How often you should be posting on social media, and what you should be saying when you post, can be a confusing issue to navigate for many businesses. They might be unsure about how to get their message across, or they could be concerned that they’ll be seen as spammers if they post too much. Still, if you’re running a business you don’t want to leave your followers hanging, wondering when you’re going to post something else. If you don’t stick around in the social media sphere, people will forget about you.
That’s never a good thing for a business that’s trying to move ahead of its competitors and have some success. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways you can adjust your social media presence, so you can reach out to your target audience the right way and at the right frequency. You won’t please all the people all the time, but you will keep most of them happy. That’s all you can really hope to do, and the goal you should be aiming for. Also, consider that each social media platform is different. What works on one might not be a good choice for another.
Here’s a guide to help:
As one of the most common and widely-used social media platforms, Facebook is a must for your business. However, one thing you have to be careful of is over-posting on Facebook. Your goal is to get your message out there, not clutter up people’s newsfeeds to the point that they get tired of seeing you around. If you’re too “busy” on Facebook, people will unfollow you and the posts you make won’t be effective. People won’t even see them! While you should be active on the site, you definitely don’t want to go overboard.
Consider posting a minimum of three times each week and a maximum of 10 times. Don’t post just to post, though. People who use Facebook and follow businesses want to see high-quality content in their newsfeed. Aim for quality over quantity and make sure each of your posts has a point. Think of something important to say before you say it. Remember, you don’t always have to post about your product or service to keep people interested. Industry news and other great information works, as well.
Facebook has tools to help your facebook business page with their site facebook for business.
Twitter is very different from Facebook. It’s fast-paced style and 140-character limit for status updates lends itself very well to speeding along, blasting out lots of great information. Take that to heart. You should be posting on Twitter a minimum of five times per day, and there is no maximum. You don’t need to worry about cluttering up a person’s feed, and you’re much less likely to be unfollowed for “spamming” than you will on Facebook. You can post away all day without fear, and that can give your business a great outlet if you really have something to say often.
Another difference between Twitter and Facebook is the kind of content you’ll be posting. With Twitter, you should generally plan for quantity over quality. That doesn’t mean you should put garbage out there, but that you don’t have to think in-depth about what you’re posting. You can provide tidbits about all kinds of things, and you don’t need to spend some time crafting a good post that’s really going to encourage people to think. Something on your mind? Say it – and keep saying it, multiple times per day, to get people following you. Don’t forget the hashtags, either.
When it comes to professional online networks, LinkedIn is where it’s at. A minimum of two times per week and a maximum of fives times should be used here. You don’t want to fill up the newsfeed, but you do want people to see that you’re active and participating. Just be sure to remember that LinkedIn is more professional, so the type of content you post will generally be different than what you’re putting on Facebook and Twitter. You might write about the same things, but the way you present the information will generally have to be adjusted to fit the audience.
With LinkedIn, be sure you’re focusing on content that adds value, and that’s specific to your industry or field. Random updates – unless they’re very infrequent and still have a point – really aren’t going to do your business any favors on LinkedIn. Stick with content that’s more technical and formal, and that goes with your particular industry. That way, you’ll be able to keep people interested and show them that you know what you’re doing when it comes to the kinds of goods or services you provide. The site is a place to showcase your knowledge.
Google+
Not everyone has jumped on the Google+ bandwagon yet, but the site is growing. It’s increasingly being seen as more important for businesses to get on there, so they can have another way to reach out to customers. Because it’s a Google product, it’s also indexed by Google’s search engine function, so you’ll be more likely to get found quickly. On that site, you want to aim for a lower volume of content, but be sure to keep it high quality. A minimum of three times per week and a maximum of 10 times is a good choice for adding content.
One of the ways you can really get Google+ to work for your business is through adding keywords. Google will take note of that, and your page will be ranked more highly when someone searches for what you do. Be sure not to keyword stuff, though. Search engines in general don’t like that, and it won’t help you get noticed in a positive way. Instead, aim for posts that add value, and where you can use keywords naturally so that you’ll rank well and people will enjoy reading what you have to say. That’s the best way to get noticed on Google+.
Pinterest is relatively unique in the social media world, as it relies on much more on pictures than it does on words. That doesn’t mean the words aren’t important, though. You should still be paying attention to the captions that go along with the pictures you’re pinning on the site. Aim to post at least five times – but no more than 10 times – every day. That might seem like a lot, but it really doesn’t take long to pin a few pictures and say something about them. Make sure you use pictures that are interesting and beautiful, so they catch people’s attention.
Also focus on using the right keywords. That will get your pictures found when people do searches related to what you do or what you have to offer. In addition to the keywords, make sure to link back to your website. This will make it much easier for people to follow you and to get interested in what your company has to offer. While not a lot of businesses are using Pinterest yet, more are getting involved with it every day. If you want to stay ahead of the competition, Pinterest is a great site to help establish your online presence.
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