9th September 2019

Posted By: Emily Benton

Social media should play a part in your marketing plan because when executed correctly the benefits can be enormous. It strengthens your brand identity, builds trust with your audience and best of all… It’s a free way to promote your company (and we all love free stuff right!). We’ve put together a few tips on how to make the most out of social media for businesses.

1. Make sure you’re on the right platform

First things first, are you on the right platform for your business? Always research into your target audience and ask yourself what platform they would spend the most time on. For example, if you’re in the manufacturing industry, let’s say trying to target decision makers in construction then you don’t want to be on Instagram and Pinterest. You want to focus all your time and energy on LinkedIn where you can connect with people in the sector you are targeting and see their job roles. There’s no point posting well thought out and crafted content if the right people won’t see it.

2. Be easily recognisable

Having the same logo or image on each profile and the same handles are little things that can be overlooked, however they are so important. Using different logos or images can decrease your brands recognisability and leave potential customers confused. Different handles can be difficult to find your pages and hard to remember. You need to make it super easy for everyone to find and recognise you straight away.

3. Have your images the correct size

Did you know each social platform has different optimal image sizes? So make sure you are sizing your images to the correct dimensions! You may think your images always look great and you don’t need to use different sizes. However, have you checked how they look on desktop and mobile? Make sure your viewers can see your whole message clearly without having to click expand (because let’s face it, whose got time for that?) ensuring that none of your image has been cropped. You can find the correct optimal image size of each platform on their site.

Bostin Tip– If you’re having one of those days and haven’t got the time to resize each image to match the relevant platform, you can use the dimensions for Twitter across Facebook and LinkedIn. Using this size will not crop the image, however if you do it the other way round and let’s say, use a square image size that was meant for Facebook on Twitter, it will chop off elements of your image on mobile view.

We would always recommend using the correct size for each platform but hey, it’s a good cheat when you’re rushed off your feet! (I didn’t mean for that to rhyme).

4. Plan your content

Planning your content will help you visualise your objectives and how you hope to achieve them. Having a mixture of posts that aim to increase engagement, push your services/products, grow brand awareness and build trust with your audience is a great way to keep your social media page relevant and interesting. You should also make sure your social media goals align with your overall business marketing strategy.

If you’re stuck for ideas we provide a free PDF calendar when you sign up to our free taster month of social media branded images. It’s packed full of post ideas, holidays and awareness days so you never run out of content inspiration!

5. Call to action

Tell people what you want them to do or how to get in touch in EVERY post! This seems like common sense but it is often missed out. Your call to action should be relevant to the content, for example if you’re promoting a product make sure you direct them to the correct product page on your website. If you want potential customers to get in touch with you, tell them how to do so clearly.

6. Keep it updated!

Super important point, make sure you keep all of your pages updated regularly! Social media pages that have not been active for sometime reflect badly on the company. “Are these services/products still relevant?” and “Is the company out of business?” are just a few questions that pop up in my mind when I come across a social media page that hasn’t been updated in a while.

If you’re struggling for time and need a helping hand with your social media then we would be happy to help! If you’re not looking to outsource but still aren’t keeping your social media pages up to date, then our best advice would be to just take them down! Having only one social page that is fully active and updated regularly is better than having your business on every social platform out there with no posts.

7. Brand consistency is key!

Did you know that visual content is more than 40 times more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content? This emphasises the important of using visuals in your social media posts. When you are posting images remember they are out there for the whole world to see! So make sure they are clear, straight to the point and give off the right message and more importantly, make sure they are branded and represent your company in a positive way. All your social media images should be consistent with your brand colours, tone and feel. So when a viewer starts scrolling down your page or sees a shared post, they will instantly be able to associate that image with your business.

So now you’re fully equipped on the importance of social media branding and no doubt raring to go. If you would like a helping hand with your image designs then please get in touch, email [email protected] or alternatively, feel free to give us a call on 01902 426 847.

 

(Source: HubSpot)