Maximising Social Media

One week back into lockdown in Wales and a good chance for the team to be discussing how to approach our own social media as well as that of our clients. We’ve been encouraging our friends and partners to consider how they’re using social media and if we can come up with some tips to help them without breaking the bank. After all the most powerful tool we can utilise literally fits in the palm of the hand. It’s all there on our mobiles, plan, design, shoot and edit, letting us create really compelling and exciting visual campaigns.

Here are a few tips, inspired by our own experience. It’s exhaustive and things change all the time, so share any tips you may have with us, too.

CONSISTENCY

Be consistent with your posting. This doesn’t just mean being consistent with the tone and look of your posts. Specifically, have a think about how many posts you’ll share per week on each platform and what time they’ll be shared…

Most likely, the amount of posts you share will vary from platform to platform. On Facebook, for example, it’s unlikely that a company will share a post every day. Whereas, on Instagram, it’s the norm to share something daily to keep your followers updated and in the loop. Decide what works best for you, and develop your plan from there!

For spontaneous and spur-of-the-moment thoughts, use Instagram stories to connect with your followers!

Being consistent also makes everything a little less stressful. It helps you get into a regular pattern of posting, and allows you to plan your posts a little better. We recommend Buffer, a post scheduling app that allows you to get all your posts for the week organised, and it also automatically posts them for you.

CLEAR GOALS

Going for a change of tactics with your social media strategy? Sit down and first to discuss why you’re doing it. You might feel that your Instagram efforts have been unsuccessful, so discuss why.

There’s no point going into it blindly; start with a goal, measure up what you need to do, and hopefully you’ll end up achieving it.

STAY IN THE LOOP

Staying in the loop is key to staying on top of your game. Utilise social media platforms not only to boost your own posts, but to discover others. Everybody these days has a LinkedIn profile, and there’s a good reason for it. Not only is it a great platform for networking, but it’s also a great place to find out the latest news about your work sector.

Likewise on Instagram or Facebook, you need to be engaging constantly with new posts and trends to keep up with the latest cultural and societal developments. We are living in a world where things are changing daily, and you need to keep on top of it. React and use it to your advantage; show your audience that you’re engaged and interested. But bare in mind who you are as a company and where you’re positioned. Keep up with the news that’s relevant to you and your audience.

HASHTAGS

Hashtags are alive and well on social media. And they’re far more useful than serving as a means of helping users find relevant content – they’re powerful tools that can also be used to foster and build communities of fans and brand advocates.

This technique’s greatest strength isn’t just the ease with which this can be implemented, but the fact that the same hashtag can be used across several social media platforms. This allows you to cross-pollinate your messaging throughout various social campaigns, offering users a cohesive experience regardless of where they interact with your brand.

BEHIND THE SCENES

People just love a Story, we know because over 800 million users log on to Instagram and Facebook every day. Those are big numbers.

You can use Stories to share behind-the-scenes content. Give your followers an exclusive, inside peek at how your business operates (and, perhaps more importantly, who makes your business operate) it’s a fantastic way to make them feel like they’re part of a community.

Stories can also really help engagement. Companies can help their audience feel like part of a business. If you have an important design or aesthetic decision to make, why not give the honour to your followers to choose? Want to learn more? Ask your audience a question! There are endless possibilities with stories, and people are more likely to interact as there’s a bit more privacy than commenting on a post.