Like it, or not, social media is here to stay! There is an estimated 1.96 billion social media users worldwide which is anticipated to grow to 2.5 billion by 2018. Read on to learn how to make it work for your business.
The above chart illustrates the growth of social media in the United Kingdom from 2007 to 2015.
In this article, we recommend techniques to grow your following and engagement rate on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
It’s the first ever social media platform to exceed 1 billion users and to this day, it is reported to have 1.96 billion registered accounts. Below are 5 ways to stand out from the 60 million other companies on Facebook.
-
Quality vs. Quantity
More content ≠ more followers, that myth needs to be deflated. It’s important to define a content strategy that your followers will want to engage with and it all starts with your audience and the content they’d like to read.
-
@Tagging
When sharing content from a different source or account, be sure to tag them in the post. You can do so by simply adding an @ and typing the name. This way your post will show up in their feed to their followers, the account tagged will be notified of it and possibly interact with it, thus growing your potential reach.
-
Share a Video
If your company has a video or the capacity to produce one, now is the time to share it! The platform’s algorithm is optimized to show video in priority over images and updates.
Bonus: Adding as little as a £10 advertising spend to your video will increase reach and place your video in front of the right audience. -
Live Facebook Video
Organize and plan a live Facebook video for an upcoming event or to promote an update within your company. Read more about Live Facebook Video’s here: live.fb.com/
-
Run a contest
Encourage followers to actually engage with your content by running a contest. There’s a better chance to convert your followers into real customers by asking them to comment, interact and/or share the contest as opposed to “Like to Win”.
Twitter has over 310 million monthly active users and continues to become more popular for customer service. 77% of users feel positive about a brand when they receive a response and 76% would recommend a brand based on friendly customer service. Twitter is not a platform to forget about especially if this is where your customers are. Here are 5 ideas to successfully connect with your audience on Twitter.
-
Utilise the Twitter Advanced Search
Use the Twitter Advanced Search to find potential followers talking about your business or the industry … who knows, maybe they’ve misspelled your company name or had a question but didn’t tag you. Be as precise as you want with the Advanced Search from location to exact phrase, it’s a great tool to discover customers.
-
Join a Twitter Chat
Joining a Twitter Chat will allow you to connect with similar industry members, grow your network, and discuss topics that interest you and your followers. Offering an opinion and being an expert on the topic will be acknowledged within the members of the Twitter Chat.
-
Add #Hashtags to your Tweets
Double the engagement rate per tweet by simply adding a relevant hashtag to it. In saying so, don’t overdo it, tweets receive optimal engagement with 1 or 2 hashtags. We encourage you to search related #hashtags and interact with other accounts.
Read more on the history of the Twitter Hashtag here and how to use them properly.
-
Use a Scheduling Tool
Use a scheduling tool like Buffer to help organize and schedule your tweets. Buffer even has a browser extension to easily add an article to a preset queue.
-
Images Earn Double Engagement
Sharing an image with your tweet earns about 2x the engagement than one without. According to Bit Rebels, infographics are even better with the potential to get 832% more retweets than images. Speaking of such, check out this on infographic on the art of getting retweets.
Instagram is one of the fastest growing platforms with over 500 million active users monthly. It’s used by 48.8% of brands and is expected to increase to 70.7% by next year. It’s a proven platform for brands to produce quality content, in turn, converting to real life customers. Below are some simple tips to get you started.
-
Attractive Visuals
Instagram is all about visuals, therefore, be sure your images are eye-catching and intriguing. Don’t spam your followers feed with ads – Instagram is for real-time updates with authentic imagery.
-
Instagram Advertising
Adding a minimal budget of £5.00 to your post can increase reach and engagement drastically.
“[Instagram is ] dubbed the “king of social engagement” by Forrester Research, the top brands on Instagram are seeing a per-follower interaction rate of 2.3 percent, which far surpasses the engagement rate these brands are seeing on both Facebook (0.2 percent) and Twitter (0.02 percent).” – HootSuite
-
Participation is Encouraged
Get your audience to participate with your content by asking questions, inviting followers to tag a friend or by holding a contest. Be creative with your captions and encourage conversation around your brand.
-
Repost
Repost great images and give credit to the respectful owner. Share images that your customers/followers would like to see – reposting pictures by your customers acts as a visual testimonial.
-
It’s a two-way street!
Don’t just expect followers to come to you; start a conversation by connecting with other related accounts. Search hashtags, discover accounts that speak to you and interact with them.
Linkedin is the largest professional network in the world with over 467 million users and increases more than 2 users per second. Join the 57% of companies that have a LinkedIn company page and follow these tips below.
-
Make a good first impression
When people search for your company name, the information that shows up first is your profile image, mission statement, and headline. Be sure to make these catchy and unique.
-
Share company news!
Share any exciting news or announcements related to your company on your LinkedIn company page. Try sponsoring an update with a small advertising spend to help increase your reach.
-
Consistency at your company
Request all employees to have an updated LinkedIn page with your company listed as their employer and their current position. This can start a conversation amongst your employee’s acquaintances and hopefully, when it comes down to their next related purchase, it’ll be through your company.
-
Personal Profile
Keep your personal profile up to date. Participating in a discussion you are knowledgeable in, presents you as a reputable source earning the trust of your peers. Build your network by connecting with fellow industry members via InMail.
-
Stay professional
Remember, LinkedIn is a place dedicated to professionals, ensure you filter your posts and only share content that is curated for this platform.
All of the above social media platforms provide an analytical tool to track your progress of your content. Be sure to take note of which type of posts and copy work for your company.
Remember, consistency is key on social media. Set a time that works for your schedule to update your social media pages. Spending as little as an hour a day sharing quality content and engaging with your followers/potential customers will pay off.
Which is your favorite #SocialMedia platform to reach your audience? #WebDevelopers #Poll #InfoSec
— In-Tuition Networks (@intuitionnet) November 29, 2016
Do you have a recommendation for our list of social media best practices? Share it with us on Twitter here @intuitionnet.
Thanks for reading!
Posted on November 30th, 2016 and last modified on October 5th, 2017.
