MAKING SOCIAL MEDIA WORK FOR YOU

Social media timelines are the number 1 source of information.How do you get your audience to engage? One of the biggest benefits of social media is that it invites a two-way conversation with your audience. Gone are the days where a brand would speak into a megaphone to share a message and not be able to hear a response. Today, a brand can communicate with their audience in real-time. Thanks to social media, a brand can ask a question and within seconds, have an answer from loyal fans.

SOCIAL MEDIA A basic rundown of the popular ones

FacebookShare latest updates, industry-related articles, fun things happening in the office, hot spots in the city, etc. Showcase your work, expertise, thought leadership, build awareness, and generate leads.

Fun stuff: Facebook Live gives your audience a behind-the-scenes look at your brand. Facebook Events are the perfect announcement and way to keep the audience excited.

Want your audience to engage: Tell them to! Ask questions like, “What is your favourite ____?” or “Where do you enjoy ______?”

Key to success: Know your objectives and measure!

What you can do1. Run Facebook contests – Contests are a great way to increase engagement. Host a giveaway for a prize that dangles a carrot for your audience. Gift certificates, swag, exclusive access, or even bragging rights – Facebook contests excite your audience. Ask a simple trivia question with a random entry for a draw or you can use contest apps.

2. Facebook live – Give your audience exclusive information. Post a teaser to say you’ll be live at a specific time to make an announcement, host a Q&A, or just go on spontaneously to give a look behind the curtains.

3. Use your Facebook Events Feed - Let people know about an upcoming event and build hype using Facebook Events.

TwitterUse Twitter the same way you use Facebook – just with 140 characters or less! Twitter is a great platform for two-way conversation. Reply, retweet to share, thank your audience for engaging, and be engaging yourself.

Fun stuff: Periscope works like Facebook Live to give a behind-the-scenes look. Twitter lists are a great way to curate content and provide your audience with relevant accounts to follow.

Want your audience to engage: Be engaging! Tweet things they care about, engage with them, don’t be afraid to start the conversation.

Key to success: Building a following on Twitter can take time – invest the time and be patient!

What you can do1. Twitter lists – a great way to group together similar people. If you’re running an event, create lists with your attendees, presenters, etc – give everybody a chance to engage before meeting in real life.

2. Retweet good content – if you came across a good tweet or article, share it. This shows others that you appreciate their content and shows your audience that you are giving them information from several sources.

3. Periscope – just like Facebook Live, your audience loves behind-the-scenes stuff!

InstagramInstagram is all visual –photos and videos. Most people scroll through and stop only when something catches their eye; a visually pleasing photo or video.

Fun stuff: Did you know you can set your Instagram profile as a business page? This means your audience can easily contact you and Instagram gives you insightful analytics. Instagram Stories are another great way to give your audience exclusive, behind-the-scenes content.

Want your audience to engage: Give them great visuals!

Key to success: Focus on visuals – Instagram isn’t the place for articles, links, logos, etc.

What you can do1. Switch to business profile - Make sure you’ve switched to a business profile in your settings. This gives you access to great analytics about your posts and audience, plus lets you create a “Contact” button for your audience to get in touch with you.

2. Instagram stories - Use your Stories as a way to give your audience exclusive content. This can be something fun behind-the-scenes or announcing a flash sale for 24 hours exclusive to your Instagram followers.

3. Use your explore screen - This is a great way to see what your audience is engaging with and what’s popular. Use this to engage or to research content you should be posting too.

LinkedInLinkedIn is considered the “professional” social network –this means company updates, industry articles, blog posts, and anything else that shows you as an expert in your industry belongs on LinkedIn.

Bonus features: LinkedIn Groups allow you to chime in on topics and conversations that are hot in the industry – sharing your knowledge highlights you as a thought leader.

Want your audience to engage: Post relevant and exciting things. Share your knowledge and provide valuable insight on a particular topic that only you can share.

Key to success: Stay relevant –post articles that are relevant to your industry and brand.

What you can do1. Write an article - LinkedIn’s blogging platform not only gives you the perfect way to share your expertise, but also reports back informative metrics including impressions and engagement. Use this feature to show yourself off as an expert and share thought leadership.

2. Participate in group discussions - Search LinkedIn for relevant groups and contribute to the discussions. Providing your professional advice and insights builds your credibility and portrays you as an expert.

3. Share your created content - Do you have a blog? Make sure your articles are all on shared on LinkedIn – think of LinkedIn as your brand’s resume; use it to show off your skills, knowledge, and experience.

SnapchatSnapchat is a fun way to give your audience an update on your daily happenings. Nothing is permanent on Snapchat – this helps give a true, raw, authentic insider look. Your audience will love this! Very similar to Instagram Stories.

