As social media outlets have multiplied and diversified, the best practices governing social media marketing have changed. There’s no longer a once-size-fits-all approach that can be applied across half a dozen networks for the same results. That means social media marketing has become more specialized–and more complex.
But that doesn’t mean successful social marketing is out-of-reach for the common small business. It only takes an understanding of the characteristics of each network, and the research that’s piling up on each, to understand how each network can be uniquely used to advance a company’s goals. Here are some great takeaway from a recent Digital Insights infographic that offer an excellent template for custom-fitting your social strategy.
The Facebook Rule: Less is More
If you’re swamping your Facebook followers with frequent status updates, you could be doing more bad than good. It turns out Facebook is where consumers are most irritable. They can become annoyed or disinterested in brands quickly, and that leads to high rates of “Unliking” a business page.
The solution is simple: Keep your Facebook posts to one to three updates per day. Limit yourself only to your most interesting and useful content. If it’s a slow day, it’s better to post nothing at all than to risk alienating followers. More than any other social network, Facebook is where quality trumps quantity.
For Mobile Targeting, Turn to Twitter
Is your business looking to score among mobile device users? Twitter is the place to go. Almost 80 percent of Twitter users are active on their mobile devices. This means that video producers, app developers, e-retail and other mobile-focused businesses have plenty to gain from building a presence on Twitter.
Because the lifespan of a tweet is so much shorter than a Facebook post, it’s critical that companies stay on top of updating their Twitter throughout the day–quantity is needed here to make sure your content reaches enough people. Be frequent in your posting and be mindful of the unique mobile opportunities Twitter may offer.
The Youth Movement Has Gone to Instagram
Instagram is a newer social network, but it’s very influential among young demographics. More than 200 million accounts are currently active on Instagram, which is the most popular social network among 23 percent of youth. While Pinterest, another visual-based social network, features a user base that is predominantly female, Instagram is a great option for targeting young consumers and connecting with them through photo-based content.
Seeking Sales? Update Your Blog
It isn’t always thought of in the vein of other social networks, but blogging is a genuinely social activity. Many bloggers host their blogs on connected networks of thousands, even millions of other blogs, resulting in an active community. But more important than the community is the power of influence blogging offers: Company websites that have an active blog enjoy a 97 percent increase in the number of inbound links coming to their sites, and marketers utilizing a blog have seen a 67 percent increase in sales referrals from their blogs.
Additionally, the body of content creators on blogs is relatively small–only about 6.7 million bloggers used dedicated blog networks to produce their content. That means the competition is much lower than on social networks, where content creation is easy and cheap. If you’re looking for a way to establish your credibility and authority in your field, a blog is an easy, low-cost way to separate yourself from the pack.
Don’t let your competition pass you by when it comes to social media and other digital marketing. Contact DBC Digital today to bring your online strategy up-to-speed.
