11 Secrets to Social Media Success

By Olivia Rizzo

·         DECIDE ON THE GOAL.  Decide what is most important to develop your focus: Connect with audience? Gain advertisers? Gain fans? Image? Drive to website traffic?

·         MAKE THE BIO IN YOUR PROFILE DESCRIPTIVE. Using important keywords in a bio also helps to bring your social media page high in a Google search.

Hashtags that apply to the business in the bio draw people in.

A photo that displays the business is also an important factor for the profile, for example, the latest important photo posted to the business website. If the business is a magazine, use the magazine cover.

a.       For Facebook: Fill out all the information requested in the bio portion of the profile. Make sure the information is complete and accurate.

·         POST “SNACKABLE” (SHORT AND INFORMATIVE) CONTENT. Focus on the audience’s mindset.  Posting regularly is important.  How often you post is specific to each social network. It’s also important to be familiar with your audience’s behavior to know how often to post.

a.       Twitter: Post short bits of information more often. Fewer characters allow for more posts. Test to see how often followers react and apply to your goal.

b.      Facebook: There are more characters allowed each post, so more information can be included at one time. The content should still be in a “snackable” form to draw attention.

·         IMAGES ATTRACT ATTENTION. Same as with the profile photo, sharing photos that are relevant to the business increases engagement with shares and retweets.

·         USE HASHTAGS. Hashtags are tools to search topics and specific information that is trending or involves the industry you’re involved in. Use the hashtag (#) with purpose in organic posts.  Hashtags can also be used to begin a conversation or to join a conversation already underway.  The searchable content allows others to post with the same hashtag and to get involved.

a.       For example: If you have a contest or event, develop an original hashtag to use in posts and for fans to use in discussion about the posts. (#BestInTex14)

b.      Keep hashtags simple

·         USE VARIETY. Sometimes, include posts with text alone without hashtags or @mentions.  Direct response includes questions or statements that begin a discussion. 

·         GET INVOLVED IN OTHER CONVERSATIONS.  This is a good tactic to become involved with the audience and to appear more human. This can be done by commenting or sharing/retweeting others posts.

·         THE 80/20 RULE: 80% of content should be useful to the audience and only 20% should be selling or services.

a.       For Twitter: 40% of the audience retweets new product information posted; 39% show support; and 36% share information posted.

·         GET THE AUDIENCE TO TALK BACK. Displaying the business as a human indicates that it is relatable. “Talking back” in responses (retweets, comments, shares) allows for conversation similar to one you’d have in person. 

·         USE AN EMAIL LIST. A list you’ve already developed is a great way to gain followers and encourage them to interact on social media.  Use who you know to gain who “they” know.

Post bite size bits from your newsletter or other publications to insure informative and applicable content.

·         DON’T POST THE SAME THING TO ALL SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS. It looks lazy to the audience. It also does not benefit the posts, because each site allows for a different number of characters and each is used in a different way for interacting, sharing, and connecting.

a.       75% of Twitter users follow the format using a mobile device.

·         USE “FOLLOW ME” LINKS. By embedding links to a website, you attract more users from different formats of social media.

Olivia Rizzo is Editorial Assistant at Shane Media and Digital Editor for Best In Texas® Music Magazine and www.BestInTexasOnline.com