Here at Roseblade, we understand that you don't always have the money spare to pay someone to manage your social media channels. But we still want you to be able to get the most out of it.
But why should this concern you?
Social media benefits businesses in the following ways:
- Build customer loyalty
- Increase market reach
- Develop your brand
- Increase traffic to your website
So what are our ten tips to make your social media awesome?
1. Learn about your target audience
If you're not generating content that your audience likes, they're not going to interact with it or share it, which means that all of your posting has been in vain.
One of your main concerns for this tip is that you need to be where your audience is.
If your audience spends most of their time on Instagram, posting all of your content to LinkedIn is pointless.
Next, you need to ensure your content addresses your audience's concerns; if your audience is looking for a fun activity to try, your content needs to show that you're fun! If you're only showing a boring, corporate side to your business, your audience isn't going to engage with you.
2. Set up a social media content calendar
As difficult as it is to say, there will be a time when you struggle to think about what to post.
Having all of our content laid out in a calendar allows you to see where you have empty spots and work to generate content to fill them.
Also, depending on whether you use a specific social media calendar tool, you can see post stats to quickly see which posts have performed well for you in the past and which ones have been ignored by your audience.
Another bonus for using a social media calendar tool is that our posts will be automatically published on the date and time that you set, meaning you don't have to remember to publish your posts manually.
3. Keep an eye on what's trending
Once you know what content you want to put out, you need to make sure it's going to resonate with your followers. One way to do this is to make sure it's in a trending format.
Just beware of using trends just because they're popular; you need to make sure they align with the message you want to put across.
For example, there was a time when lip-syncing and boomerangs were popular. While there's still traction with them, we'll never get back to the height of their popularity.
4. Invest in video
You want your followers to experience what it's like to visit your activity centre; what better way of doing this than through video content?
Your followers can be part of the experience while getting to know whether you're the right place for them to visit.
A bonus of video is that it grabs your followers' attention, leading to higher engagement rates and more priority in the network algorithm (that just means it gets shown more often).
5. Humanise your brand
We've not been taken over by robots yet (no matter how hard ChatGPT is trying), so be human on social media.
One of the main ways you can do this is by using emotion. If you're having fun behind the scenes, record it, introduce your team to your followers, and if you have a mascot, make sure they're part of the team too.
Using social media in this way shouldn't be salesy; you're not advertising anything, and you're not trying to pitch to your followers.
6. Check your hashtags
Not every social media network needs hashtags, such as Facebook (you can use them, but no one really does).
But where you do use hashtags, think about the ones you're using, are they specific to your brand, e.g. #Roseblade? Or are they generic and ones your followers are likely to be interested in, e.g. #WebDesign?
If you're unsure which hashtags to use, there are tools out there that can help, and if you get it right, your reach can be increased.
7. Let your graphics be graphics
Have you seen an amazing image or ad on any of your social networks, but been instantly put off clicking on it because someone thought it would be a good idea to have text all over it?
When you're running an image-based ad, you'll find it works better if the text overlay is kept to less than 20%. In this case, less really is more.
8. Does this make sense to you?
What do you want your followers to do after they've read your post?
If you want them to comment, then ask a question.
If you want them to message you, ask them to drop you a message.
Always try and include a call to action in your post that tells your followers what you expect of them.
9. Proofread
Spelling errors are the bane of my life; I can't stand seeing on slip through (see what I did there?)
If you want to be seen as professional, make time to proofread and make sure simple mistakes don't slip through. It may take a little longer for posts to be published, but at least they'll go out right.
10. Have fun!
Social media shouldn't be a chore.
You know your brand and your team; shout about them from the rooftops.
As a friend once said to me, if you talk about what you love, you'll never run out of content!
