Published: 09/05/2023 by Kayleigh Walter
Have confidence in what you are posting. My biggest issue when I started posting was confidence. On my personal social media accounts I talk shit all day everyday, but when you’re speaking on behalf of a business, it’s just not the same. My lack of confidence got in the way and I was terrified to make a mistake or post something inappropriate but remember you can always get a second opinion on your content.
Give yourself the opportunity to adjust to Social Media before pushing yourself to post every day of the week across every platform. I started by posting 3 times a week on Facebook and Instagram. By posting every other working day it allowed me to give myself more time to create content I was happy with and supported our brand values.
Use online trends such as ‘Motivational Monday' and ‘Friday Feeling’ to help get you started. They already have a mass audience, are easy to design and will allow you to experience posting on Social Media as well as audience response and engagement.
National Holidays and Nationally recognised days are also good things to get involved with because they're established. Wish your audiences a Happy Easter, celebrate with them on Star Wars Day and encourage them on National Go For Broke Day.
If you’re doing Social Media for a relatively new business, you have to build a relationship with your audience before you can start selling to them. If you’re working with an already established Social Media account, that relationship probably already exists the key is to maintain it with consistent content.
Hashtags are helpful, especially on Instagram. Make sure you create a hashtag specific to your brand/company and use it on every single post and make sure the hashtags are relevant. Instagram now allows users to follow hashtags, so they’re more important than ever, however, don’t overdo it.
Don’t write too much copy because audiences won’t read it. A line or two is enough; however if you do choose to use a lot of text it’s important to remember most people won’t click ‘Read More’ so make sure all the important information is at the top of your post.
Once you figure out what time is best to reach your audience on Social Media platforms, keep to that timeframe. It may take a while for you to narrow it down, so don’t stress out too much when experimenting. Usually the most successful time slots are between 8:30-9am and 12:45-1:45, Monday to Friday. However it will vary depending on your target audience, there are tools out there that will allow you to track your audience and see when they’re most active.
Stock images are beautiful and can be useful but they don’t resonate with your audience. You’d be more likely to get audiences interested by posting pictures you’ve taken yourself because they feel like they’re getting a ‘behind-the-scenes’ look into your company rather than being ‘sold’ something ‘perfect.’
Keep an eye on the news and trends and use them when you can. Using current affairs will allow you to be a part of the discussion which could encourage audiences to share their thoughts and comments with you.
It is scary at first, but interact with your audience. If they comment on your posts, make sure to reply and build a relationship even if they’re negative comments. Be polite, be professional but most of all be human.
Document what goes on in the office and always take pictures; you never know when you’ll be able to use them. Remember, audiences will find personal pictures more relatable than perfect stock imagery.
Try and plan ahead. There are tools out there that allow you to schedule posts weeks in advance so when you can, plan ahead. It will definitely help to have a bank of content that you can dip into whenever necessary, this includes articles, links to share, imagery and blog posts. Sometimes you will get overloaded with work so it does help to have content to spare.
By asking your audience questions in your posts you’re giving them an opportunity to talk to you, to answer your questions and to tell you about themselves.
Most of all remember every single post you share whether it's a motivational quote, article or photo, you should always be representing your brands' core values. It should be relevant to who you are as a company and what your goal is. Generating likes and follows is great but if you want conversions you need to generate a following that is interested in your brand and not just your content.
I am still learning and I know there is still lots I don't know but these tips really helped me get comfortable and confident using Social Media. Hopefully, they'll be able to help you too.
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