As the pace of business continues to accelerate in an increasingly digital world, staying on top of social media can feel like one more thing to add to an already lengthy to-do list. From the newest platform to the latest trends, creating a social media strategy that makes sense for your organization — while keeping within budget and staff time constraints — can be challenging.
Here are five changes you can make today to improve the ROI of your social media plan.
Post more frequently
If your Twitter account hasn’t been updated since 2013 and your last Facebook post was three months ago, you need to think about posting more frequently. Free scheduling tools, such as Hootsuite, make scheduling content a cinch. Although advice differs on optimal post frequency, try to aim for several tweets a day and a daily post to Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Engage with others
It’s easy to take the ‘social’ out of social media, particularly when content is scheduled. Make sure you set aside some time each week — and ideally each day — to review your content and engage with other brands and people relevant to your business. The old principle of ‘you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’ applies here. If a customer engages with you, make sure to reply as quickly as possible. Fifty-three percent of customers expect a response from a comment directed to a company in less than an hour.
Make it look pretty
Social media is a visual medium, so if you aren’t including images and video, you are missing an opportunity to reach your audience. In fact, tweets with images receive 150 percent more retweets than tweets without images. Fortunately, you don’t need a graphic designer to create engaging content. Free tools make it manageable for anyone — even the less artistic — create beautiful graphics and professional videos.
Stay up-to-date
Perhaps you think Snapchat is just for kids, or that Twitter is full of trolls. Whatever your opinion may be, it pays to stay informed when it comes to social media platforms and trends. Subscribe to free newsletters to pick up new ideas and to make sure your organization keeps up with the competition.
Get your staff involved
No one knows your company better than your staff, so consider asking your team to engage with your company on social media. Encourage employees to submit photos of company events and to share your content with their personal networks. Your staff can be powerful allies in sharing your company’s message with a larger audience.
Need professional assistance with your social media? Contact the GREENCREST experts!