Maximise the success of your social media activity with these top tips:

1. Create a strategy

Before you go near your keypad, think about your goals and what you are trying to achieve. Are you looking to increase your brand awareness? Market a new product or service? Improve your customer service?

Consider how often you will post, what platforms you will use, who will take care of your social media presence and any more in-depth campaigns you’re looking to create.

2. Have a presence

Sounds obvious but being online has a significant impact on developing your brand awareness, generating leads and turning these into conversions.

● 74% of consumers depend on social media in order to make purchasing decisions

● 57% of consumers say they’re influenced to think more highly of business after seeing

positive comments or praise online.

3. Know your brand

What’s your identity? Are you cheeky, fun and entertaining? Or are you reliable, professional and friendly? Once you’ve identified this, all social media activity should follow these brand guidelines.

4. Quality over Quantity

Choose the platform that’s right for you….

Are you a visual business that could show your craft or products through images? Do you have snippets of info that would be ideal for Twitter or YouTube? Are you a b2b service provider that feels at home on LinkedIn?

5. Be Consistent

Brand loyalty is all about building a regular, credible and trustworthy presence. If you’re unable to post every day, ensure you post once a week on the same day at the same time. See daily posts as a goal to aspire to, not a starting point. Consistency is key.

6. Schedule to Save Time

Use scheduling tools such as Hootsuite and Buffer to jot down all of your content for the coming week. That way you can spend 2 hours on a Monday morning and you’re set for the week ahead.

7. Content is King

Avoid persuasive promotional content 100% of the time as this is the online equivalent of the hard sell and it’ll only turn your customers off. There are four purposes of writing: to inform, to entertain, to advise and to persuade. Apply them equally to develop a genuine and loyal following.

8. Good PR

Do get a handle on your customer reputation before you post. Address any customer service problems before seeking engagement on them. Implement an approval system, if helpful.

9. Respond to your Audience

Many potential sales have been lost through failing to respond to a message or comment left on your profile and the user subsequently going elsewhere. Even if it’s not an enquiry that will lead to a direct sale, build conversations like you would at a networking event.

10. Analyse your Activity

A good best practice item to add to the checklist is to use built-in analytics tools such as Facebook Pages or independent ones such as Klout to see how your activity is doing.

Are visual posts better than textual ones? Are Wednesday’s posts more successful in gaining engagement that Monday’s?

For more information on how to increase your brand awareness, generate leads and turn these into conversions, contact us today.