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Level Up Your Social Media in 2020 with These 9 Tips
Are You Ready to LevelUp
Level Up Your Social Media in 2020 with these 9 Tips!
The Role of Planning
As I have said before, content is king, consistency is queen, and when you take control of these two things with a little bit of planning, you will be amazed at the things you will have time to do. All 9 of these strategies and tips help build a solid foundation for all of your social media platforms. You will be able to expand upon as you master each tactic. We are all on this journey together, some have leveled up already, others are working on solidifying the foundation. But we are all learning, and I hope these tips help you build a robust yet flexible presence on social media that allows you to be responsive to trends while expanding your reach and growing your business. So, let us jump in!
Set Goals and Define Your KPIs
Want to Level Up Your Social Media in 2020, then you must define what Leveling Up looks like for you. What are the Key Performance Indicators used to measure if you are reaching that goal? Make sure that you assign the proper metrics to your goals and understand what a positive outcome would look like for this goal. Need help understanding social media metrics before you set these goals? My go-to tool is the SproutSocial.com blog, when I am looking for information on metrics. I have this blog post bookmarked for reference.
Without these goals and our ability to measure them utilizing the metrics, we have no way of defining success or failure. Without goals, how do we know what we are hoping to accomplish? Set goals for your social media and clearly define success. Share these goals with your team, so everyone is on the same page and working towards the same thing. Review the metrics regularly and share your findings with your team. Encourage feedback.
Have A Plan
Having a plan for your content is one of the best ways to save time, focus on engagement, and Level Up your social media profiles. If you are not planning your content chances are you are spending too much time reinventing the social media wheel.
Set Your Goals
Set a goal for yourself. How much content are you planning now? Increase that by 20% over the next 2 months. In four months aim to increase your current percentage by 50%. Work your way up to having approximately 75% of your content/posts planned across your platforms with approximately 25% free per platform to flex current events, and other spur of the moment content in as needed. This makes sure your content always feels fresh and current.
Create the Plan
Review and Utilize the 9 Essential Posts framework from JRH Graphics to ensure that you are providing your followers with varied content that speaks to them. This tool also helps you not exceed 20% of posts being promotional material. I utilize it during every step of my content calendar planning process. Along with the 9 Essential Posts, we use the Macro, Meso, Micro planning process for creating a content calendar like the one we discussed in this post.
Overview of The Planning Steps
First, we look at the big picture, including all holidays, promotions that will anniversary, and significant themes that will repeat from last year. We usually complete the macro step either quarterly or do it at the start of the year and revisit each month to be sure we are not missing anything. After the macro level, we move onto the meso step, which is where we review the monthly themes, the events we are planning, any major product launches, etc. This step is where we lay down the ideas for the posts, types of posts we wish to include in campaigns, and make high-level plans for creative needed. The final step is the micro-step, which is a task completed every week. During micro-planning, you lay in the content for your posts and set them to go in your scheduling tool.
The Benefits
Thisw process allows you to have a plan for your year, month and weeks and provides you with a structure within which to post. While you may not have the specifics of every post pre-entered you know what you will be posting which relieves the, “OMG what do I post today stress.” This process along with my Breaking Down the Blog strategy which I will discuss in the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle section also allows me to have blog posts scheduled out almost a year in advance.
Level Up Your Social Media by Engaging
Did I hear you complain about not having an engaged audience? Whose fault is that? Oh, so you responded to the “thumbs up” you got on your photo of your breakfast this morning? That thumbs-up was engagement for that member of your audience. If you did not respond, you know what you are saying? You just told that member of your audience that YOU DON’T CARE. And if you don’t care, then why would they continue to engage. The worst part, you are saying that publically and everyone can see it. That is not going to help you Level Up your social media this year.
