Social media is a constantly evolving enterprise, a task of shifting complexity that requires regular strategic check-ins to determine whether everything is still working towards a brand's identified marketing goals - and whether those marketing goals have shifted as well.
Manchester, UK-based digital marketing agency Return on Digital has created an infographic that highlights just how important it is to keep social media on-track, and what steps a social media manager can take to ensure a consistent return on their social media investment.
Some of the tips might seem obvious to some, but as Facebook (901 million users), Twitter (360 million users) and LinkedIn (161 million users) grow larger, there are some key takeaways that can help streamline and improve a brand's social media presence.
For Facebook:
- Don't post for the sake of it.
- Asking questions doesn't always increase interactions - sometimes it's just annoying, so make sure they are the right questions relevant and interesting to your audience.
- Know your audience - find our who they are and what they are sharing, and then give them more of that.
- Photos generate 200% higher interaction rate.
- Asking users to "like" gets 216% higher interaction rate - but can also be SUPER ANNOYING when done excessively or for something that most of your audience has no interest in liking.
For Twitter:
- Don't talk about yourself through a brand account - you can link to your account in the page description (by saying "Account managed by..."), but be sure to separate personal from professional.
- Reference the source @ account if you take content curated by someone else - stealing from someone else without giving credit is bad form.
- Use Private Twitter Lists to segment your followers and keep tabs on competitors.
- Research hashtags - by determining which ones are most widely used by your audience/sector, you can be sure your tweets will be found by the right people.
- Leave room for Re-Tweets - the optimum length for tweets is 120-130 characters, most likely because people need room for RTs and their own commentary.
For LinkedIn:
- This is a professional network, so act like it!
- Only post relevant updates regarding your company/professional life .
- Your profile/company photo should match your brand.
- Use the "People You May Know" feature to increase connections and network.
- Create a group and lead relevant discussions - but make sure you are not just repeating something that already exists.
- Contribute items of value to group discussions rather than blatant self-promotion that only angers potential connections, customers and leads.
View the original blog post here.