Navigating the ever-changing landscape of social media can be a real challenge. From algorithm changes to advancing features and differing best practices, staying ahead of the curve across a plethora of platforms requires strategic planning to ensure that you’re keeping up with trends and staying at the forefront of your audience’s feed.
In our latest blog, we’re sharing our top ten tips to boost your social media presence in a clear and digestible way to enable you to start implementing and seeing results fast. Whether you’re a small business looking to grow or a large, multi-location organisation, our best-practice advice will help you to enhance your brand online.
1 – Know and understand your audience
Understanding your audience is the foundation for any social media strategy. Who are they? Where are they active online? What kind of content are they interested in? What are they looking for from a business like yours? The best way to discover the answers to these ever-important questions is to utilise the native audience insight tools that lie within the various social media platforms. For instance, LinkedIn has some excellent features built into its business page functionality which enables users to break down their page visitors by job function, industry, location and much more, giving you sight of exactly who is viewing, following and engaging with your page and its content.
Once you have clearly defined your target audience, tailor your content (both written and visual) to resonate with them directly.
2 – Quality over quantity
While it’s tempting to post as much as possible, there really is such a thing as posting too much! If you’re posting too often on social media, you are risking your valuable content getting lost within your own feed – let alone your audience’s! It can also be a real turn-off for followers as they may feel bombarded and overwhelmed with the amount of content that they’re seeing from you over time. Focusing your efforts on a variety of high-quality posts each week will ensure a steady stream of relevant, digestible content and in-turn, high engagement.
Incorporate quality visuals, well-written captions and valuable information to attract new followers and boost engagement – and remember -creating high-quality content takes time, so be sure to give your social media the attention it deserves for better results!
Read our case study to see how we boosted our client’s profile in real time with quality social media content.
3 – Planning is key
Having a consistent posting schedule is essential to keep your audience engaged and your content relevant. Create a social media content plan to help you proactively craft posts that are aligned with your business’ overall strategy and goals. Planning your posts in advance will help you to keep track of your content, ensure that your messaging is on point and maintain consistency across channels whilst also highlighting any gaps that may need to be filled along the way.
There are plenty of independent social media scheduling tools available as well as those that sit natively within each platform – however having a single, overarching plan that is tailored to your business and that covers all your social platforms in one place is far better practice in our opinion. Our social media experts can help you get started with a social media plan if you need a bit of support.
4 – Engage with your audience
You’ve spent plenty of time researching your audience and tailoring your content to their specific needs – so don’t undo this great work by not engaging with them! If someone has taken the time to leave a comment on your post, make sure to reply and acknowledge their communication. Whether it’s just a simple thank you or a more detailed response, letting your audience know that you’re listening to them and taking the time to communicate back helps to build those crucial relationships which are essential for brand loyalty and reputation.
5 – Research relevant hashtags
Hashtags are a powerful element that can really boost your brand’s reach and visibility. Research hashtags that are relevant to your industry and your audience and incorporate them into your posts. Similar to the over-posting mentioned above though, it’s important to avoid overloading your posts with too many hashtags. A few well-researched hashtags that add value or that are likely to encourage interaction are far more effective than using a long list.
6 – Explore and experiment with different formats
Different types of content often resonate best with different audiences and platforms. For example, a post about a research paper may work well on LinkedIn, but it likely wouldn’t do very well on Instagram. Deliver your content in a variety of formats such as imagery, videos, blogs and polls to ensure that it’s reaching the right people on the right platform – and remember – not everything has to go everywhere!
Instagram and Facebook offer features like reels and stories which are ideal for boosting visibility and engagement. Reels, with their short and captivating format, can quickly grab attention and are perfect for showcasing highlights, tutorials, events or quick tips. Stories, on the other hand, provide a more casual and authentic way to share behind-the-scenes content, updates or daily activities. These formats are especially beneficial for maintaining a regular presence and connecting with your audience on a more personal level. Both platforms also offer a live video feature (LinkedIn does too), giving you the opportunity to communicate directly with your audience, in real-time, for things like business updates, Q&As, industry interviews and more.
There are so many great options for content creation and delivery out there – the best way to figure out what works for your business is to experiment, which leads us to our next tip…
7 – Don’t forget to analyse!
Tracking your social media performance is essential for monitoring the success of your campaigns and guiding future strategies.
Regularly review the performance of your social media posts using the analytics tools available within each platform. All of them have insightful performance metrics available; such as engagement rates, reach, clicks and follower growth allowing you to establish what’s working and what’s not. Study the data and identify what’s been successful and what can perhaps be replaced/improved and adjust your strategy accordingly.
8 – Invest in paid advertising
Whilst organic social media reach and engagement will always be valuable, taking the leap and investing in paid advertising can work wonders for targeting specific audiences, reaching new people and achieving results that are specific to a particular campaign or goal. Using tools such as Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads and sponsored Instagram content can generate a much higher ROI in a much shorter space of time compared to organic content alone. Of course, the results from paid advertising will depend on budget, goal, audience size and other factors – but it’s certainly worth considering as part of the wider strategy if you can.
9 – Keep one eye on the competition
It’s always good to see how your social media posts stack up against your competitors. Keep track of your competitor’s activity to identify new content opportunities and/or potential weaknesses and gaps in your strategy. When conducting competitor research, remember to look at how their posts perform, how they communicate with their audience, and how often they post as well as other things like what hashtags they use and how many followers they have
10 – Keep on top of trends and algorithm changes
In today’s ever-changing digital landscape, it can feel overwhelming when it comes to keeping up with social media trends, rules and algorithms. Sometimes changes can happen without any warning, so it’s really important to stay on top of social media platform changes to avoid being blindsided and to feel prepared ahead of/during any updates.
A good way to keep up with any upcoming (or sudden!) changes is to subscribe to dedicated social media newsletters. Social media reporting publications such as Social Media Today regularly send social media updates in easy-to-digest segments.
Elevate your social media presence with V Formation
Do you have any questions about boosting your social media presence? We can help you develop and implement a social media strategy that can take your business to new heights, as well as offering best practice advice to ensure that your business gets the most out of each platform. Get in touch with our social media experts to find out more.
