Posting on social media can be rewarding for an organization, but there are rules that need to be followed in order to make the most of the opportunity. Members of the Young Entrepreneur Council provided the following:
What is one key rule to follow when posting on social media sites?
Here is what they advise:
1. Each Post Must Have a Purpose
Each post should define a purpose to ensure your brand comes across as one that is goal-driven. Social media posts are often seen as fillers if there’s no need established within the post. The key idea is to always define why such a post was needed — this could be on a relevant and fresh topic within your niche. Purpose-driven posts are better at both engaging audience and branding effectively. – Abeer Raza, TekRevol
2. Consider the Time of Day
If you want people to see your posts and engage with your content, you have to consider the time and day that you’re posting. Aside from your time and day, you have to consider the same factors for your target audience. If you’re in the U.S. and 80% of your followers are in the U.K., you should try to schedule your posts where it makes sense for your larger audience. – Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner
3. Build Relationships With Your Customers
Posts with perfect captions, hashtags and edits are yesterday’s strategy. To amass engaged followers who pay for your products or services, stay consistent, on brand and build a relationship. People today want genuine authenticity and connections, not to be treated as an IP address in a funnel. If you respond to your followers promptly and strive to deepen the conversations, you’ll have success. – Klyn Elsbury, Shark School
4. Stay Away From Controversial Topics
The thing about social media is that it’s constantly overflowing with various thoughts and opinions on politics, religion and similar controversial topics. Before you post on social media, think deeply about whether what you’re about to post could be viewed as offensive or politically incorrect. You are going to want to avoid those topics on your business and personal pages. – David Henzel, LTVPlus
5. Allow for Creativity
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Social media is different from your website in that it leaves space for creativity and fun. Too many businesses forget this and as a result, their social platforms are boring, oversaturated with bland content and don’t offer today’s users anything interesting to munch on. Remember to keep creativity in mind when posting to social media and have fun with it. – Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights
6. Don’t Say Something You Wouldn’t Say on Live TV
Before every tweet or update, make sure you always consider whether you’re OK with the whole world seeing your post. If things go south, someone could screenshot your post and start a PR nightmare. I always like to imagine that I’m going to say the things I post in front of a live audience on TV to determine if the post is appropriate. – Blair Williams, MemberPress
7. Respond to Comments Quickly
If you want your followers to interact with your brand on social media, then you need to respond to comments quickly. Your customers won’t be impressed if you never respond to them online. Plus, social media is becoming a place for customer service. So, responding to comments in a timely manner will improve your reputation on social media and improve your customer service too. – John Turner, SeedProd LLC
8. Never Ask for Likes
Increasing engagement on social media can be challenging, but you should never ask your followers for likes. Asking for likes on social media makes your company seem desperate and it can also lower your visibility on news feeds. The only time you can “ask for likes” is when you’re doing a poll, for instance, “like this post for purple or share this post for green.” – Stephanie Wells, Formidable Forms
9. Remember Your Audience
When posting on social media for a business, it’s easy to fall into the trap of posting things we like. After all, if we like it everyone else must as well, right? In actuality, what we like doesn’t matter. Put yourself in the shoes of the audience and post content most likely to resonate and connect with them. Of course you can add your own style to the post, but never forget your audience. – Josh Meyer, Got It Digital
10. Post Frequently
Posting once or twice every so often will not get you the engagement or interaction you’re hoping for. Instead, remember that posting content to your social media frequently — sometimes a few times a day — will get your brand noticed quicker and get your audience in front of your content. – Thomas Griffin, OptinMonster