Olivier Choron
There is so much info out there about the best way to approach social media – it can be quite daunting. So I have summarized 7 simple things to help you on your way.
- Targeted Content: Do you often share content about a variety of topics? It’s fine if you are doing this for your own personal use, but if you are doing this for your brand, it can cause your connections to be confused. My first tip is; spend some time thinking about who you are trying to target. Who is your audience? I would suggest to start thinking about a maximum of 5 favourable topics you would like to post about and the type of audience these topics would attract. By identifying this you can post content around their perceived interest. But obviously it has to complement your brand.
If you operate within a channel, social media platforms to allow you to send targeted content to set partners. They can then share these on their social media accounts to their desired audience. Ideal, I know.
- Frequency: Regularity is essential for keeping your audience constantly aware of your brand. If you fall off the radar with infrequent posts, it is likely they will forget about you, unfollow you or even choose a more socially active competitor. It is important you plan when your content is going to be sent out and also what you are going to post about. I would suggest using a social media platform (so you can use multiple accounts) to schedule posts. Individual networks will allow you to schedule posts, but using a tool will allow you to schedule multiple posts across multiple platforms. For most networks, like Twitter and Facebook post around 4 times a day. But for the likes of LinkedIn Pulse, once a week is sufficient. Prior planning prevents poor performance, remember that!
- Original vs shared content: It is good to share others content but not all the time. I try to create at least 50% of the content I post, to prevent too much regurgitation of information. It is important I bring an alternative, fresh perspective to stand out from the crowd.
Also when sharing posts, I would suggest giving your opinion, where appropriate. This could include something as simple as ‘@purechannelapps makes an interesting point about social media mistakes, but how about…’ Show your thought leadership qualities and you will become a trusted advisor in your field. But don’t forget a trusted reputation does take time to build, so don’t expect a miracle overnight.
- Engagement: How much interaction do you receive from the content you post? This brings me onto tracking where your interaction comes from. This is important as it allows you to identify which posts receive the highest level of engagement. From this you can create a social media strategy, establishing; the most effective time to post, who you are reaching, which topics are receiving the most interest and the style of posts which receive the most interest. This could include posts with; rhetorical questions, statistics or perhaps posts with images. I personally find a mixture of all three tends to be the most effective. You will find your own perfect recipe for achieving positive engagement, but it takes time to work out!
- Followers: These are a fundamental element to social media. It can take a considerable time to build up a strong base of followers. Some connections will drop off as quickly as they arrived. Maybe your content did not fulfil their interests or maybe they were hoping you would follow them back. Forget about them, I prefer to focus on attracting and engaging worthwhile connections. But how do I find them, I hear you ask? It’s simple, post regularly and (I’m going to say it again) target your posts. This way you will build a steady stream of connections, interested in what you have you have to say. Our (new) sharing mentality is built on attraction and that is largely led by identifying areas of similar interest.
Follower to follow ratio: Are you following/ connected to more people than those following/ connected to you? This needs to be reversed. This will encourage more followers believe it or not. You will appear as an interesting thought leader. Trust me it works.
- Communication: How often do you shout out or start up a conversation with others on social media? This is important.. You will become an intriguing contact, and others will want to engage with you. They also want to be included in your conversations, as this could increase their potential reach. Start by adding a few people to the conversation and ask them a question.
- Hashtags: Avoid making the mistake #of #hashtagging #everything. First of all it’s confusing for read, and secondly you are not using them for their primary use. I started researching appropriate keywords which correlated with my brand and used some of these. This helped me to be easily found/visible on social media. It also increased my following base, another added bonus!
So yes, there are ways of improving your social media popularity. Simply follow my 7 social media tips. These are tried and tested methods I have personally found to be the most effective. I hope you find them as useful as I did.
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