7 tips for optimized s0cial media posts

Social media is everywhere nowadays, and it is hard to stand apart from the competition. Here are 7 quick tips to increase your following and engagement with current and potential customers.

1. Utilize a Social Media Content Calendar

The best way to keep social media posts organized is on a social media content calendar that lists the dates and times at which you will publish types of content on each channel. By planning out your posts a week or month at a time, you can make sure you do not forget important events or post duplicate content. It may seem like a large time investment upfront; however, it will save you a significant amount of time on a monthly basis, while also making it easier to coordinate campaigns and grow your reach.

2. Choose the Best Time of Day for Your Channel & Audience

The best time to post for more impressions and engagements all depends on your specific audience, but there are time slots that tend to work better depending on the social media channel. For instance, posting in the morning and late afternoon (before and after work) are great times to post on LinkedIn, whereas around noon, and in the evenings work best for Facebook. If you are on more than one social media network, remember to schedule posts at different times across each platform, so there is a greater chance of the posts being seen by a larger audience.

3. Determine the Optimum Frequency

 It is important to remember to post less frequently on networks where the newsfeed is controlled by an algorithm such as Facebook and LinkedIn, and more frequently where it is more “real time” such as Twitter. Posting regularly across all channels is another important component when it comes to getting your company in front of your followers. If you post five times one week and only once the next week, your followers will forget about you in the off weeks. Moreover, inconsistent posting shows your audience that social media is not a priority and building a trusting relationship with them becomes that much more difficult.

4. Incorporate Visual Content

When you use a visual, you make it more likely that your target audience will stop and consume your content. In fact, visual content is 40 times more likely to get shared than non-visual content.
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These visuals could include:

• Infographic

• Photos

• Videos

Although creating quality visuals is a time-consuming task for most businesses, the outcome is well worth the effort.

5. Maintain a Consistent Tone

Sticking with the same tone will help make your brand that much stronger as long as it matches your overall marketing efforts. However, make sure it is appropriate for the social channels you are on. It may be perfectly fine for your business to be fun and spunky on Facebook or Twitter, but if you are on LinkedIn, you need to make sure you maintain a professional appearance. The main theme to remember is to keep the same tone on each specific channel.

6. Stick to the 80/20 Content Rule

Don’t be overly promotional. Another important thing to remember is that you need to post content other than promotional material. The majority of people logging on to their social media accounts do not want to look at marketing material and will consequently get annoyed if they constantly have marketing messages in their newsfeed. 

Try using the 80-20 rule as a general rule of thumb. 80% of your posts should inform, educate, or entertain your audience (while still being relevant to your brand) and Twenty percent can directly promote your brand. This shows your followers that you see them as friends and not just customers, making them more likely to engage with your content and less likely to unfollow your page.

7. Analyze & Compare Data Regularly

​As with any marketing effort, you need to analyze your results constantly. Measure how effective your efforts are by looking at impressions and engagements for each post and for each social media channel. See which posts are receiving the most interaction and create similar content for future posting. 

For posts that have little interaction, either cut back on similar posts or switch up the message entirely. Testing different messages is key to crafting a strong social media campaign. If you are having a hard time gaining traction with your social media marketing efforts, create a revised strategy to determine if you should switch channels or messaging to reach the audience you want to target.

Regardless of how many of these tips you follow for an optimizing a social media post, remember, the main purpose for social media is to have a one-on-one relationship with your customers...It’s about being social!