Getting it right on social media

Building a valuable network on social media can be a real challenge. We’ve all heard the benefits of getting it right but where do you start?

There’s no denying this will take time, dedication, and hard work. It can also become overwhelming and frustrating if you dive straight in and see little return. Following this guide is a great starting point for building a valuable network.

Quality Over Quantity

One common misconception with social media is that the more content you put out there, the more engaged your audience will be. This is not the case.

Building trust is key to creating a valuable network on social media, one way of doing this is through quality content. This quality content can come in the form of video, blogs, images, podcasts, infographics and lots more. Each platform will have a preferred type of content, for example, LinkedIn recently went all in on video and this is now a great way to grab the attention of your audience.

As a general rule, spend more time creating great content and less time posting random pieces of content which add little value. Make sure you are posting with purpose and that you dedicate time to learn exactly what your audience responds to.

When it comes to adding quality content to your social media schedule, avoid writing social posts months in advance. Instead, constantly work on your schedule and make changes based on how your audience is reacting. While it’s important to always ensure you are aligned to your goals, you have to stay relevant in such a fast-paced environment.

The great thing about a more flexible social media schedule is that you can react more quickly to social media trends.

“If you post something irrelevant, pointless, or worse in social media, the pulse slows. If you post something interesting and useful, the pulse quickens.” - Scott Stratten Brand Pulse

Avoid:

Not taking the time to understand your audience. You want likes comments and shares to come naturally, knowing what your audience likes will keep them engaged and wanting to come back for more.

Happy Hashtags

Hashtags are used to make your chosen word searchable, making it much easier for people to discover your content in real-time.

Before deciding on a hashtag ask yourself this: Is my chosen hashtag actually relevant?

Social media platforms such as LinkedIn encourage users to use relevant hashtags only.

So, how do you know if your hashtag is relevant?

Use the search bar on your chosen social media platform and search your chosen hashtag. Check to see if the brands or influencers associated with that hashtag are relevant to you. It’s also useful to search for your influencers or target audience and see what type of hashtags they are using. Can you link to these and provide relevant meaning?

Hashtags really are incredibly powerful, but they’re not there to be abused! For Twitter use a maximum of two hashtags, don’t use spaces or punctuations and keep it short and sweet. As for LinkedIn, keep your hashtags relevant and most importantly aligned to your marketing or content strategy.

Some great examples of hashtags include campaigns from:

• Coca-Cola’s #ShareACoke
• Calvin Klein’s #MyCalvins
• Always’ #LikeAGirl

Avoid:

It can be really tempting to jump on a trending hashtag and get stuck into the conversation, but before doing this, do your research! Misreading a trending hashtag has led to some epic PR fails from brands and individuals which has resulted in some serious backlash. A restaurant in America once used a domestic abuse campaign hashtag #WhyIStayed for marketing purposes. As you can imagine this seriously backfired and provided a stark reminder to always check the context of hashtag.

Timing is Everything

There are so many different types of content out there, news, evergreen content, e-books, whitepapers, videos, infographics. Every piece has a place, make sure you choose the right time and platform.

There are heaps of useful research reports available that tell you when the best time to post is. Avoid them. Unfortunately, there is no magic formula when it comes to choosing your timings. What works for one brand/individual is not a guaranteed success for another.

So, how do you know what time and platform works for you?

Experiment, experiment, experiment! That’s how! I cannot stress this enough, I’m fortunate to work in an agile marketing environment and one thing I treasure most about this is my ability to experiment. Through experimentation you can constantly reflect on what is working for you and what isn’t then adjust your next experiment accordingly. Social media is changing every day, by experimenting regularly with different pieces of content you are much more likely to keep up!

Remember, you are using social media to speak to an audience, do you want that audience half asleep, disengaged, bored and uninterested? Run your own experiments and work to your audience.

Avoid:

Getting too bogged down by the data. Unfortunately, there is no magic formula when it comes to choosing your timings and platform. What works for one brand/individual is not a guaranteed success for another.

Social Media Quick Tips

1. Quality over quantity wins every time – add value always and build an audience who want to come back for more. 
2. Don’t get bogged down by the social media reports - run your own experiments, reflect on these experiments and adjust your next experiment accordingly.
3. Don’t copy and paste! Different social media platforms exist for a reason –they have a different purpose with different audiences. Copy and pasting your content from one platform to the next is no way to engage these different audiences.
4. Be conversational - beat the algorithms by engaging in conversation wherever you can, especially on your own content!