Bonus features: Snapchat filters are an easy, inexpensive way to get your brand in front of lots of people. You can submit a custom geofilter within a certain region and for $5/hour.

Want your audience to engage: If you become known for good Snapchat content, your audience will never miss a snap!

Key to success: Figure out if this is where your audience is – if your audience isn’t on Snapchat, don’t waste your time.

What you can do1. Make a custom geofilter - If you’re hosting an event or just want to have some fun, geofilters will get people in the area to engage with your brand. You can design your own or choose from the templates – upload, select the area you’d like to cover, and submit for approval.

2. Cross promote - If you want to grow your Snapchat audience, make sure your fans know you have an account! It’s ok to do the occasional post on other social networks to encourage fans to follow you on Snapchat.

3. Share tips - Use video clips to share tips or updates relevant to your industry that your audience will want to see. Share on other social networks that people should check out your latest Snapchat story for the goods.

BloggingBlogging on your website serves many purposes. On top of showcasing your expertise, it gives your audience a reason to visit your website frequently and keeps them engaged while there.

Bonus features: Great for SEO, thought leadership, social content, and helps build credibility and trust with your audience.

Want your audience to engage: Keep your articles fresh, relevant, and make sure you share it on all your social networks. Give your audience a treat for following along and host the occasional giveaway contest on your blog.

Key to success: Remind your audience to subscribe to your blog so they are notified when you post.

What you can do1. Create a blogging schedule - Make a plan for yourself so you aren’t always trying to figure out what to blog about next. Create a schedule for 2-4 blog posts a month and keep working on them. If other opportunities come up, you can substitute or simply add to your blog.

2. Look for guest bloggers - A guest blogger can bring new insights for your fans and can also attract a whole new audience. Your guest will share their post with their fans, and this will bring more readers to your blog. It’s a win-win-win!

3. Showcase others - Your blog can showcase others and your relationships too. Host a fun interview with your clients about why they love working with you – another win-win!

YouTubeVideo is one of the most engaging ways to share your message. The creative possibilities are endless! YouTube lets you create video content for your audience whether it’s simple video from your iPhone or evergreen video from a video production team.

Bonus features: Great for SEO, doubles-up as TrueView ads, videos can be a one-time effort that can be used over and over.

Want your audience to engage: Encourage viewers to subscribe, use TrueView ads to build awareness, tag your video correctly, and make sure your video is fun and engaging.

Key to success: Keep sharing your videos!

What you can do1. Create a video schedule - Make a plan for yourself so you aren’t always trying to figure out what to film next.

2. Create a vlog series - Have creative ideas for your blog? Convert them into a vlog too! Video works when you want to engage your audience; a video that shares valuable information is something your audience will invest time into watching.

3. Film a tour of your office - What better way to show your audience where the magic happens than a tour of your office? You can film this using your smartphone, camera, or a 360 camera.

SOCIAL MEDIA Tips & Tricks

Social Media Best Practices

• Use the 80/20 rule when posting industry-related/fun articles versus about yourself –if your audience feels like they’re always being sold to, there’s no value and they will not care

• Engage –welcome feedback and conversation, respond to it, ask more questions

• Ask a question in some of your posts – this automatically triggers engagement

• Make sure there is an accompanying image or link preview – posts with text only get little to no engagement

• Make sure the image/preview of the link you use is clear, legible, and relevant

• Tag relevant pages and people – eg; tag partners, clients, or sponsors you’re posting about so they get notified; they will likely engage

What not to do on social media

• Don’t put anything on social media that you wouldn’t want on a billboard

• Don’t like your own posts

• Don’t let comments/posts sit unanswered – acknowledge and respond

• Don’t pollute your audience’s feed – there’s no “limit” to the number of posts, but there is such thing as too much. Be the judge; some days 1-2 posts per day is good, others (like events or announcements) may need several

• It’s ok to post the same thing to Twitter and Facebook but just remember they are different platforms that understand different languages (ie; Hashtags don’t have the same expansion of reach on Facebook as Twitter. You don’t need to use hashtags on Facebook unless it’s for a particular cause/event)

What works on social media

• Be fun! Nobody wants to follow some boring brand on Facebook that posts stale and sales-y content

• Be informative – give your audience value for following you

• Photos and videos –your audience loves visuals

• Show your audience the faces behind your brand – we are naturally attracted to photos of people and faces

How do you choose which platform to use?OK –there are more social media platforms out there than anybody can keep track of. How do you pick the right one?

Ask yourself:• Who is our audience?• Where are they?• Does this platform make sense for us?• What are we trying to communicate• How does our audience engage?

THANK YOU!