We all wish that when we post on social media, we get thousands of retweets, shares or likes. To do this is extremely difficult unless you already have millions of followers like Katy Perry or Kim Kardashian. You need to approach social media with the idea that it is the most competitive marketplace in the world where you are up against around 1.8 billion active users across all platforms. If you take Twitter, for example, you’re competing with around 6000 tweets a second, so having posts that stand out and engage your target audience are vital.
The question that you need to ask yourself is… How do I make my tweet or post stand out?
You need to ensure that social media posts include great content, that they work with your audience and that you post often. If you follow these guidelines, you’ve taken the first step towards being noticed. For example, if you are a company selling apples a series of posts could focus on how to make an apple pie. These target your followers who have an interest in apples and gives them an idea of what do with apples meaning they will potentially buy your product or visit your website.
Our 7-step guide to social media success!
- Is your post valuable, is there a point to it? Even if you’re posting a few times or 30 times a day it is essential that every post has some kind of value and relevance. If you want to engage people try to make your posts entertaining or educational, or both if possible. Entertaining posts will attract and capture people while an educational message will do same if it has an interesting angle. You need to look for a good mix of both angles and if you’re able to amalgamate them into one post that’s even better!
- Make sure your post fits the platform. A tweet-style post isn’t going to work on LinkedIn just as an Instagram photo isn’t going to convert to Facebook as the Hashtags won’t have the same effect. If you don’t post correctly on a platform, this will most likely damage engagement. For example, if you have a post with multiple hashtags on LinkedIn many people will ignore it as there is too much blurb and these users expect to see headlines that link to professional articles.
- Do your posts fit in with the voice and tone of your company? To ensure they do, make sure you create a plan for social media. This will help you to target groups and discover the best times to send your posts on various platforms. It will also help you balance entertaining and light-hearted tweets with educational and more corporate posts.
- Make sure your posts have a visual element. Posts with a visual element are 87% more likely to be shared and 35% more likely to be retweeted. This doesn’t have to be complicated and can consist of a simple photo, video of a gif. A visual element helps catch people’s eye more than plain text will.
- Timing is vital! To get your post seen you need to work out when your target audience is most active. This can be hard to do though; it’s a case of researching when you have the most activity. This can be done by looking at your analytics on Twitter or Facebook or by using posting app like SM Hack. Social media platforms use algorithms to fish out the best and most relevant content, but only the best posts will be found. Research suggest that tweets sent between midday and 3 pm are most effective in the UK. Also, tweet between 2-5 times or 30 times a day to achieve the most engagement.
- Make sure your headline or tweet is eye-catching and engaging. It also needs to be relevant to your company and the message you are trying to portray or you could create mixed signals. The use of Hashtags is important too as it can help to target a group or audience.
- Spelling and Grammar! Posts that include spelling or grammar mistakes look unprofessional and can create a negative impression of the company involved. It’s easier than ever to check posts before sending these days with apps such as Grammarly or even just plain old spell check in Word.
