A Handy Guide to Ride the Social Wave for Your Business

— March 29, 2018

“Social media is so fast moving, you’ve got to know how to keep up – or you’ll get left behind”


With the number of social media platforms growing and algorithms constantly changing, it can be hard for businesses to keep up. Here we talk how we should be using the four biggest social platforms


There are more than 42 million active social media profiles in the UK as statista reports, with each person spending an average of one hour and 48 minutes online a day – so just think of how many people you can contact online each day. It’s incredible.


Here are some top tips on how to get the most from your platforms and information


Twitter


With non-visual topics such as politics and science amongst the most popular debates it’s easy to see why many businesses choose Twitter as their first choice. But how can businesses use Twitter to its full advantage? The Experts say it’s all about utilizing lists.


If you use Twitter for business, it’s a good idea to set up a private list and add all your key competitors. This way, you can track exactly what they are doing and when they are doing it, all in one place.


Pinned tweets are a great way to promote your business, too. If you’re holding an event, pin a tweet to the top of your page instead of tweeting the same stuff in the run up.


Joining debates is a great way to boost engagement, too. “It’s hard for some businesses to post on social media, for example those in the pharmaceutical industry.


Get involved with people who are having chat about health on social – give them advice. Who doesn’t want advice?


Facebook


Facebook is the biggest social media platform in the world – however, it seems its audience is changing.


With younger social media users choosing Instagram and Snapchat, my advises businesses with a more mature customer to focus on Facebook.


Let’s discuss some top trends for the year ahead.


Video is a top trend for 2018 – but it’s important to get it right. Subtitle all your video content, because they will often auto play without sound, and you have to remember that people are lazy, if they don’t know what’s being said they will just click off it.


GIFS are said to be a top social media trend this year – and it seems businesses should have a bit of fun with them.


You can make a really dry photo or clip engaging by using a GIF or a boomerang. It’s so easy to do and can boost interaction massively


Instagram


E-commerce businesses in India, such as Myntra, are reigning in Instagram success. But how do they do it?


Instagram stories became huge in 2017, and the release had a detrimental effect on Snapchat. “It’s unplanned content. People love live video because you can make a mistake, they don’t want perfection – they don’t care.”


Also the story should often show the process and the post should show the finished result. “If you were working on a project for example, your Instagram story should show behind the scenes footage, and your actual post on your feed should show the polished result.”


But what about hashtags? “Go easy on them and don’t put them in the caption, put them in the first comment. Instagram have a rule that isn’t very well known. If you are spamming hashtags, e.g. #like4like, they see your account as spam and they block you from being visible to any new users.


Instagram won’t tell you they’ve blocked you, and they won’t tell you when they’ve unblocked you, so you have to be weary.


As a new business you should do your research on what is good for the platform, as it has a lot of rules you’ll never know about.


Linkedin


When you search your name or business in Google, what’s the first social media platform to appear in the rankings?


That’s right, it’s Linkedin. Not only is it great for recruitment and building a professional network, it’s great for search engine optimization.


It turns out the more you engage on the platform, the higher your SEO ranking will get, too. So, commenting on posts, sharing articles and writing blogs is a great way to get your profile higher in Google rankings.


The business networking platform also gives you the chance to reach people further afield. “Linkedin’s algorithms aren’t as advanced as Facebook yet, so you can connect with people who would never get the chance to meet.”


Whether you have a personal profile or a business profile – people are interested in people and they want to know about you.

Digital & Social Articles on Business 2 Community

Author: Mitesh Patel


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