As with anything, there are some things you should and shouldn’t do. Should you walk down a drive through and expect to get served? No, because you are not an SUV. Should you scream and yell if someone messes up your order at a restaurant? No, because you are not a mean person. Should you completely neglect social media OR use it like your own personal diary? NO, because social media should make people WANT to support your brand!
Here's our list of the top social media best practices, from your friends at Lately:
Three words: Social media strategy. Those three words will get you FAR. Before you even make your first post you gotta ask yourself why you’re even posting? What is the end goal? Set some goals for yourself and include some ways that you can reach those goals through social media. You can track if you’ve reached those goals by checking analytics like followers, shares, or website visits. And hey, after you’ve reached a goal… maybe pop some bubbly?
Did that work? Aaaanyways, you’re going to want to have either some wacky, eye-catching title or photo for a lot of your posts. Don’t go too overboard with it like captioning a social post “Like this post and we’ll send you a check for $4,000”... just something that ropes people in and makes them want to learn more.
Your brand needs a specific tone of voice to help you stand out from the crowd. Whether it’s a sort of monotone, boring, smart people talk (which we don’t recommend) or a ha ha funny jokester like ours, your voice needs to be consistent across all platforms. This will not only make you stand out from the other lame-os, over time it will become recognizable to your customers and will allow them to engage with posts easier.
Look, no one wants to see the same post across 4 social media platforms, you have to spice it up a bit! Otherwise the people who follow you on every single social media will be bored half to death. And what platform helps you do that? (hint: it starts with an L and ends in an Ately). That way you can throw longer video clips on something like Facebook or Linkedin, and keep twitter for the short and sweet stuff.
Social Media platforms allow you to see who is talking about your brand and why. This is a great way to engage your brand with customers or prospective customers. Always THANK THEM for talking about your brand - a thank you goes a looooong way. Use those who are engaging in conversation but have not purchased your product as people you could try and convert. Start a relationship, wink, wink!
Speaking of keeping up with customers on social media, stay on top of what's happening in your industry! Whether you're in medicine, marketing, or even if you run a mortuary, you’ll want to stay on top of the conversations that are happening in your field. It’s the best way to stay ahead of the curve and to hop into conversations that apply to your brand.
Look, sometimes you have a particularly good social post - a real dynamite piece of work. Should that mean that you post it on every single social media platform? NO. NO, IT SHOULD NOT. I know that might stress you out, but anyone following you on multiple social channels does not want to see the same thing a hundred times, you gotta switch it up! Here’s the secret: Lately will one hundred percent make that waaaay easier for you. Use the same piece of content (whether it's an article, a video, you name it!) to get more social posts than you could EVER need. Headache = gone.
If you know anything about Lately, we love a good CTA. Anything that drives traffic to another platform (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, your website, whatever you want!) is a win for you. You want to end your posts with that action call. But there is one big big no-no (a Kately from Lately exclusive tip): Don’t EVER say “check out ___”. Just trust the boss, she knows what the heck she’s talking about. (And a rumor is, if you say the phrase “check out” three times in a row into a mirror… she’ll haunt you till your final days)
