Staying up-to-date online may be a headache, but some social media essentials and tips will always stand you in good stead.

Understanding Social Media Marketing

It’s easy to become overwhelmed by the pace and scale of social media. Even the term ‘social’  can send waves of panic through the most seasoned of brands. How do you make a brand appear ‘sociable’? How do you post quality content on a media platform that was originally designed to help people communicate with their friends?

It can be tricky. There’s not a one-size-fits-all-brands solution to carving out a social media campaign. Many have tried and failed to communicate a relevant brand identity on the ever-changing platforms of Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat. Despite this, there are some social media essentials that continue to be relevant and will guide you on your journey to digital success.

Actively Reach out to Your Social Media Audience

People of different ages, genders, lifestyles, locations and backgrounds will like different things, so they need to be marketed to in different ways. Sounds obvious right? It’s the same with social platforms.

Don’t post on Snapchat expecting to reach middle-aged women in the suburbs when the majority of Snapchat’s users are tweens and teenagers. Similarly, if you’re looking to reach twenty-somethings with the first flourishes of expendable income, head to Instagram and Twitter.

Knowing who your customers are and posting on the social networks they use everyday will ensure your content matches the audience. You’re ultimately more likely to see a better return on investment.

Read more: Does Your Brand’s Social Media Presence Have Purpose?

Create A Content Calendar

Using a specific social media content calendar will make your content socially relevant to joe public. Highlight all the key product launches, events, world news days, bank holidays, weather-related events and anything else you can think of. It will make your life a whole lot easier when it comes to posting.

Ask yourself a few simple questions:

• What does my brand have to say about this day?
• What is the purpose of this post?
• Do we want to engage people going to a certain event or discussing a certain topic online?
• If so, what do we want to say?

It could be as simple as planning to post Monday morning motivational quotes at 8am every week to pep up your customers on their commute into work (#MondayMotivation). Or you could plan a few posts in the lead up to a public holiday like Easter. Maybe an Easter egg hunt but the prize for engaging with the content is a freebie or a shout out from the brand.

Whatever you do, make sure you’ve got content prepped and planned. Last minute ‘panic posting’ never yields good results, and more often than not, it actually weakens the reputation of your brand.

Read more: Free Template: Editorial Calendar 2018

Use Engaging Social Media Images

It’s no secret that Instagram’s rise to the top of the social media tree has been meteoric. People love good images. Now that our thumbs are almost constantly in ‘scroll mode’, it’s never been more important to create engaging visuals tailored for social media.

When everyone from an iPhone blogger to a professional photographer is using social media to publicise their skills, the competition for attention is tough. Make sure your brand doesn’t get lost by crafting beautiful images that stand out on their own.

Be Consistent with Your Social Media Posts

Gaining a loyal following on social media has and always will be about consistency. After all, what’s the point in following a brand who never posts?

Keeping up a consistent stream of posts on your social platforms is almost as important as the posts themselves. It will increase your visibility and build up your brand personality. This identity can be used to build up a following of potential customers that you can leverage when launching new products or events. It may be one post or three posts a day, but keep posting – the slow burn is worth it, trust us.

Create Platform-Specific Social Media Posts

This may sound like total marketing jargon, but it’s really simple. Each social media platform publishes content differently and you need to tailor your posts to match it.

For instance, on Instagram – the home of the landscape image and #nofilter hashtag – high quality images with a few key hashtags and a short and snappy caption is de rigueur. Whereas for Twitter, it’s more about what you say than the picture you’re posting with it. Focusing on the copy – it’s relevancy, hashtags or @tags is key here.

Facebook is all about video right now. Posting a Facebook Live video about a product launch or an event will instantly rise to the top of your followers’ newsfeeds, increasing your chance of organic engagement.

Read more: 6 Steps to Develop an Effective Brand Language

If you need help setting out your social media strategy, taking a creative approach, get in touch.