As a Social Media Manager, you want to achieve the best result from each social media post. Many articles have been written over the years suggesting that there are secret formulas to get more views on each post.
The reality is, there is no secret formula for how often to post on social media. The reason being is because what works for one business may not work for another. It’s not bad to read what others have done, but don’t make their solution your solution.
In this post, we will look at three proven posting strategies as well as the best practices for posting based on different platforms.
Aim for consistency
When looking at how often to be engaged on Social Media, it is important to look at consistency more so than frequency. The key is to create a plan that works for your business and stick to it. For example, if you decide that your social media post frequency should be twice a day on Instagram, you need to create content to fill that schedule. By being consistent, it will draw more people to your page, in turn, helping your business succeed.
Quality content trumps quantity
There’s only one thing worse than not posting on social media, and that’s posting something that is not relevant. There is no point in posting something only to fill a slot. If you post poor quality content, you are more likely to lose followers.
In order to make quality content for your business, make sure that your posts make sense to the person engaging with it. Don’t post content that has nothing to do with your business.
Set goals and objectives
Until you determine what your goals and objectives are, there is no way to measure success. Basically, if you don’t know why you’re posting on social media, you will not know if your posts are successful or not.
Ask yourself: what do I want to achieve on social media for my business?” For instance, if you want to drive traffic to your website but instead get hundreds of likes and no clicks to your website, then it was unsuccessful.
Best Practices for posting content on different Social Media platforms
Now that we have looked at the three strategies, let’s look at how you can maximize your social media posts based on the platform you are using.
Instagram is a visual platform, so what’s the best way to use it for your business?
One way is by posting high-quality photos and videos that showcase your product or business in the best possible way. Nobody wants to see grainy photos or watch videos with poor sound quality. You have to project a professional image for your business. Remember to add hashtags and mentions in your message. Another great way to use Instagram is to take your audience behind the scenes. Give them a taste of what it’s like to work at your company. Bring your brand photos to life with real-life experiences. Remember that authenticity is so important.
Try using Instagram Stories to post fresh content every day, as they disappear after 24 hours.
Facebook is different in the sense that you can post pictures, videos, or just write long posts. One important thing to remember is to produce quality content that’s suited to the platform and that you’re comfortable creating. There’s no point in making poor quality videos if you’re more skilled at writing or graphic design. Alternatively, try broadcasting live videos on Facebook Live if you think that it will help your business. Experiment with your content schedule until you find what works best for you and your audience. Ultimately, Facebook trial and error is the best way to find out how often to post.
LinkedIn is becoming a more hands-on platform. Here are some great ways to increase engagement using this platform:
- Write text-only posts to get more engagement. You’d think images or videos would be better, but John found text-only worked best for him.
- Use emojis and icons in your posts to break up text and make your post stand out in the news feed.
- Use LinkedIn native video rather than sharing a link to a video on YouTube or Vimeo. LinkedIn likes to keep content self-contained on its platform rather than linking to outside resources.
- LinkedIn loves comments. Like Facebook, if your post gets good comments, then LinkedIn will start sharing it with an extended audience, so you’ll get more views, more engagement, and more shares.
There are so many ways to practice quality engagement on your social media posts! If you are ready to learn how to master it for you and your clients, click here!