In Order to Level Up in 2020
In order to Level Up Your Social Media you need to engage the people that are already engaging you in the way that you want them to be involved. Need words as comments, then when you get a thumbs up, respond with, “Thank you, I am so glad you liked this post” or “Thanks for liking this post, what was it that spoke to you?” And when you engage with your followers like this, you are publically saying, “THANKS FOR ENGAGING, I LOVE YOU GUYS!” The act of engaging with your audience makes your audience more likely to participate in the future. So at a minimum, acknowledge the likes, respond to comments, and always respond to DMs.
Bonus Pro Move
Depending on the situation, because you don’t want to be creepy, engage with them on their profiles. If they have a business page, comment there. All engagement is beneficial, and showing a follower that you are willing to take the time to engage them in their playground shows how great you are. As they comment back, watch what they do.
Do they ask a question? Are they commenting back in more than four words? Watch what they do and engage again in that way. By the way, why is it four words? Because four words are what it takes for Instagram to recognize the comment as content-rich.
Level Up Your Social Media by Being Human
Being human shouldn’t be hard. After all, you are a human, so it should be easy to portray yourself as a human on your social media. That is your first mistake. Instead of describing yourself as something, you must be who you are, not anyone else. When Lea Berry and I discussed authenticity earlier in 2019, authenticity was starting to get overused as a buzzword. As this year has progressed, the tolerance for inauthentic brands has almost wholly disappeared. Authenticity will continue as a trend in 2020. The only way to capture an audience is by showing the ups and downs, the real emotions, the struggles, and the fantastic and unexpected successes. Gone are the days of nameless CEOs, and brands without a story and social consciousness.
Your Winning Story
At JRH Graphics, we believe stories are the most powerful tool in any companies marketing toolkit. Your winning story is authentic; it has an emotional hook, can capture an audience and convince them to go along on this ride with you. We believe that stories are part of what makes us human, and that is why a simple story can inspire action and produce change. Stories are what make JRH Graphics different. Let us help you tell your winning story!
Content Creation Can Be Hard
We certainly know that content creation can be hard. The number one question we get at JRH Graphics is, “How can I create better content in less time?” While hacks and shortcuts are certainly available, you still need to put in the work with social media. There is no magic bullet. But what are you doing right now? Is it related to your business? Could it be “B roll” content, aka something you put in stories?
Document Don’t Create
Gary V. is famous because of this. He is always documenting what he is doing and putting that out as content because it is. Not only that, but everybody loves a peek behind the curtain. They want to see how things happen, what life is like, and what struggles a business faces. These posts are not the pretty perfect Instagram feed content that everyone knows is inauthentic now.
Welcome to the life of an entrepreneur, you can’t be afraid to show the real you. Behind the scenes content is key, document what you are doing. It is one of the best, no short cut, short cuts I can give you. And it will help you level up your social media in 2020!
Use Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Concept to Level Up Your Social Media
Reduce the time you spend creating content by reusing content like blog posts and recycling content and redistributing it in another format.
Reuse
Your long format videos, blog posts, and webinars can all be broken down into smaller tips and points and distributed on their own with a link tyong them back to the larger piece. I discuss best practices for this process at length in this post. In many cases I am able to get over 10 viable social media posts from a blog allowing me to schedule educational content out for many many weeks. You have already done the hard work creating these pieces of content, make sure you get the most out of them.
Recycle
It is true you can’t magically create a movie from a blog post but you can utilize the research and points you made in that blog post to deliver a video. Look at how you could expand on a point you made or take a deeper dive on a concept. Recently, I turned a 9 post story into a series of 9 Live Videos that discuss different strategies for Leveling Up Your Social Media in 2020. These 9 story posts and videos are the basis of a blog post that dives a bit deeper into these tips. Finally, this blog post will be turned into a webinar that shows people how to utilize the tools and strategies discussed and provides them with practical solutions to common problems.
