Monday, October 12, 2015

The Importance Of A Good Social Media Strategy & Social Media Tips

The Importance Of A Good Social Media Strategy & Social Media Tips

Before you set out on your social media strategy it is important to know some things about your brand such as your:

  • Vision Statement. 
  • Unique Selling Proposition.
  • Key Audiences.
  • Communication Objectives.
These will help you develop your strategy and come up with tools such as your social personality (voice), key messages and language or tone. Once you have a social media policy with this information the next important thing to do is BE PREPARED! Do up a schedule every week with the images, comments and hashtags you want to post and on what days you want to post them. This level of organisation is something I have learnt very quickly doing my internship at Spacemarket. This is especially helpful when I leave and someone else has to take over.


Here are a few more tips and tricks I have learnt


Imagery

  • Ensure photos are in focus. 
  • Think about composition, watch what your audience likes and follow the trend. 
  • Take time to crop and straighten images. 
  • Product based photos should be close up, sharp, details and of high quality. 
  • Photos of people should be candid, not structured. 

Instagram

Your posts should be image based with a short description. This is what people expect to see on their feeds so don’t make it too wordy, let the image shine!


One of my first posts for Father's Day

Hashtags

There is so much to know about hashtags and it is something I am still learning about. Here is a link that I think sums it up perfectly.






Facebook

Your posts should be more story based and give an insight into your brand or a personality. This is a platform that we use to introduce retailers to our publics and to build goodwill around their brands and the project.


Cadence

The best times to post are:

  • 11.45am - to get people who are on social media on their lunch breaks. 
  • 4.30pm - to get people as they are winding down from work. 

Dealing with negative posts comments:

  • Ensure all posts adhere to the rules of engagement. 
  • Hide any comments that contravene the rules in a serious way (threatening, bullying and harassment). 
  • Block any repeat offenders or anyone who seriously flouts the rules. 
https://www.facebook.com/notes/nationwide-insurance/our-facebook-rules-of-engagement/234211289006
  • Don't just hide negative comments because you don't like what they have said - this is a two way (social) coversation, Instead try to turn it around with some tongue in cheek banter. 

 Best,
      Gemma

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi Gemma,

Your tips for using social media would definitely come in handy for a lot of organisations that aren't on the bandwagon yet!

I just had to create some social media guidelines at my internship, and what you've said about negative comments is very accurate! I'll definitely include the Facebook rules link for my supervisor.

I like the idea of using cheeky banter to make the best of bad comments - like what Groupon does a lot - but if only it would work in all industries!

Siobhan