the audience’s mindset. Posting
regularly is important. How often you post is
specific to each social network. It’s also
important to be familiar with your audience’s
behavior to know how often to post.
a.
Twitter: Post short bits of information more
often. Fewer characters allow for more posts.
Test to see how often followers react and apply
to your goal.
b.
Facebook: There are more characters allowed each
post, so more information can be included at one
time. The content should still be in a
“snackable” form to draw attention.
·
IMAGES ATTRACT ATTENTION.
Same as with the profile
photo, sharing photos that are relevant to the
business increases engagement with shares and
retweets.
·
USE HASHTAGS.
Hashtags are tools to search topics and specific
information that is trending or involves the
industry you’re involved in. Use the hashtag (#)
with purpose in organic posts. Hashtags can
also be used to begin a conversation or to join
a conversation already underway. The searchable
content allows others to post with the same
hashtag and to get involved.
a.
For
example: If you have a contest or event, develop
an original hashtag to use in posts and for fans
to use in discussion about the posts.
(#BestInTex14)
b.
Keep
hashtags simple
·
USE VARIETY.
Sometimes, include posts with text alone without
hashtags or @mentions. Direct response includes
questions or statements that begin a
discussion.
·
GET INVOLVED IN OTHER
CONVERSATIONS. This
is a good tactic to become involved with
the audience and to appear more human. This can
be done by commenting or sharing/retweeting
others posts.
·
THE 80/20 RULE:
80% of content should be useful to the audience
and only 20% should be selling or services.
a.
For
Twitter: 40% of the audience retweets new
product information posted; 39% show support;
and 36% share information posted.
·
GET THE AUDIENCE TO TALK BACK.
Displaying the
business as a human indicates that it is
relatable. “Talking back” in responses (retweets,
comments, shares) allows for conversation
similar to one you’d have in person.
·
USE AN EMAIL LIST.
A list you’ve already developed is a great way
to gain followers and encourage them to interact
on social media. Use who you know to gain who
“they” know.
Post bite size bits
from your newsletter or other publications to
insure informative and applicable content.
·
DON’T POST THE SAME THING TO ALL
SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS.
It looks lazy to the audience. It
also does not benefit the posts, because each
site allows for a different number of characters
and each is used in a different way for
interacting, sharing, and connecting.
a.
75% of
Twitter users follow the format using a mobile
device.
·
USE “FOLLOW ME” LINKS.
By embedding links to a
website, you attract more users from different
formats of social media.
|
Olivia Rizzo
is Editorial Assistant at Shane Media and
Digital Editor for Best In Texas® Music
Magazine and
www.BestInTexasOnline.com
|