Questions to consider before posting on social media
If you’ve realized the importance of social media marketing, you’ll also want to know how to do it right! So slow down, don’t hit the send button just yet. Before you post on any platform, you’ll first want to ask yourself a few key questions.
- Am I posting at the right time?
Timing is everything when it comes to having a successful social media post. You’re not going to reach your audience if they’re not online when you click send. But how do you know if they’re online? Test the waters and/or use analytic reporting to identify the top hours of the day your target audience is online and active. If you are not measuring any of your current social media efforts, sign up for Hootsuites free 30 day trial. Once you figure out the optimal times and days of the week your customers are online, start scheduling your posts in advance!
- Is my Post Shareable and Likable?
You want to increase the reach of your posts as much as possible, so getting your fan and follower base to share and like your post can generate more awareness of your brand! These likes and posts serve as recommendations to their friends and followers. This can bring you more customers and more sales! So how do you make your content shareable and likable?
- Give your readers value (ex. provide a solution to a problem).
- Make your post humorous.
- Discuss a recent event your fans and followers would find interesting.
- Encourage followers to participate in the post (call-to-action).
- Does my Post have a clear Call to Action?
Having a clear call to action (CTA) is THE BEST way to get something out of every post you create. Call to action posts are ones that get viewers to take actions you want them to. Call to action posts will get your audience responding to your social activities. You can ask your readers to share, like, comment, follow you on others platforms etc. Make sure you give them a reason to act on your post. An engaged audience is more likely to buy your products and services.
- Is my post too long?
Studies have shown the shorter the post, the higher the interaction. Posts with 80 characters or less receive 66% higher interaction rates than longer Posts. Posts with 40 characters receive 85% engagement. So make sure your posts are short, sweet and straight to the point. How can you shorten your posts? If you have links you want to include in a post, use Bitly generator to shrink your URL. Reword your posts into a more condensed version of what you are trying to say. Use hashtags to put your posts into quick context.
- Is my post relevant to my audience?
Ask yourself, “Will my followers care to read this post”? If not there’s no reason to post it. Make sure your posts are relevant and up to date. You don’t want to bore your audience! To do so, keep an eye on trending topics by using Twitter. Also, pay attention to the news and talk about subjects your fans will care about. Make sure your keeping an eye on what the competition is posting, so you don’t fall behind!
- Did I proofread and use spell check?
We are all human, and we all make mistakes. But before hitting send, take a couple minutes to go over your posts. Review it for any grammar error or typos. You don’t want your prospects to think of you as “sloppy”.
- Could I incorporate an image, video, or info graphic?
Visuals are appealing to all audience members because 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual. This means, readers are more likely to interpret and retain your posts better if you provide some kind of visual with your written message. Here are a few facts about using visuals within social media:
- Using images on your Tweets increase the likelihood to be retweeted by 150%
- Tweets with images get 89% more favorites than those without
- Posts with images receive 94% page views than those without
- Businesses who market with info graphics grow in traffic an average of 12% more than those who don’t
- Videos on landing pages increases average page conversion rates by 86%
After going over this checklist, you can now hit the send button!