Digital Marketing is one of our specialties, and social media is a huge part of that. While many lists and articles about social media best practices exist, we will share some of the less obvious tips and tricks. Whether your brand is exclusively on social or if social media is just a small part of your overall marketing strategy, this article is for you. Social media is one of the best ways to increase brand reach and awareness, so keep reading to learn the five lesser-known best practices that can help you achieve the highest return on your social media investment.

Social Media Best Practice 1: Be present on as many channels as makes sense for your brand

Clients often ask us the first big question: "How many and what social channels does my brand need to be on?" This is an excellent question because there are many to choose from, from Twitter to Pinterest to LinkedIn to Instagram. The answer? Only be present on channels that make sense for your brand since this is where your audience spends time and you’re likely to get the most exposure to them. For example, LinkedIn makes the most sense if you are a B2B SaaS company, but TikTok? Maybe not. Start by thinking about where your audience may want to find you, where they hang out, and where you can naturally integrate into their day.

Also, look at where your competitors are; however, caution here because they may not be in the right place! If you're still unsure, generally, Twitter and LinkedIn tend to be more B2B platforms, and Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest tend to be more for B2C (this doesn't mean there can't ever be overlap).

Some companies like to sign up for every single social media platform. This approach is fine IF you can manage all of these channels consistently. We'll talk more about what this means later; however, if you don't think you'll have the time to put out meaningful content relevant to each platform at least a few times per week, you have too many social channels. One of the worst things you can do is have a dormant social channel, so be sure you only set up accounts you're able to manage. We believe in starting with 1-3 channels that make sense for your brand, doing it well, then adding another, doing that well, and so on.

Social Media Best Practice 2: Post content in different forms

Reels perform best on Instagram, so only reels should be posted, right? Well, we wouldn’t recommend that. The truth is a mix of content types performs best. Since reels are an Instagram-based content type, let’s chat about Instagram first. Although reels tend to have the highest engagement, it’s best to post a mix of reels, carousels, and static posts. And be sure to post reels and carousels more often than static posts. Specifically, if it makes sense for your brand, your number one content type should be short reels (less than 90 seconds), then carousels and static posts. If you hope to post a video over 90 seconds, you absolutely can, but post these even less often than static posts. Oh, and don’t forget to post stories too!

You want to have a mix of content because different content types work best for different situations. For example, short-form video has blown up thanks to TikTok and is excellent for content like quick tips or showcasing a new product. However, carousels are incredibly effective for storytelling, sharing important information, and longer step-by-step guides. The bottom line? A mix of content performs best. Oh, and test, test, test! More to come on that in a different post.

Social Media Best Practice 3: Use links and tags when you can

Tags and links can be absolute gold (if done correctly). They act almost like votes. So when you reference a link to a source or someone's website, it's like saying, "This company/person/etc. was vetted; you should check them out too." This approach will help that company's SEO and increase the probability that they will link back to the original post!

Another reason to tag others in posts is to increase the post's reach. For example, if you post about a colleague on LinkedIn and tag them, the post will also show up on their network. Of course, it's essential to be respectful about this. Don't just tag anyone and everyone you know, the algorithm will catch on, and this little boost won't work (not to mention you'll annoy a bunch of people).

Instead, only tag people when it makes sense and ensure you make each tag unique. For example, on LinkedIn, don't just create blue blobs of tags; keep each tag separate.

Linking to other sources can also help build your brand's credibility. For example, let's say you're posting about an essential update in your industry on Twitter. Instead of just tweeting the update, add a link to the information source, and individuals can verify it themselves.

This process, in turn, will make the brand seem more trustworthy and will help place the brand as a thought leader in the industry.

Finally, linking to the brand's website in the social posts can help build the website's SEO. When other websites (including social media sites) link to the website, Google views that link as a vote of confidence for the website. If there are enough links, and the website performs well in speed and on-website content, the website can rank higher for search terms.

Social Media Best Practice 4: Don’t over-do it on the hashtags

For a long time, many people and businesses thought they should use hashtags in bulk and choose ones with many followers. After all, if a hashtag has a million followers, then that means a million people could see the post, right? Well, not exactly. The truth is, if you use hashtags with millions of followers, the post will most likely get lost in the noise.

