Build a Following and Get the Most Out of Social Media in 2017!

Likes, shares, retweets, re-blogs, reactions, re-pins—there are so many ways people can express appreciation for your brand on social media. Do you know how to harness social media to its fullest potential and turn those online followers into a reliable stream of business?

Here’s a primer on social media best practices for business owners in 2017.

Choose Your Platform Carefully

Before you can get started, you have to decide which social media platforms you want to target. Each social media site excels in different areas. Evaluate them and ask who your customers are and what you’re trying to accomplish.

Here are the strengths of the top social media platforms for businesses:

• Facebook is great for connecting to followers and showing them the personality behind your business. Here, you can gain a loyal following. It isn’t a good platform for e-commerce, though.
• Twitter is like one large group conversation. Everything goes by fast, it’s all “in the moment”. Use this platform to listen to what your customers have to say and post breaking news or announcements.
• LinkedIn is the most valuable platform when it comes to building professional business relationships. It’s great for B2B services.
• Pinterest is good if your brand has a lot of visual content. It’s built for business and has a loyal following. Each board and image is linked back to your website to allow pinners to learn more about the brand behind the image.
• Instagram is similar to Pinterest in its focus on visual content. It’s good for e-commerce and branding alike.
• Google+ is good for connecting to a particular niche audience of mostly male tech professionals. It’s also great for SEO, since content here immediately gets indexed and shows up in search results.

Share Quality Content to Build Your Reputation

Once you have social media accounts, it can be tempting to start just advertising your products or services. This is a surefire way to turn people off. Instead, you have to put out a steady stream of quality content.

Make Your Posts Visually Appealing

Research has shown that images and videos increase the click-through rates for posts by 80%. The share rates are also boosted by 40%. The message is clear: your users will engage more with content that’s visually appealing.

Share User-Generated Content

Social media is a platform for everyone to be heard. You can make your followers feel special by re-posting their content when it fits with your brand. This shows that you’re paying attention and engaging with your base.

Only Share Credible Sources

Trust is the most valuable currency on social media. If your audience clicks on your link and finds themselves on a sketchy site, they will not likely click on your links again. Make sure that what you are linking to is credible so you can earn your audience’s trust.

Other Social Media Tips

Here are some other useful guidelines for getting the most out of social media marketing:

Befriend Social Media Influencers

Social media influencers are a new form of online celebrity. They often have enormous followings. If (and only if) your content is relevant to their niche, you can ask them to share it. This could make a world of difference for your brand, opening you up to new audiences.

Manage Your Online Reputation

Again, social media is a platform for everyone to have a voice. This means that people will leave reviews on your page, and some of them may be negative. It can’t be stressed enough how important it is to follow up on these. Remember that the customer is always right—even when they’re not. Listen with empathy and try to make things right.

Post Outside of Work Hours

Your audience doesn’t only check their social media during your work hours. After all, consider your own social media habits. Here are the best times and days of the week to post on each site for maximum shares and click-throughs:

• Facebook – 9am, 1pm, 3pm (Sun, Thu, Fri, Sat)
• Twitter – 12pm, 3pm, 5-6 pm (Wed)
• Pinterest – 2pm, 9pm, 2am (Sat, Sun)
• LinkedIn – 7-8am, 12pm, 5-6pm (Tue, Wed, Thu)
• Google+ – 9am, 11am, 12-1pm (Wed)
• Instagram – 2am, 8-9am, 5pm (Mon, Thu)

Now you have some idea of how to best tackle social media in 2017. There’s still a lot more to learn, though, and maintaining posts across multiple platforms can be a drain on resources. Why not get specialists to handle it? Frontier Marketing is a team of professionals specializing in multiple areas of online marketing, including social media, SEO, graphic design, email marketing, web design, and more. If you’re a business owner looking to step up your game, give us a call at (847) 254-0837. We’ll take your business to the next frontier.