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Sink Your Teeth Into These 5 Social Media Best Practices

By De-de Mulligan 

 

Believe it or not, social media channels are now entering their mature stage. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are having decade anniversaries this year.

Every day, my team evaluates social media channels that our clients and prospects have in place. We regularly see either under- or overposting, not writing or sharing content relative to their audience, or varying company tones depending on who is writing the post.

As you enter the half-way mark of 2019, perhaps it’s time to hit the social media pause button and take a peek under the covers of your channels. If your messages are not resonating with your target audience, something has to change.

Here are the five things you can do today to make a difference in your digital landscape.

 

What are the 5 Practices and Why does it matter?

  1. Be Active on All Your Platforms.
  2. Establish and Share Your Company Tone.
  3. Include Photos, Videos, or GIFs
  4. Don’t Take Credit Where it's Not Due.
  5. Deliver Consistent, Quality Content.

Check out our blog post about the 3 Essential Elements of a Good Social Media Post for more information.

 

 

Here’s why it matters – Social media posts are a reflection of your brand. They allow you to tell your story, convey your company culture, and share with a broader audience more information about your organization -- one post at a time.

 

Let’s breakdown this information further.

 

Be Active on All Your Social Media Platforms

When I go to a prospect’s website, I usually find their social icons on the top or bottom of each page. They are generally super active on one channel and inactive on the other three or four they have posted on their website. Not only are they doing a disservice to those followers by not posting since 2014 (yes, it’s for real), they’re sending a message to their followers they don’t care about that medium.

 

If this describes your organization, we suggest the following: 1) close the dormant accounts or 2) obtain social media training about ways to be more active on those cobwebbed accounts or 3) hire a third-party agency to manage your social media.

 

For more information about building a trusted relationship with a digital marketing agency, please read our blog post.

 

Establish and Share Your Company Tone

While every writer has their voice and style, a company tone should be established by top management to ensure social posts enhance your brand, not detract from it.

It often requires digging into your company’s purpose, business goals, and sharing the type of posts that reflect your organization.

 

Include Photos, Videos, and GIFs

Except for LinkedIn, most social media posts go nowhere without the inclusion of a visual. While videos are all the rage, and we encourage their use, the subject matter may not be readily available or well received via this medium.

Remember, entertaining posts are perfectly fine and often well liked. GIFs are the perfect mechanism to express what’s going on in your company at that moment.

 

Don’t Take Credit Where It’s Not Due

Posting curated content is well within social media best practices. Most digital marketers recommend 70 or 80 percent of their client’s social posts point to content that isn’t owned by them. So whether you’re posting a quote, sharing a news story, or providing information about a new trend, be sure to cite your source.
 

Deliver Consistent, Quality Content

Consistent content is probably something you can get your head wrapped around…however, what about quality? How do you know?

The audience determines quality. Period. If they read, like, share, or comment on your post, you are on the right track. The only way to know if you’re engaging your audience is to measure. Metrics separate the stars from the duds.

 

How to Get Started

Begin with an evaluation:

 

  1. Audit what social media channels you are in today
  2. Evaluate the consistency and quality of each post
  3. Does your social messaging match your company tone
  4. Do you measure social media results every month
  5. Are the posts educational or entertaining
  6. Are you following the 70/30 rule

Once you know this information,  it’s time to make changes.

 

Good Resources on Social Media

I recommend you consider subscribing to Social Media Examiner. Here’s a video on trends on Facebook and Twitter.

 

Great marketing ideas can lead to better postings. I recommend this video highlighting Seth Godin’s latest book.

 

 

 

 

Key Takeaway

Please remember that social media is an integral part of your overall marketing strategy. It can build up or break down your brand. It can serve as a way to enhance your thought leadership or serve as another company advertisement. Most importantly, it can deliver to your targeted audience messages they want to hear when they want to listen to them.

 

About Mulligan Management Group

Established in 2000, we are a full-service digital marketing agency that services the greater Cleveland/Akron area. With over thirty years of marketing experience, our team delivers content every client can sink their teeth into at a reasonable, monthly fee. Please fill out our contact form for a free 30-minute consultation about the ways we can help you.

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