32 Tips for Social Media Domination
The Big Question: With the social media world changing so fast, are you keeping up?
Social media has been around for a long time by internet standards.
But marketers are still coming to grips with how to effectively tell their story on social.
At NewsCred, we talk to hundreds of clients every day, and understand the common pain points that our customers face on social media.
This deck captures the latest social media changes and best practices across the networks most important to NewsCred: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
What are we going to cover? Social Media Channel Overview KPI Overview Best Practices
Social Media Channel Overview
Channel Overview Introduction Before we can talk about social media best practices, we first need to examine each platform: what it is, how to use it, and its current demographics. First, some noteworthy statistics: 52% of online adults now use two of more social media sites 56% of all online adults 65 and older use Facebook 53% of internet-using young adults ages 18-29 use Instagram 50% of internet users with college educations use LinkedIn http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/09/social-media-update-2014/
Social Channel Overview Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Associations Photo/status sharing, video, pop culture, staying in touch, news sourcing, long-form content Breaking news, snackable content, trending topics, fastest way to share/receive information Thought leadership, education, branded content, medium-tolong form content, networking How It Works Posts appear in feeds, profiles, and brand pages Posts appear in feeds and on profiles, posts get buried fastest Influencer posts appear at top of page, updates from people and brands Who Uses it? 1.31 billion active monthly users, growing 50+ audience 284 million monthly users, educated, high-income, under 50 313 million members in 200+ countries, college grads are fastest-growing demographic
KPI Overview
KPI Overview Introduction What is a KPI? KPI stands for key performance indicator. KPI measurement is essential for all marketing, especially on social media. But while metrics are key, there is a not a one-size-fits-all measurement on social. Each platform has a unique set of KPIs that should be analyzed and measured.
KPI Overview What are we measuring? Brand awareness, engagement, and lead generation The obstacle? KPI measurement is difficult for everyone The solution? Measure what you care about, and agree on it with your marketing team 1 ZenithOptimedia 2 Kelsey Cox - Column Five 79% of marketing pros said two of their biggest obstacles are measuring online social media (79%) and demonstrating return on investment (85%). 1 We re pretty much just reporting numbers, even though we know these are not as accurate as they could be. 2
KPI Overview Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Brand Awareness Page likes, page visits, impressions, reach Followers, impressions, reach, follower/following ratio Company page likes, page views, visitors Engagement Post likes, comments, shares, clicks, stories created RTs, favorites, replies, @mentions, clicks, engagement rate Likes, comments, shares, clicks, engagement Lead Generation Link clicks to form or gated page, blog subscribe Lead generation card clicks, link clicks to gated page, blog subscribe Link clicks to form or gated page
Best Practices
Best Practices Introduction Once you ve established what social media platforms make the most sense for your brand and what KPIs you are going to measure, it s time to make sure your strategy is set. This is where understanding the best practices of each network is essential. Think of it this way, the more you know about social media, the more you will be able to grow your brand and push past your competitors. Here are a few best practices that every social media marketer needs to keep in mind.
Best Practices: Overall Establish a unique voice and stick with it Be transparent and authentic Give due credit to authors and sources Make sure images are optimized for both desktop and mobile Maintain a consistent cadence Maintain a variety of content: original, licensed, UGC Respond to fans (and haters) in a timely manner Truly know your audience
Best Practices: Twitter Cadence: NewsCred shares 1 tweet an hour, 7 days a week between 8am-2am for maximum engagement across different time zones Don t be afraid to post the same tweet more than once or with A/B variations Say thanks it s the most effective way to increase organic engagement and followers *Companies who test are 75% more likely to show ROI for content marketing than those who fail to test their strategies.
