Companies need to post content on a regular, consistent basis.
This needs to be done for a couple of reasons:
Keeping your audience engaged
If you are not posting regularly, you are not giving your followers a reason to come back to your social page…or your website. Get your content out there regularly. Here are social posting frequencies that we have seen perform the best:
- Twitter – at least twice per day.
- Facebook – daily.
- LinkedIn – twice per week
Sending algorithmic signals to the search engines
The search engines regularly monitor social media. They use social listening to determine which user accounts are active, how well the content produced is engaging with the audience and whether the social media activity is leading to visits to the company’s websites.
The bottom line is that if you regularly post engaging content that is relevant to your audience, it’s going to help your company succeed with your marketing objectives.
Social media can be a great tool for reaching target audiences. Thus, many companies create accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other platforms to try and reach these potential customers. Just because everyone seems to be using social media doesn’t mean it is not difficult to navigate. Often mistakes can be made. Here are some to be aware of and avoid.Mistake #1: Not having a strategy
The exchange between Alice and The Cheshire Cat in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” can be a lesson for marketers:“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where–” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
If you jump into social media without having a plan, you will likely get somewhere, it is just a matter of where you will be. Leah Neaderthal, president of Growthwork Solutions and founder of FamilyBridge says, “Random acts of social media happen when someone says, ‘We need to do social media!’ and then puts in time and effort for a week before fizzling out. Take the time to plan a basic strategy that enables you to have a consistent social media presence for the long term.”
Mistake #2: Not dedicating resources
In order to reap benefits from social media, you have engage with users on a consistent basis. You need to promote content, share information and monitor conversations. All this takes time. Unfortunately, many people underestimate the time it takes and improperly plan their resources (whether in-house or contracted). When asked by BusinessCollective.com to name the number one problem owners can make with social media, John Berkowitz, co-founder of Yodle, a company that helps local businesses with marketing says, “Too many business owners jump into social media without a plan or the resources to maintain an active and productive conversation within their community of customers, prospects and employees. Social media is not a ‘set it and forget it’ medium. It’s better to not participate than to participate poorly or passively.”Mistake #3: Creating too many accounts
Because they are there, many companies make the mistake of creating accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram, Vimeo, LinkedIn, Google+, Slideshare, Vine and Snapchat. Ask yourself if you have time to dedicate to all these accounts. Also ask yourself if you will be presenting your company and promoting your brand well on all these platforms. You don’t want to appear as if you don’t know what you are doing. Further, you don’t want to start up an account full force only to abandon it. Remember, you are trying to build a following and get users to trust you. You can’t develop that relationship if it is done badly or stopped mid-stream.
