Social media is a booming opportunity for brands to socially engage directly with target audiences through a variety of platforms. However, the world of social interaction is more complex than it first appears. This article outlines our top ten tips for great social media posts that get results.
1. Keep text within graphics to a minimum, particularly on Facebook.
Facebookâs âboost postâ feature allows you to pay a small fee to have your post featured higher in your audienceâs news feed. Boosted posts will appear as âsponsoredâ, increasing the likelihood that it will be seen. Unfortunately, not all posts can be boosted. Posts featuring images with too much text are often restricted, so keep it short and to the point. Save your text for the accompanying message. Use an attention-grabbing headline to your supplementary text, too.
2. Ask questions and encourage audience interaction
Audiences enjoy responding to questions or interacting with something fun like a quiz. As a business, you are letting your target market know that you value their opinion, and want to engage with them.
3. Promote your product or service in context
Using engaging graphics or text to show how your product or service is relevant to your target audience is very effective. Include content that consumers would find interesting and draw attention to your product/service in use to distinguish it from its competitors.
4. Think outside the box â itâs not all about your product
The beauty of social media is its frequency. Unlike offline marketing, online interaction is constant and ever changing. To maintain a presence, post often (without going overboard and spamming your followers). But itâs not all about you. Create a personality and understand what your audience is about. Post content thatâs interesting, funny or something your audiences can relate to. Donât just go for the hard sale.
5. Stay up-to-date with trends and tailor posts to the real world
Keeping in line with pop culture, news and national holidays and events keeps you relatable to your audience. Being aware of whatâs being talked about and whatâs happening around you, both locally and internationally, allows you to interact with audiences on another level. If a public holiday is coming up, tailor your posts to things that you think your audience might be doing. Create a guide about whatâs on in the local area, or something that will make them laugh related to that day. It increases potential exposure and can allow your brand to feature when people are actively searching an event that is trending.
6. Let your audience in by showcasing your team and how you work
Social media is personal. People often post the inner most happenings of their personal lives on these platforms, for the world to see and interact with. As a brand, you need to do the same. Showing your audience that you are human and that you have a personality behind your brand facade can be enlightening. Donât hide behind you social media presence. Post a team photo, something thatâs happening in your office, or something that your team is interested in right now.
7. Â Brand your images with a logo
The scroll element of social media means posts often only get a glance. If something catches someoneâs eye, they might not take the time to engage and see who posted it. By branding your images with a logo, youâre in the forefront of the audienceâs mind even as they casually scroll through their newsfeed. This psychology keeps your logo in their subconscious, to be called upon later.
8. Take advantage of the hashtag phenomenon
Hashtagging has become a fascination among the online marketing world. Using hashtags connects your posts to others like it, and allows your audience to see your post when searching for commonly used hashtags. A lot of brands underuse hashtags in their social presence, and itâs a huge missed opportunity.
While increasing searchability, hashtags also indicate whoâs interacting with your brand. Giving yourself your own hashtag and encouraging your audience to use it when theyâre engaging with your brand allows you to contact your consumers directly. Searching for that hashtag on social platforms takes you directly to people who are talking about you. You can take advantage of this and interact with these people, encouraging repeat purchase and brand credibility.
9. Post with multiple images
This is important for Facebook in particular. Posts with more than one image have more credibility in terms of Facebook choosing how to display it. If your post includes more than one image, Facebook automatically converts the photos to an album, with one cover photo and smaller thumbnails for the other images. Users are curious and drawn in to click through to the other photos. Statistics prove that album posts are clicked twelve times more often than single photos, and this increases brand reach five-fold.
10. Use a scheduler to nail the timing of your posts
The social media world never sleeps. Using a scheduler allows you to time your posts going live so that they hit the right audiences.
Think about your audienceâs day-to-day life. Target people on their way to work or on their way home when the inevitable smart phone gate commences. If youâve created a cultural post about something thatâs happening, post it at the right time of day for the event.
These tips prove that managing a strong social media identity can be a time-consuming task. If youâd like some help creating digital content for your brand, chat to Avion Communications today.
Image courtesy of Kaboom Pics