Instead, use hashtags with a decent (but not massive) following directly related to what the brand does or the post is about. For LinkedIn, for example, try to find hashtags with between 100 and 10,000 followers. This tactic will significantly increase the chances that most of these followers will see the post.

Regarding how many hashtags you use, it's important not to overdo it. Find 2-4 relevant hashtags within the follower range mentioned above.

How would this look in practice? One of the hashtags we use on LinkedIn quite a bit is #digitalmarketingstrategy. At the time of writing, this hashtag has just under 6,000 followers. This hashtag is a good choice for our agency since digital marketing strategy is one of the core areas we specialize in, and this hashtag has a more robust follower base than a more generic hashtag, such as #digitalmarketing (which has over 27 million followers at the time of writing).

Not only would our post get lost in the noise, but this hashtag needs to be narrower and, more precisely, related to what we do. People who follow #digitalmarketingstrategy are a more qualified audience likely to interact with our brand than those who follow #digitalmarketing.

Another hashtag tip to consider is creating customized hashtags. Many B2B professionals have found success by creating their own hashtags on LinkedIn. How do you create your own hashtag? First, create a hashtag that is relevant to the brand. This hashtag can be the company's name, the product, the campaign theme or a short slogan. Make sure this is the first time anyone has used this hashtag by searching for the hashtag in the search bar. If it hasn't been used (i.e. nothing comes up), then it's good to go.

Next, create the first post using this hashtag. Then, search for the hashtag again and follow it (the post you created should come up now). Once you complete this step, use the company hashtag for posting and encourage others to follow the hashtag. That way, the people who follow the hashtag will be notified any time someone uses it, whether on the company page, an employee post, etc.

Social Media Best Practice 5: Consistency is key

If there is only one takeaway from this article, let it be this: consistency is key. This approach should start with consistent messaging. What exactly does the brand offer? And to whom? How will the message be delivered?

The best way to ensure that messaging is consistent is to have clear brand guidelines outlining tone, voice, visual branding, and more. The brand guidelines should also include the brand fonts, logo usage, and brand colours, all of which you can use to create consistent visual content to post on social media.

Consider the tone and voice you use to create consistent copy for these visuals. Is the brand casual? Serious? Funny? Whatever the brand's voice is, it should be consistent across social media platforms.

Also, be sure to post consistently. Few things are worse than having a social media page where all the posts are from 3+ years ago. There are specific platforms, such as Instagram, where you probably don't want to post any less than 3x per week. Posting less often (or hardly at all) makes it harder to build trust with your audience. When your audience doesn’t know when or if you’ll post, there’s no reason to keep coming back.

If this isn't something you can manage, then go back to tip number one. The brand should only be present on social channels that can be maintained consistently.

Finally, use the same handle for all channels when possible. Depending on the brand's name, this could be a little tricky if the brand name is more common.

For example, a brand may use a certain handle on one channel, but may not be able to use the same handle on another channel (this happened to some brands when TikTok came out, and they were unable to get the same @ as they had on Instagram).

In this case, try to secure a name as close to the other name as possible; that also makes sense. Adding words such as "shop" or the location after are easy tricks to help get as close as possible.

Wrapping It Up

These are the five lesser-known tips set up a brand for success on social media:

Remember to be present on as many channels as make sense for the brand, but only if you can consistently maintain content on these channels.
Post content in different forms.
Use links and tags whenever possible.
Don’t overdo it on the hashtags. Use hashtags with a moderate number of followers directly related to the brand.
Finally, keep posting, visual and copy elements, and channel @s consistent.

There are many other best practices to consider, too, especially best practices that are specific to certain platforms. Book a discovery call if you need assistance with your social media marketing efforts.

Sources:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/3-reasons-why-consistency-key-your-success-instagram
https://www.ripl.com/post-1/instagram-post-best-practices-for-2022-get-maximum-results-from-your-social-media-marketing
https://blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-carousel/
https://www.fastcompany.com/90854357/instagram-engagement-down-brands-why-tiktok-posts
https://mailchimp.com/en-ca/resources/what-is-backlinking-and-why-is-it-important-for-seo/#:~:text=Backlinks%20in%20SEO%20improve%20your,can%20rank%20for%20search%20terms.

5 Social Media Best Practices You Need to Know

B2B Lead Gen - What's the Secret?