Level Up Your Social Media by Creating More Content Your Followers Want
Utilize the 9 Essential posts to create varied content and then build on the successes of your top-performing ones by utilizing the Rule of 3 for Social Media. The Rule of 3 for social media allows you to apply a more scientific way to measure why a post is successful, as seen on the worksheet to the left. You change one aspect of the content at a time, leaving the other two points and see how it performs. I explain it in the video below.
Understanding Your Metrics
To make sense of what your existing content is telling you about your audience, you need to be able to understand your metrics. Most social media platforms have metrics built-in, and they are handy to start. As your campaigns and presence on social media expands, you will probably want to invest in a third-party app to measure your social media success. Also, if you need help understanding your metrics, I recommend utilizing the SproutSocial Blog as your go-to research tool. I have regularly referred to the blog post, All The Social Media Metrics That Matter
Level Up with More Video Content in 2020
If you want to Level Up your social media in 2020, you will need to create more video content. From Live Videos to more extended form videos, you must create videos for social in 2020. Not only are videos the most engaging form of content, but most of the platforms are prioritizing videos as well. Video is going to need to be a part of your plan for social media for the long haul.
Instead of Making Excuses, Make Videos
I have made all the excuses. I created lots of stories as to why my brand was different and didn’t need to include video content right up until this year. It wasn’t until I started losing followers at a terrifyingly fast pace that I accepted that I needed to add more video content in my campaigns. Even then, I avoided Live videos because I was sure nobody wanted to see me go live. Well, I will admit it here. I was wrong. (It’s okay nobody will read this far anyway). I was wrong about not needing to include video. I was wrong about not needing to go Live. In the past two months, I have moved further into creating videos, and for the first time in 10 months, I have had almost three weeks of having gained not LOST followers on all platforms. The key is to show up on your social media where people are and in the way that they are consuming content. Take it from me, stop making excuses, and start making videos.
Level Up Your Social Media in 2020 by NOT Selling on Social
Businesses fail when they view social media as a selling platform. Community is the basis of social media, and those of us on there selling are in enemy territory. So instead of marketing on social media, level up by providing value to your followers. Build up your reputation as an educator. People need to be able to like, know, and trust you before they make a purchase. Add value to your audience by answering questions they may have, and by providing content that is value-rich and solves real problems, your ideal client is facing. Establish yourself as an expert on social media, and position yourself as the first person to go to if a member of your audience has a question. Eight of every ten posts should provide value to your audience and not sell, especially as you begin establishing yourself and your company. Your CTA in these educational, value-adding posts should ask what else you can provide to help them. You will become the resource your audience can trust, and with trust eventually comes sales.
It is Time to Level Up Your Social Media
Win big in 2020 by applying these strategies on your social media platforms. Each strategy helps you build a solid foundation to build upon. 2020 is going to be the most social year yet, so get the most out of your social media and build your following. You got this!
Video Content Creation Using the 9 Essential Posts
Creating Video Content Stresses You Out, Doesn’t It
When you hear the words “video content” do you scream a little bit? Are you stressing out because you don’t know what to create? Or is it more stressful thinking about going in front of the camera, recording something, and then putting a video out there for all the world to see? Well, the good news is I can help you because I am going to provide you a framework that will help you decide what kind of videos to create. I can also tell you as somebody who hates being in front of the camera, that it gets a bit easier each time. You just need to get in front of that camera and go for it. Remember it is your business, you are the one with the experience and you are the Subject Matter Expert.
Video Content Challenge for June
Leading into the Video Content Challenge for June I discussed different ways you could incorporate video into your social media. This was based loosely on the 9 Essential Posts Framework that we use at JRH Graphics to help make sure that each of our clients is posting a variety of “Edutaining” Content. The major benefits of following this framework for your video content as well as all your other content is it ensures that all of your posts are working towards telling the same story and the content remains varied. well, for July we are digging into video a little bit deeper and you will be asked to create video content for 7 of these 9 Essential Post Categories.
