Social media can be frustrating for many businesses that don’t have the resources to promote their brand on social media. With the algorithms changing all the time, it can be difficult to manipulate your strategy to ensure traffic stays steady. We’ve compiled a list of some of the most common social media questions to help you navigate the muddy waters.
- How Do I Get More Followers?
Answer: By giving people a reason to follow you.
Here’s why: This is the million-dollar question everyone asks.
This answer is simple, but the execution can be a bit tricky. People are drawn to resources they identify with; content that brings value into their lives. Whether it’s an inspirational quote, a news update, or beautiful photos of loft apartments, people are looking for content and images that positively contribute to their lives, not your bottom dollar.
A great place to start is to create content that you are drawn to; chances are your audience is interested in the same information. Invest in quality copy and images.
Another popular tactic is to share promotions and exclusive contests for social media followers, everyone loves a good freebie!
Lastly, spend time demonstrating loyal engagement. No one likes to be treated like a number, and that includes social media followers. In order to be successful, you need to care about your social media community by liking, posting, following and creating loyal relationships in digital environments.
- What Type of Content Should I Share?
Answer: Content that resonates with your audience.
Here’s why: Your ideal customer is one that is currently interested in your services, brand philosophy, and/or company culture. The rules of effective communication are three fold: ask your customer what they want, give them what they asked, tell them that you gave it to them.
You should avoid posting frequent promotional messages. Humanize your brand by being an authority and offering informational posts, like links to good articles or to your own blog content. Be diverse in your brand content, this will allow you to reach more people and ultimately a more interesting social media feed.
If you are feeling a little uninspired, do a little research to understand your social media market atmosphere and draw inspiration from influencers.
- How Often Should I Post?
Answer: It depends.
Here’s why: Posting frequently will increase the ranking of your post, allowing more people to see your content. It is important to remember the time old adage, quality over quantity. So if your post isn’t perfect yet, don’t publish it. Wait until the content and imagery are on point.
Frequency for posting social media content varies from network to network. However, in order to stay relevant, you should consider at least a weekly post to your primary social media platforms. By doing a little research on top influencers in your industry, you can base your social media calendar on those successful accounts. You can perform a few A/B testing experiments and analyze your results at the end of the month to see which times and days got the most traffic.
- When Should I Post?
Answer: It depends.
Here’s why: The best time to post is based on a much larger picture of behavioral consumption of social media. Unfortunately, people (across the globe) do not use social media at consistent intervals when examined over long periods of time. The current activity on social media is constantly changing and will impact when peak engagement hours occur.
That being said, you can find good times to post your content when you research the social media networks you are posting to and when your primary demographic is most active with popular statistic reports that are published quarterly.
- Do I Have To Post On Every Social Network?
Answer: No.
Here’s why: Don’t waste resources by posting the same content or different content to every popular social media platform. Find your audience where they spend the most time and engage with them on the social media networks they like best. Then, create social media strategies around those networks.
- I’m in a “Boring” Industry, Do I Still Need Social Media?
Answer: Yes.
Here’s why: Social media is a great way to create brand awareness. It’s a free resource and tool that can help you move conversations into conversions. You don’t have to post pictures of boring office meetings or strange machinery, you can create a social media presence that people enjoy following because your posts are: visually pleasing, humorous, informational, inspirational, or tug at our heartstrings.
You can continue to establish authority in your industry with a strong social media presence. Be sure to continue your research!
If social media is an important part of your business (it definitely should be) then you need the right tools to work more efficiently and effectively.
