3 Tips to Help You Keep a Successful Social Media Presence
Don’t be afraid of the internet.
By Jared Verdejo
As of 2017, Facebook has 2.47 billion active users. YouTube comes in at 1.5 billion, Instagram has 800 million, Tumblr hosts 357 million, Twitter follows close behind with 328 million… shall I go on? It’s no secret that the internet contains an overwhelming amount of users each year. These numbers are made possible thanks to social media. Social media is not just a place to share memes and stalk celebrities, it is a tool and a resource. Just as all other forms of communication, social platforms are ever-changing. This is because social media has become one of the most useful marketing strategies to date. It certainly can be challenging to keep up with the technology, but it is a tool worth learning if you are seeking to gain profit and exposure. Remember that your goal is to exponentially increase your following or your customers through call-to-action posts. Your social media presence can make-or-break your reputation. Here are 3 tips on how to successfully conquer social media.
1. Have More Than 3 Active Social Platforms
One mistake that I often see is brands that only have one platform. A 2008-2019 survey study showed that 79% of the United States’ population is on social media. With numbers like that, it would be a bad business decision to skip the many social media outlets there are to take advantage of.
Social Media Today Expert Dhariana Lozano says: “It’s totally normal to have one network out-perform the others, whether you're an influencer or a brand. And if you do well on one, then I do think it’s valuable to concentrate on it in order to generate the best results”.
A social media presence isn’t built from just one platform. After all, each platform is unique for their own reasons. If you are having trouble choosing the websites that will be most engaging, think about what kind of company you are and who your audience is. If your brand personality is on the professional side, stick with these 3 main websites; LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. These are diverse platforms in which you can easily manage marketing and engagement in a professional manner. LinkedIn is good for posting job opportunities and networking with clients and potential partners. Facebook is good for advertising services and posting events. Twitter is good for sharing data, articles, and graphics/pictures.
If your brand personality is more influential or youthful, you may consider starting with these 3 popular websites; Instagram, Twitter, Blogger. These websites are professional, but they are tremendously useful for growth. Instagram is great for engaging with your audience via shared stories, going live, and linking ad posts to your company’s website. Twitter is great for small graphic ads and creating polls that your audience can participate in with just one tap of the finger. Blogger is a great website if your company is innovative and growing, use it to post updates and create small articles about your progress and future services/products.
If you’re finding that LinkedIn just isn’t working – try something new! Sometimes you have to quit a social media network if you are gaining zero return from it.
2. Be Consistent
As a graphic artist and “social media guy”, I know first-hand that you don’t need to hire a photographer, graphic designer, and web developer to create a successful social media presence. Visuals are important when it comes to social media, but too many companies make the same mistakes. If you’re looking to brand your company and gain a reliable audience, then you need to treat social media like digital marketing. If you are not receiving the results you desire, you’re probably focusing on the wrong things. Be consistent not crafty. Set up a posting schedule and use AdTech software like Creator Studio and Hootsuite to have pre-scheduled posts. Work smarter, not harder. There is data that shows when the best time of day to post on each social media website. You will get better engagement if you follow the engagement analytics that are unique to your audience interaction and also general nation-wide internet usage trends. The secret is to be just as reliable as you want your consumers to be.
What are your brand colors? Do you have any slogans? Do you have a logo that fits into your profile picture? Keep your social media platforms looking clean by making sure your logos and banners are consistent across all of your socials. Depending on your business, you may want your social media banners to have your account tags or website url. But most important for consistent branding: logo representation and attention to color scheme. You don’t want your audience to be confused. You can slightly differ in approach when posting to Instagram versus Twitter. A good example of this mistake is assuming that your followers on Twitter are the same as your audience on LinkedIn. Likewise, you can’t assume that they’re much different. Each social media platform in general has a niche or focus. For example, Twitter and TikTok may be more personal and fun while LinkedIn and Alignable may be professional and clean. Verbiage changes are perfectly fine if you’re posting about the same event/product on multiple social media posts. But keep the graphic and the underlining message the same. Twitter may be more casual than LinkedIn but remember that the message must be the same.
Instagram:
“Introducing the newest addition to our laptop series: the JSV Touch Screen XL. #MaximizeProduction.”
Twitter:
“Bigger is better.”
Both posts should include the same image: a picture or graphic relating to your product, product name, service statement, and a logo. Hashtags can be added.
See how you have room to be more casual or serious across your socials? Consistency is the game, but personalization is the goal.
3. Talk with your Audience not at them
There are a plethora of ways to engage with your audience. It’s social media for a reason! Use it to excite and inform – don’t just dump data on your follower’s timeline. Your posts should have purpose and they should consider the audience at all times. Social media platforms are meant to be customized. Make your viewers feel special. Talk with them through interactive media such as polls, live streaming, instant message/comment replies, and call-to-action video ads.
It doesn’t matter if you have 1,000 followers or 100,000 followers, fans just like to know that they’re being heard. Do this by commenting on posts where you can. Keeping up with replies and direct messages can be stressful but answering the direct line at the office is a priority too, isn’t it? Treat social media like digital marketing. If you want your brand to be associated with dependability then be dependable. Show your followers that you care about their engagement.
Many social media platforms allow you to create digital polls! Take advantage of these tools.
Polls on Twitter and Instagram are good for:
Getting a good idea of participants coming to your next event
To see who is liking your new product
Find out how many users are actively reading your posts/stories
Ask questions about what your audience/clients want
Your audience is diverse no matter what. From a business standpoint, you cannot assume anything personal about your audience. This is why social media comes in handy; use it to collect your data.
Another great way of increasing engagement is being different. Most branding strategies for big corporations does not include going live or posting videos, but research shows that video and audio increase user interest and excitement. Videos will get a click or more minutes-viewed when compared to a static post. Sometimes users rather let a short-and-sweet video play. This way, you get more information to the viewer in a more personal and visually interactive way.
Jose Duarte, a marketing science lead at Critical Mass says: “video should be your primary creative unit: videos are some of the cheapest ads to distribute in social, and in particular, with Facebook and Instagram, they allow you to use their audience building tools that can help drive revenue further down the funnel”.
Jared Verdejo is a Graphic Designer and Creative Strategist, Last Edited in August of 2022