I recommend you take into account your June results when deciding what to post for this challenge. What worked in June for you? Which videos did your followers engage with? What platforms worked the best for you? Which platform do you want to add next? Answer these questions as you prepare for the July Video Content Challenge (VCC) so you are making the best use of your time when creating content.
Video Content Created for These 9 Categories
Since I am such a nice guy and I want to help you all succeed in the July VCC I am going to review the 9 Essentials Posts below and provide you with some ideas on how you could create video content for each of them. Want a little behind the scenes here, when I thought of this blog post I already had content in mind for 8 of the 9 essential post categories, know which one I forgot? Yup, you guessed it the motivational quotes argh!
Product Posts
Product Posts may seem easy but be sure to not constantly post or repost the same content about your product. Keep it fresh. Get ideas from your customers how are they using your products or “product in the wild” posts. Make sure to highlight what features and benefits users will get from your product that differentiates it from the products of your competitors.
Video Content Ideas
Tutorials on how to use the product. Features and Benefits Demo- think simple but impactful and easy to digest here like Bounty Commercials. Go live for new product releases or possibly show your product being used in an unexpected way. Showcase how the product is made. You have lots of options with this one, just make sure you are highlighting what makes you special.
Customer-centric Posts
Customer-centric posts focus not only on the overall customer experience (which is a good focus) but this is also where a lot of your user-generated content comes from. User-generated content is huge for a business because when you share that content the creator is much more likely to also share the content with followers. And beyond that it shows followers you care about how you engage with your customers and encourages them to share without even asking.
Video Content Ideas
Yup, if one of your customers creates a video post and puts in on their social media, you can share that! You got a freebee but that is great. User-generated content is a huge win for any business. If you are that good then who am I to deny you a freebie. If you were not that lucky it is okay, think about ways that you currently interact with your clients and customers, do you have a regular that is hilarious and would love to be a ham and drum up some attention for you? The person who is always raving about you? An organization that meets in your space that would love to cross-promote or drum up some new members. Yeah, you guys have this one.
In The Hood Video Posts
I call these the “In the Hood” posts and they really touch on the things happening in the community around you. They can be lighthearted and silly or seriously important things that are happening in the hood. What is important is that you are engaging the potential clients that are immediately in your area that are customers of the other businesses. You are also providing those in your neighborhood beneficial information and helping build trust. These posts allow you to partner with other businesses in your neighborhood magnifying your reach.
Video Content Ideas
Partner with another business and feature them and have them feature you. Cover a local neighborhood event. Check out the newest restaurant in town and live post about it. Video how you interact with your neighborhood every day as a business owner. Feature some new people in town or do you always have that one dog in the neighborhood who is your best client, go get him on video.
A Day In the Life Posts
Highlight things that usually happen at your company a pre-opening chat, lunchtime discussion, shared news about employees. Remember Instagram is very visual so make sure you have a good brand-appropriate visual if you are sharing on Insta. Think of these as a quick filtered peek into the back of the house. People love to get a peek behind the curtain, and you want to give that to them. Be real but brand appropriate.
Video Content Ideas
This type of post is awesome for video content and stories. Feature a day in the life from a specific perspective and make sure the day is entertaining and informative for your followers. No further tips needed this is gold!
Giveaways and Contest Posts
Product launch, new item, a special time of the year… make it super special with a giveaway or contest. It’s a great way to gain followers by encouraging them to follow you on social media as a way to be eligible for a prize. Keep in mind that you should always post appropriate disclaimers and follow all posted social media platform rules! This could also include tools and freebies that you can offer up to those who follow you. Maybe a free 30-minute consultation etc.
Video Content Ideas
Video reminding them of a contest. How about a video of you picking the contest winner. Or a video of the contest or giveaway winner picking up prize and being super excited. You could create some video content around you free tool you are offering for people who sign up for your email list. Or highlight how they can use that freebie.
