Are you like so many others who have had trouble succeeding in the social media realm? We all know that social media marketing is a must-have component in any communications strategy, but without a game plan to drive growth and engagement you are unlikely to succeed. Social media strategy is incredibly important to keep your profile front and center in your prospects’ view and in reaffirming your expertise with current customers.
Platforms
Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn should be your primary platforms in distributing content, getting your message across, and building relationships with followers. These three have been found to be the most used social sites by B2B firms, and this is where you will need to be the most competitive and most active.
Frequency and Timing
You should aim to post at least once every week day, and don’t forget weekend’s if you see that’s when your followers (or would be followers) are most active. Posts for Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for any one day do not have to be different articles. It’s fine to use one article across all social platforms per day, but do take the time to customize your actual posts – each platform has a slightly different style and of course, length for content. This will allow you to maintain your clout in your follower’s feed when they tend to be most active.
So how do you find out when to post for the biggest impact on growing your social profile and influence? There are many third-party applications available that are both free and paid that allow for in-depth analysis of your follower activity across different social platforms. Buffer has put together a comprehensive list of many of these applications here.
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Content
Social content should not just be all about you. Try to keep self-promotional content to about two days per week, or no more than around 25 per cent of your posts. This can be promoting your company’s product or services, or a particular section of your website. Posts about you at an industry event, depending how you craft them, can fit under industry news.
Thought leadership posts are another way to establish credibility and authority over the issues that your clients or prospects care about. While still self-promotional, showcasing your or your firms expertise in a niche industry or subject demonstrates proficiency in your services and give a sense of authenticity to your target audience.
Industry news articles, especially when you add commentary versus a simple retweet, share or like, should be the majority of the social content that you post. Try to keep up with trending topics and news coverage so your posts are “fresh” and relevant – basically no more than about one week old. This will allow you to stay on top of current events and move with the news cycle to maximize the attention your posts receive.
Stay tuned for more of these B2B think pieces, including information on video marketing, content curation, and much more!
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Contributions from Fran Lowe.