Best Practices: Twitter Interact with your audience on a humanto-human level take a look at Pandora and White Castle Be visual: tweets with photos are 150% more likely to be retweeted (78% of user engagement with a brand s tweets are via retweeting) Tweets with 100-130 characters get the most engagement and retweets
Best Practices: Facebook Cadence: NewsCred posts 2x per day, 5-7 days per week to align with when our audience is most active Visuals are the most crucial element to Facebook posts with photos get 53% more likes, 104% more comments, 84% more click-throughs Content: should be varied, with a mix of cultural and educational posts
Best Practices: LinkedIn Cadence: NewsCred posts 2x per day, 5-7 days per week to reach our audience at peak activity levels LinkedIn posts must be more than company updates and recruiting posts you need informative content too Voice: LinkedIn is most authoritative of the three platforms due to its well-educated demographics
Building Brand Awareness
Building Brand Awareness: Introduction Creating brand awareness on social requires strategic thinking, in addition to organic and paid methods. This is one of the most important aspects of social media marketing, and the key to success is knowing where your audience is. Here are some of the ways to reach your target audience using a combination of both paid and organic methods.
Create Content for the Right Context People behave differently on each platform. Twitter Has the shortest shelf-life for content, but can generate substantial engagement from retweets, favorites, and @mentions. Facebook 75% of a post s impressions and reach will have been made within the first five hours of posting. Buzzfeed 2014 Pinterest Evergreen and SEO friendly content can continue to generate buzz long after the publishing date.
Build Brand Awareness + Engagement Organically Most ReTweetable Words & Phrases Recycle your content: keep posting until it s dead Grow your audience: follow people you care about It s not all about you: like or favorite other posts Trending: use tweetable words or hashtags ONLY if they make sense 1 you 2 twitter 3 please 4 retweet 5 post 6 blog 7 social 8 free 9 media 10 help 10 please retweet 11 great 12 social media 13 10 14 follow 15 how to 16 top 17 blog post 18 check out 19 new blog post https://blog.bufferapp.com/twitter-tips-get-more-followers
Brand Fail This is what happens when brands use a trending hashtag for the sake of gaining visibility without understanding the meaning behind the hashtag Hint: it almost never works http://www.businessinsider.com/13-epic-twitter-fails-by-big-brands-2012-2
Build Brand Awareness + Engagement with Paid There are many ways to boost brand awareness with paid spend: Twitter: promoted tweets, lead generation cards, web cards, etc. Facebook: boosted posts, ad sets LinkedIn: sponsored updates, ad campaigns Unsure about which to use? A/B test until you get it right
Blog Subscribe A/B Test: A Success Story NewsCred tested identical Twitter campaigns driving to our blog subscribe landing page We wanted to see what type of paid tweet would perform best: promoted tweet, web card, or lead generation card We found that promoted tweets and lead generation card were the most effective As of our Dec. 1 campaign, we gained 1,000+ blog subscribes 14% of these turn into leads
A Few Items to Suggest Pro Tips.@ mention for tweets to show up in your timeline (not in replies) Know your audience. Leverage technology (like NewsCred!) that provides search, social, and audience behavior analytics to give you a full picture of who your audience is and what they want Visuals are key blatant stock images won t cut it Think about the burrito effect if someone has time to eat a burrito, they have time to check their social media accounts Ideally, you should engage with everyone who @mentions you, across all platforms Remember there s a human on both sides of the computer act like it and you ll be rewarded!
Ready to take your social media marketing to the next level?
We d love to help. NewsCred is the world s leading content marketing platform. We re powering marketing technology for the future helping brands transform the way they connect with people, build brand love, and win more customers. Our software enables top brands such as Pepsi, P&G, Dell, General Electric, and AIG to create amazing content experiences with simplicity, speed, and global scale. We re on a mission to help marketers create content people love, and prove that great storytelling will drive long-term business growth. Learn more at newscred.com and follow us on Twitter @newscred.
Thank you! Ready to create amazing content? Contact NewsCred for a free demo today! NewsCred.com Sales@NewsCred.com +1 (212) 989 4100 @newscred