Does Your Social Media Need an Upgrade? Two Misconceptions and Three Facts.

There are a few major misconceptions about social media, that can seriously undermine your social media presence, and more importantly, run you a hefty opportunity cost.

Misconception: Anyone Can Do It

The first misconception is that social media can be done by anyone, in their spare time. Social Media is often underplayed by businesses because they don’t see the ROI on social engagement. However, one in three people in the world has a Social Media account. Does your business have access to 2.3 billion people otherwise? Social Media deserves your attention and careful strategy around building your brand online. Having a dedicated social media manager is a good way to get access to a primed client base. Social Media content can drive your leads along the sales funnel because it is versatile, robust, interactive, and unlike your salespeople, available 24/7.

Misconception: One and Done

The second misconception is that once you design your Social Media approach, it doesn’t need to be revisited. You’ve decided on the number of tweets and Facebook posts a week, and you’ve made a template for your content calendar. Time to sit back and reap the fruits of your labour, right? Wrong. Social Media is fluid — it constantly changes as people find ways to interact, engage and use social media in new ways. Social Media not only changes with platforms but also with available technology. Instagram shifted the focus on visual content. Snapchat allowed business to enter a much more personal sphere of visual messaging. Tumblr, Vero, Spotify and other networks are changing the way business communicate, what they communicate and who’s listening.

Technology is also key in shaping social media — smartphones disrupted everything from Facebook to online shopping to the way we integrate technology into everything we do from mobile wallets to music synched to our pace.

Creating a rigid Social Media plan means that not only will you not be able to meet the ever-changing expectations of your audience but you will also miss out on tremendous opportunities. Branding is about building a relationship with your clients — brands that can successfully manage their presence on new (or highly anticipated) platforms will build a much strong relationship with their audience than those that still have their Twitter and Facebook accounts linked (a digital marketing crime).

Facts

The following facts and figures may help guide your Social Media strategy changes (global statistics from We Are Social’s new Digital, Social and Mobile in 2018 report).

The average internet user now spends around 6 hours each day using internet-powered devices and services — that’s roughly one-third of their waking lives.

Are you taking steps to grow your audience? Identify influencers in your network, industry or subject matter and engage them in conversation. Look through their followers and find new people to follow. Tweet at these high profile accounts to show up in their newsfeed and grow your reach.

Are your posts mobile-optimized? Consider only sharing links to mobile-friendly pages. Avoid links that lead to document downloads directly. Make sure your Facebook posts display properly on Facebook mobile (you can check by testing your post on your own Facebook page, setting the visibility to “Only Me”). This is especially important for link previews. Keep in mind these are often editable and present your audience with clear summaries. Shareable content means it’s bite-sized, it’s visual, and it’s fun to share (social content that other people might find interesting, funny, etc.).

Find out how often people visit your social networks and plan your posts accordingly. Content is likely to fall through the cracks on social networks that are visited less. This is where we come in — we can help you tailor your content and provide a strategic approach to posting your content that will get you noticed.

How often does your business give its social media a makeover?  Maybe the time is now!