Make a Commitment – Consistency is Key with Social Media
It’s 2018. Social media is no longer just for individuals to keep their friends and families up to date on their lives. Social media is now used for political campaigns, non-profits, and of course businesses. According to an article by Shea Bennett in Adweek, “about nine in 10 companies in the United States are using social media for marketing purposes.” It’s safe to say of those nine in 10, the most successful companies are the ones that post relevant content on a regular basis. So, keep reading and we’ll teach you how to do just that.
Work Smarter, Not Harder
As of today, there are more than 100 social media platforms available for individuals and businesses to use. While many, if not all, of these businesses aren’t represented on all 100+ sites, most businesses use more than one platform. The most social media savvy businesses use at least Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Four platforms may seem overwhelming for some, but luckily there’s a way to ease the pressure. Your business can utilize the same content for all four platforms. According to Hootsuite there are two ways you can do this. Your options are “cross-posting” or “cross-promoting”. Cross-posting is when you post the exact same message on all platforms. Cross-promoting is when you take the content (article, video, image, etc.) and create a unique message for each platform. Cross-posting can save you time, while cross-promoting “allows you to speak the language of each platform” and inevitably successfully reach more users.
Another way to work smarter is by utilizing the content you already have. No need to reinvent the wheel. If your business has an archive of content available for you to use, why not use it? Even if you need to tweak it to fit your specific promotion or campaign it beats having to start from scratch.
Be Proactive: Schedule in Advance
Scheduling posts in advance can get rid of unwanted and unnecessary stress as well as ensure you never miss a post. The first thing that needs to be done is you need to determine how often you want to post on your platforms. Many studies have been done on how often and what time is the best to post, but really it depends on your specific business. If you’re a media business you probably want to be posting a few times a day, but if you’re in a manufacturing business a few times a week should suffice. When it comes to the time of day and day of week you should post, it wouldn’t hurt to do some industry research on what the peak times your customers are online.
Once you’ve decided the quantity of posts, it’s time to gather your content. Make a spreadsheet or document with the days and times you chose to post and fill-in-the-blanks from there. Like stated earlier, try and repurpose content your business has already created.
Above is an example of a schedule. This is a basic schedule, it indicates the day, the time of day (am/pm), and whether there should be a post scheduled at that time (X). The blank spaces will be where you insert your content. Doing this the week before the schedule goes out can save you time and ensure you are posting regularly.
Utilize Social Media Management Tools
Now that you know the content you want to post and when, the last step is to schedule your schedule! There are many social media management tools that allow you to choose the platform, day, and time a post will be sent out. By using these tools, you can mass-schedule your posts getting everything prepared in one fell swoop. Some tools require a monthly fee to use, but many are free.
To figure out which management systems are best for you check out this article from Forbes titled, “15 Social Media Management Tools That Can Help Your Business Thrive”. In this article they link you to each site as well as give a brief description.
Some that we really love here at Upright are: Facebook Post Scheduler (Yep, that’s right. Facebook has their own management system making it even easier for you), and Hootsuite, which allows you to schedule for multiple accounts on multiple platforms.
Show Off Your New Skills
You’ve been given all the steps and tools necessary to be a consistency expert. Now it’s time to put these skills into practice. Being a presence on social media isn’t a one-and-done deal. It’s important that an effort is made every week (or whatever your scheduling time frame is) to have content created/chosen and a schedule created for all your social media platforms. Being consistent and engaging are the biggest factors in seeing results for your company.
Also remember, if you’re new to the social media scene, some trial and error might be involved. Maybe in the beginning you think that 3 posts a week on LinkedIn is enough but find out later you need more. Adjust as you go and utilize post/platform analytics to learn even more about how to improve your presence in the cyberworld.
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Bennett, Shea. “88% Of Companies Are Using Social Media for Marketing [STUDY].” Adweek, Adweek, 20 Oct. 2014, www.adweek.com/digital/social-media-companies/.
Forbes Agency Council. “15 Social Media Management Tools That Can Help Your Business Thrive.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 15 May 2017, www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/05/15/15-social-media-management-tools-that-can-help-your-business-thrive/#138a0b152b13.
Russell, Jylian. “Why It’s Time to Ditch Cross-Posting on Social Media for Cross-Promoting.” Hootsuite Social Media Management, Hootsuite, 2 May 2017, blog.hootsuite.com/cross-promote-social-media/.