If you wish to showcase your experience and expertise, participate in industry-leading discussions, and add visibility and impact to your personal brand and business, get in touch with the Techronicler team to feature in our fast-growing publication
The Techronicler team decided to uncover the secrets behind successful social media best practices and the hidden gems of wisdom shared by our community of business leaders and top executives can now help you unlock the potential of your social media presence.
Don’t leave without checking out the second part in this series:
Personalization stands at the top of my list of best practices for any business aiming to maximize their value from social media campaigns. As the Marketing Director for Relyir Artificial Grass, I’ve found that customers respond most positively when they feel seen and recognized. This involves tailoring content to customer preferences, responding individually to comments, and using data analytics to understand what engages the audience most.
For instance, we’ve implemented personalized video messages for our valued clients on special occasions, leading to an increase in brand loyalty and customer engagement. Another successful effort included running targeted ad campaigns based on customers’ interaction patterns with our digital platforms. I confidently recommend personalization as a powerful strategy to any business looking to improve their social media engagement, whether they’re just starting out or already maintain a large following.
One social media best practice that truly works regardless of the size of a business or industry is ‘being authentically human’. In my work as the Head of Marketing and Recruitment at OPIT, I’ve found that engagement increases drastically when businesses replace sales-heavy rhetoric with a more personable, conversational tone. Leveraging storytelling and weaving narratives around your brand can humanize it, making it easier for your audience to relate to your message. For instance, at OPIT, we share success stories of our students or highlight how our online programs are making quality tech-education accessible globally, garnering higher engagement rates for us. Undoubtedly, genuine human interaction will always remain at the forefront of any successful social media strategy.
I would recommend making an effort to form genuine connections with your audience over the course of your social media campaigns. This can really make the difference when it comes to these campaigns having a lasting impact. Your advertising will feel more meaningful when potential customers can see you interacting with people and overall being communicative and genuine in your social media interactions.
Make sure you know the ins and outs of the specific platforms you’re operating on, and differentiate your content accordingly. This can include technical things like how content displays in posts or how to schedule posts, as well as cultural elements. Getting your memes, in-jokes, and terminology right is essential to creating engaging social media content.
It pays to have a presence on every platform. While social media works best as a marketing and PR tool if you frequently create content, simply creating a profile with your contact information is a worthwhile first step, even if you don’t intend to devote much effort to the platform. As long as you monitor those platforms for notifications, they’re a low-effort way to promote your brand’s visibility and let customers find you.
The one best practice that many businesses need to take advantage of is actively using an engagement strategy of organically participating in online conversations within their industry. It’s a simple strategy that can go a long way. Over time, with consistency, you will see better engagement results.
Far too often, I see many companies posting content, leaving it there, and not interacting with their audience or other businesses and connections within their industry. I’ve used this technique with my own business, and it’s helped me gain followers and increase engagement within my social media channels.
It doesn’t have to take up a lot of time. Spending 30 minutes (depending on how many channels you want to focus on) should be sufficient. For example, I spend 15 minutes engaging on LinkedIn and 15 minutes on Instagram each morning, searching for posts I can actively comment on and add value to.
When making comments on LinkedIn, for example, my comments get pushed back into the feed of my connections. This highlights my expertise, increases my visibility, and creates brand awareness.
When using an engagement strategy, avoiding spammy or self-promotional comments is vital. Instead, focus on building relationships and contributing to the community. You have to give engagement to receive engagement!
A strong social media presence is important for any business to reach new customers while engaging with current clientele. Social media is a competitive landscape. If a business wants to stand out, it needs to focus on creating valuable content with a personal touch.
Many businesses are turning to AI, and while it has advanced rapidly, it still lacks the humanity consumers are looking for. AI also struggles to create high-value content that engages consumers.
People want content that captures their attention. Content without value is no longer worth anything in the digital space. People are growing more disconnected and disenchanted with a quantity-over-quality approach.
Social media is about more than selling a product or a service. Businesses should strive to connect with their target audience, understand their needs, and present their product/service as the solution. This approach encourages engagement and connection.
Vary your content. Of course you want to keep your branding and messaging consistent, but you don’t want to post the same thing every single time. It’s one thing for your audience to know what to expect from you from a branding and values perspective, and it’s another thing for them to know what to expect from you from a social media posting perspective. People don’t want to follow accounts that post the same thing over and over again. So, have some variety. Incorporate some short-form video content in between photo posts. Have the occasional long-form video content. Post engaging content. Post informational content.
Only focus on the social media platforms that are relevant to your audience. There is no reason for being on a platform like Snapchat or TikTok if your audience is entirely on Facebook and Instagram. You want to meet your customers, and prospective customers where they are at. If you try to create a presence on all of the platforms, especially as a small business, all that will do is stretch your resources and time too thin.
The Techronicler team thanks these business leaders and executives for taking the time to share their valuable insights on their favorite social media best practice for a business.
If you wish to showcase your experience and expertise, participate in industry-leading discussions, and add visibility and impact to your personal brand and business, get in touch with the Techronicler team to feature in our fast-growing publication.
