Think back to the early noughties and social media was just a novelty, sparingly used by people - teenagers especially; fast track to 2014 and the importance of social media is no longer debated. Social media is simply a part of everything we do, whether it’s PR, marketing, customer service or sales. With that in mind we’ve pulled together our five do’s and don’ts of Facebook and Twitter – two of the most common platforms used
1. DO be prepared to work outside of working hours (Twitter)
Unfortunately social media isn’t a 9am – 5pm job; it’s a 24-7 job that never stops. Yes, there’s better times to be online than not and this is something your business will need to research and test but you must be prepared to work outside of office hours for your social media profile. We’re not advocating that you dedicate your entire life to social media, just that the most effective times to be online may not be a part of your normal working day. This is especially important for networking hours which run at numerous times during the day and at night. For more information on networking hours click here.
2. Don’t just post for the sake of it
The world of content marketing has stimulated a fierce competition among brands, especially in real-time marketing. Take this summer’s World Cup in Brazil; already three separate football matches have achieved higher tweets-per-second than the 2012 London Olympics. That’s some statistic, demonstrating the incredible wealth of global conversation and the opportunity presented for businesses to reach mass audiences. It does sometimes however make it harder for those brands to be heard.
Generating content all the time is no easy task and takes a creative mind to be able to do so. If you’re running low on ideas and struggling, don’t just post something for the sake of it. Your messages need to be strong, consistent, clear and relevant to the brand. If you haven’t got any ideas then ask around the office, clients, friends, family or check the latest social media trends on the internet; it’ll soon spark off your imagination.
3. Don’t bombard your newsfeed but remember to keep it fresh!
We have to emphasise the need to space out your tweets and statuses tactically rather than delivering them all at once. Filling up your newsfeed with a huge variety of content is a dangerous game as fresher posts may dilute your previous messages that are just as important. Allow time for your posts to mature so that people can engage and interact with them.
It’s a balancing act between not overwhelming your audience and posting regularly enough so that your social media profile remains active. The reason people are following you is due to them being interested in your brand or because you have interesting tweets and statuses.
4. Think about who you’re following (Twitter)
At the end of the day this one comes down to value. We’ve mentioned the need to produce high quality content consistently but this also applies for who you’re following as well. You should only be following people that will give some sort of value to your business i.e. industry press and industry influencers, or those who post interesting content you enjoy or find relevant. You don’t have to follow someone back just because they follow you!
5. Be proactive and interact (Twitter)
Social media is all about, yes you guessed it, being social. You need to be the life and soul of the communal party on Twitter especially to make any sort of noise/impact. Don’t just sit in the corner of the room and not tweet anyone, especially in networking hours; be willing to spark a conversation and reply to other people’s tweets, even if it’s not directly sent towards you. You’re more likely to gain a long term follower if you engage and interact with them. So just think of social media as real life and how you build relationships/rapport at networking events with prospective clients or customers.