Social media offers opportunities and pitfalls for businesses. Timing, wording, and design must all coalesce to delight the digital audience.

Here are a few principles to minimize gaffes and maximize ROI.

1: Profile

Fill out all sections of your profile with relevant information for consumers. Include links to your website, phone number, address, email, and more. Including your location can improve your SEO, as it associates your location with your business. In addition, include product and service descriptions, as well as any relevant pricing information. The more information you include, the likelier it is that people will convert.

2: Consistency

Post at consistent times with consistent types of content. Set a goal for how often you want to post, meet those goals, and keep it up. Different posting frequencies perform better on different platforms. Providing your audience with a standard of quality and frequency to expect, so they come back for more.

3: Timing

Timing can make the difference between a dozen or a hundred likes. Some posting times receive more engagement than others. Research the best engagement times for each platform to ensure the optimum time. After researching, test which times get the best engagement from your audience and then post at those times.

4: Engagement

Interact with commenters and likers. Taking time for your followers shows your current fans that you care and they may recommend your brand to other people.

Many people take to social media to voice customer service complaints. Address concerns promptly and politely to avoid scandal and engage customers.

5: CTAs

CTA stands for Call-To-Action, which asks your reader to take the action you desire. CTAs can take the form of a button or link or a simple instruction. Maximize your audience’s attention by including a goal at the end of every piece of content.

Align each CTA with your brand’s strategic goals. For instance, if you want more website views, ask social media users to click the link and read more on your website.

CTAs with concise copy and appealing visuals convert social media users into customers.

6: Hashtags

Hashtags attract visitors and organize posts. Use different hashtags for different campaigns so that you can easily click on the hashtag and see which posts in a campaign got the best engagement.

To succeed in social media efforts, respect the differences between Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and LinkedIn. The content you create for various platforms should differ in style, but align in themes. Social media offers many opportunities to engage with past and future customers using creative digital means.

By Esther Grace Ehrenman, Digital Editor and Strategist

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