Social media can be so daunting at times. It seems simple enough at first, just tell the world about yourself. Then it gets a little more complicated as you start to add a few more networking sites into the mix and something more important to express. Social media went from, “I’ll post pictures from my vacation!” to “I have a business and I need to protect my brand, expand my reach and create interesting content!”
What once started out as a personal endeavor has morphed into a new way of reaching people not just as individuals, but as consumers. Promoting content across social media can become so chaotic because there are so many sites to update and it can be overwhelming to look at from a bird’s eye view.
There are many ways to ease the burn of social media representation without becoming so engrossed that you are unable to do anything other than creating, sharing, or responding to content. This checklist can help you update content on a regular basis and optimize your time spent on social media so that you yield the best results. While putting together this checklist, a few guidelines became very apparent. Social media involves as much investment with content as it does strategy. Here are a few tips and tricks that can better increase your social profile.
Translate Your Company Demographic into Social Media Habits
You wouldn’t go to the beauty salon and get a full makeover to go out at three am would you? How many people would be able to appreciate all the work you have done? The object of social media is to be seen, so if you are scheduling your posts to be released at three am there is a greater risk that not many people will see it, which is not helpful for any business.
While there are some common points in the day that will be very effective posting times, a lot of that varies by the networking site as well as the age of the user. For instance, if you cater to teens, then you would want to post (on weekdays) before 8 AM, between eleven to two (lunch periods are usually staggered now), and after three pm when school is usually over. This just ensures optimal visibility.
Develop a Post Routine
Let’s face it, while it may be cute to have an underground, exclusive image, the majority of social media users are not going to burn the midnight oil waiting for your sporadic posts. It’s frustrating to the customer because they will more than likely miss content or find out about new developments when it is too late.
There are too many sites that have lost me as a consumer because it is so easy to forget about a company that posts sporadically in the face of a saturated market. If we know to expect a new video every Thursday and a new blog post every Saturday, fantastic. You can now promote these events in a more consistent and recognizable way, and the consumers can anticipate your content.
Utilize Optimal Usage Times
Once you have set a consistent time to update your content, you can use this handy checklist to promote your content! This is the easiest step because now you have already read our blog post about using platforms that update all of your media for you, so you already know how easy it is to create a calendar that tells you when to update, what site, and when to respond. This is the least stress in terms of execution because all of the hard work is in creating the content.
Optimize for Mobile Experiences
iPhone, Android, and tablets – there is such a huge reach of technology that extends beyond the computer. With that in mind, it would serve you a lot of good to cater to smartphone users simply because you have more access to them. These users typically check their phones first thing in the morning, and throughout the day when there is downtime.
Posting between 6 AM and 9 AM, and right before dinner, which is usually five to six pm are good starting points to target these demographics. The major thing to know with smartphone users is that they tend to be a bit more connected so you have to be a bit more creative to be visible.
Always Provide Value
I know this may seem counterintuitive, but the reality is that it becomes overbearing if all a company wants is for you to look at something that they recommend. It becomes the social equivalent of that friend that always wants some of your food but never shares when you want some of theirs. Companies are starting to realize this with their interactions on social media.
For example, after the Grammy’s home run hit by Arby’s. the Superbowl was suddenly saturated with companies trying to have the next funny, viral tweet. (Personally, JC Penny won it for me with the “drunk tweeting” when they were supposedly typing with mittens. Mittens? Really? Well played.) The aftereffect is that JC Penny now looks a lot more fun as a brand and their twitter seems a lot more exciting rather than a constant gaggle of “Check out our new sale! Check out this discount!”
Putting it All Together
Do not let social media promotion haunt you because at the end of the day it is just about interacting with your consumers. We have so many adverts in our face on a daily basis that it can be easy to become overwhelmed with interacting with the market, but if you just give yourself a schedule and time things rather than leave it to organically happen you will see a difference in the response. It takes content, consistency, and most of all, patience to make a social media campaign grow. For more help on increasing your social media interactions, contact the experts at Premiere Creative or give us a call at (973) 346-8100!