Harnessing the power of social media is a very important marketing strategy for any company which wants to be successful in the modern business world, however many companies make the mistake of failing to personalize their social media strategy to meet their own specific needs. When it comes to creating social media content, it is vital to make it company-specific, and here is a guide to help you to avoid the pitfalls and to create engaging and high-quality branded content.
Choose The Right Network
The first step in creating branded content is to choose the right social network for your brand’s message. All social media is not created equal, and you need to select the one which best fits your goals and strategy style. There’s no need to have a presence on every network, just the ones that are relevant to your target audience. To pinpoint the right network for your company’s needs, ask yourself the following questions:
- Which network matches your target audience’s demographics?
- How much time are you able to dedicate to your social network activity?
- What resources do you have available to create content?
Keep Your Company’s Profile Up To Date
Once you have set up your company’s social media profile, you need to keep it continuously up to date. Routinely check your bio and photos at least once per month as this is a key element to show your cohesive branding and professionalism. Make sure that your company profiles all match – you need the same photo for each one for a strong brand image and a customized information section with keywords that are tailored towards your target audience and a personable tone.
Find Your Brand Voice
Don’t be tempted to start sharing before you’ve found your company’s unique marketing voice. You can simplify this process by asking a few key questions such as:
- What kind of personality does your brand have?
- How should your customers think of your company?
- Do any companies have a similar personality to yours and why?
- What relationship does your brand have to its customers?
This exercise will generate adjectives to describe your marketing tone which you can then harness to create quality content that reflects your company perfectly.
How Often To Post
Too many companies make the mistake of failing to post often enough, or occasionally of posting too often. While there is no right or wrong about how frequently you should be posting on your company’s behalf, you need to think about your individual niche and audience. You also need to consider the type of branded content you’re posting, for example, videos are by far the best way to engage your audience and will get more likes and shares than any other kind of post.
There are six types of content: Text updates, links, images, videos, quotes and reshares. The key to getting your posting strategy right is to adopt a 4:1 approach. Once you have decided which of these six will be your primary method, for every four posts you make, ensure that your next is one of the other five for variety.
Different social media networks also have their own best practices with regards to how frequently posts should be made. For example, for Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram two to three posts weekly is the norm, while Twitter requires around 3 to 10 tweets per week, Pinterest requires between 5 and 10 posts weekly, and Snapchat needs around 5 to 20 posts weekly. You also need to post at the right times of day to suit your audience’s schedule. As a rule of thumb, in Eastern Time, the best times to post for each media channel is:
- Twitter – 1pm until 3pm on weekdays
- Facebook – 1pm until 4pm on weekdays
- LinkedIn – 7am until 8:30am and then 5pm until 6pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
- Google+ – 9am until 11am on weekdays
- Instagram – 5pm until 6pm on weekdays and 8pm on Mondays
- Pinterest – 2pm until 4pm and the 8pm until 11pm on weekdays and all weekend
Engaging With The Community
The final, and possibly most vital element of any company’s social media marketing plan is staying up to date with your updates and engaging with the community. While you can automate your updates, it’s also important to talk back to your customers too. Follow up on conversations with colleagues and customers and reply in a timely manner as this is one of the best ways to convert followers into customers and to boost your company’s reputation in a wider context.
Devising a strong social media marketing strategy is a key step in helping your brand to achieve success, and while it may seem overwhelming, this helpful guide will make things a lot easier for you to generate branded content.
Last Updated on June 21, 2018 by Charu Interactive