Getting the most out of your social media presenceGetting the most out of your social media presence

July 29, 2019

4 Min Read
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Social media: it’s everywhere. Whether you personally love it or hate it, your brand can benefit significantly from a well-designed presence on social platforms. But—in order to reap the rewards you seek—it’s important to put a well-thought plan in place and commit to engaging with your audience regularly. 

Here are some tips to help you.   

Get a lay of the land

Before you start to put your own plan together, spend some time researching the various platforms and see how your competitors are (or aren’t) using them. Social listening can also help you understand what may or may not work for your particular type of business. Also, look up some of your customers and aspirational companies in this space. Bottom line: you want to be where your audience is.

Figure out which platforms you want to use

Once you’ve conducted your competitive analysis, you’ll probably have a good idea of which platforms you’ll want to use. 

  • In general, LinkedIn is the most B2B-friendly—and a great place to post content of all shapes and sizes.  Consider publishing your own articles, thought-leader pieces, profiles of leaders, community efforts or updates from the front lines. 

  • You can think of Twitter as more of a “water cooler” gathering spot—a place for your more time-sensitive tidbits and those that are short and sweet. 

  • If your business is the type that generates lots of interesting photo opportunities, you may consider the image-focused Instagram as well. Instagram Stories get more engagement than posts, so be sure to use that regularly if you’re on Instagram already. They’re at the top of the feed and attract attention.

  • And Facebook is a sneaky good option in the waste and recycling industry.  Family businesses, highlighting human stories, sharing news – and the largest social network – are all good reasons to be there.

  • YouTube—videos all day long. Even if you don’t have the time or interest in YouTube, video outperforms text exponentially, so figure out a way to incorporate some video into your social media strategy.

Set goals

It’s easy enough to create social media pages and posts, but you should be clear about why you’re doing it—and what you want and expect to get out of it. 

  • Are you trying to simply raise awareness of your brand? 

  • Or maybe you’d like to educate customers about a new offering. 

  • Are you hoping to acquire new customers through social media? 

  • Generate interest around an event? 

Whatever the case, set social-media goals that are directly tied to your business’ overall goals. And then commit to tracking the metrics that will allow you to see how your pages and posts are performing. 

Use visuals and videos

Social media audiences love visuals and videos and easily sharable content. You probably already have a lot of this type of content hiding in various reports or other formats; repurpose it here. And remember the old adage: quality over quantity.

Create a social media calendar

There are many ways to assign and manage the social media workflow, but however you choose to divvy up the work, a social media calendar will go a long way in keeping the team organized. 

Decide on the frequency you wish to post (whether once a day, or more, or less), and then stick to it. If your calendar file is shareable, this makes it easy for all members of the team to collaborate on ideas for posts and content to share. And, remember to customize your posts to meet the limitations and functionalities of each platform (e.g. shorter blurbs for Twitter than for LinkedIn).   

Engage actively with your audience 

This one is simple: when customers or prospects reach out to you on social media, respond to them in a timely fashion. Engage with your audience, and they will engage with you.

Be sure to:

  • Respond to comments

  • Like some of their posts

  • Ask questions or poll your followers

  • Minimize sales-y language and tactics. Share content, build relationships and add value before going hard on the sales pitch.

Conduct periodic audits

It’s important to track your metrics on a regular basis—but also a good idea to periodically step back and see how your overall social strategy and presence is working. Figure out what is resonating with your audience—and what isn’t. Do more of the good stuff and less of the so-so stuff.  

Social media can be a really fun and easy way to connect and communicate with your audience. Play around with it and find the social presence and voice that works best for your brand.

A little organization and planning goes a long way in making sure your social media efforts support and boost your overall business goals. Even if you’ve never used social platforms before, now is the time. It’s a wonderful opportunity to get to know your audience better—and cultivate leads, brand awareness, traffic, and/or sales.

Remember to monitor your platforms every day; respond and engage with your followers; track your performance; and continually refine. You’ve got this!

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