Social media has changed the way we interact with each other as well as the way we market. People are being exposed to more products than ever before thanks to posts their friends liked appearing on their pages, targeted ads, and a variety of other means. When done correctly, someone casually scrolling through Facebook in the morning could become a loyal customer of your company. You just have to catch their eye first!
But how do you construct a post that will draw in new clients? You likely already know that a good picture is important, and that it isn’t hard to accomplish that with your smartphone camera. Once you’ve gotten this, however, you want to connect with them deeper. Your goal is to make them want to come back to your page, interact with you, and go one step further with a visit to your website or store.
To help you out, we’ve compiled a list of “do’s” and “don’ts” for posting to your brand’s page. While the list is brief, following these recommendations will result in a much better social media experience for both you and your followers!
DO
Do keep it accessible! Use language and build sentences that make the caption easy to read. Write like you’re having a conversation with your reader, and consider how you’d talk during a casual chat. When it comes to word choice, nobody will want to take the time to look up a word they don’t know in your caption. Even if you think it’s a word everyone knows, if you have to second guess it all, just find another one to use.
Do know your brand voice! This is the tone you’ll use when writing your captions and interacting with your followers online. Do you want to come across as highly professional? Would you prefer to be more casual? Do you want to incorporate some humor into your writing? Knowing the voice you want to create content with will help you to feel more confident when you’re working on your social media page. If you’re having trouble figuring out your voice, think about how you talk with your clients when having a face to face conversation- the way you talk online should be the same as the way you talk in-person.
Do interact with your followers! Always respond to direct messages and like peoples’ comments, and don’t keep them waiting too long for those replies! This will let them know you see them, appreciate them, and take them seriously. In addition, reply to their comments as frequently as you can; this especially goes for commenters who have questions, or those users you see repeatedly interacting with your page. Show them the same hospitality you would show any client. Make them feel welcome to your page and your brand!
DON’T
Don’t post without carefully checking spelling and grammar. Spelling mistakes can easily slip by, especially if you are trying to come up with a post in a rush. Take your time writing captions, comments, and replies to make sure that you are reflecting the brand voice you chose. Triple check before you post, or send your caption to someone else and have them look over it. It may help to dedicate a few hours out of your day solely to drafting posts and answering messages so that your attention is strictly given to your page and you can make sure you’re posting the highest quality content you can!
Don’t ignore the peak traffic times for different websites. There are best and worst times to post for every platform, and a little research into this goes a long way. If you consistently post at times when not many people are online, you won’t see a lot of interaction on your page. Take some time to look up the best times to post on Instagram, Facebook, or whatever your platform is, and follow those suggested times- you’ll be surprised to see the difference it will make for the amount of interaction you get!
Don’t forgo hashtags. Hashtags are the most important avenue for getting new visitors to your page. They index your post in the social media platform’s algorithm, while a post without hashtags doesn’t get indexed at all. If you don’t know where to start with hashtags, try checking out pages similar to yours for inspiration, then start a list of ideas and write down everything you can think of. Get both as broad and as narrow in your hashtags as possible, while staying within the hashtag limits for the respective sites. This will put your post in more categories, which will then show up on more peoples’ pages if they’re following the hashtag!
We hope that this list helps you sharpen your social media skills and gives you tools you can use to post in the future. There’s always research to do in the ever-changing world of social media, but keeping up with trends and your followers will mean you’re running a lively profile for your brand! Our team is always willing to lend a hand if you need it. If you have questions about or need feedback for your social media page, reach out to us here!