Food, Babies, and Dogs on Video
Want some more social media gold? Then post about food, babies or dogs! Posts like this help you keep your content varied and make sure that you are not talking too much about yourself! Remember that just because the post is not directly related to you does not mean that it shouldn’t add value to your followers. These are not throw-away posts they are still an opportunity to get followers to like, know, and trust you. Think about favorite lunch places around your business, a new bar for after-dinner drinks, or your favorite quick and easy meal you love to make. Keep it light and brand appropriate.
Video Content Ideas
Ok so here the dogs and the babies might be more entertaining on video, but if it is not your dog or your baby make sure to get permission. But seriously, you could do a post around food on video. Like your morning trip to the coffee place. Better yet if you are promoting your restaurant, or you are a lover of chocolate, wine, scotch, pizza whatever, share your love with your followers. Make sure you aren’t throwing these posts away- they should add value.
Motivational Quotes on Video
Motivational quotes on #motivationalmonday or any other days of the week when a little pick me up are in order. Keep the quotes brand appropriate. Try to share quotes that you find meaningful in general or on a specific day. Generally, I recommend posting 1-2 quotes a month. Also, please do not just find one on an ugly background and slap it up on your feed, pay attention to the look of it and when possible add your branding.
Video Content Ideas
Yeah, this is the one I sorta didn’t have figured out but… How funny would it be to have the grumpiest guy on your staff read motivational quotes on the video to cheer people up on a Monday! Or do you have a yoga fanatic that can offer some Monday Motivation and a tree pose? Tell a motivational story that helped you, or one about how you achieved your goals to give followers a different perspective on you. All possible ideas and I will keep thinking!
EDUTAINING Video Posts
Remember you are the expert in your field you should be EDUTAINING your followers. That means the information you are sharing is EDUCATIONAL, USEFUL & ENTERTAINING. People love little tidbits of knowledge especially if its something cool that they can use to impress somebody at a bar or a party. Share fun little bits of knowledge or inside info on what you do. Ask them what they want to know and then educate them on that.
Video Content Ideas
Ask your followers what they want to know or what questions they want to be answered and then go live and answer them. It’s fairly easy, it encourages engagement and you know all the answers! Plus it fills you in on areas that you can improve messaging or provides you other ideas for videos you could create to help educate followers. Also in this category, product demos, useful tips, unknown facts about your business.
Employee-centric Posts
Employee Takeover: Have a trusted employee who has been briefed take over your business account for the day. A few video posts in the story and a post for the feed that is on brand. The story can be less refined it is set up to be snapchatty for a reason!
Employee Profiles These are a bit harder but they are great for morale and a great way to feature specific employee on social media. Ask a set of questions to an employee and take some cool fun photos and viola.
No Employees- No Problem: Do you work with another company in a partnership for an event? Or are you welcoming a new vendor, artist, or chef into your location for a limited time? Do you sell products from local artisans? These all provide an opportunity to do a profile of sorts or even have the partnering brand take over your social media for the day.
Video Content Ideas
Do all those things mentioned above in a video. Employee profile on video (interview style). Employee takeover with video. Brand takeover with video. New vendor or partner, feature them on video. Prep all parties in advance of the video and have fun.
A Final Thought
Before you post content think about what value it will add for your followers. Is it something that will solve a problem that they have or help them in their daily lives? Is it introducing them to something new or highlighting an unknown feature of a much-utilized tool. Helping your followers manage pain points and excel where they struggled before is a surefire way to build trust. Try to not post content that does not add some value to your fans, they won’t stay fans for long if you post too much useless content.
Are you ready for Video Now?
Start by going live and work your way into creating other video content. Video content in stories such as on Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook can be a little rough around the edges, that is expected. However, video content in your feed should be more polished and professional.
Keep in mind with all your video content that it should be short, concise and beneficial to the person watching. Break the videos down into easily digestible segments to increase retention. Plan your videos in advance and make sure to follow an outline so you present a well-organized idea.
Now get out and start making some videos, we can’t wait to see what you come up with.
2019 Social Media Stats and Best Practices
2019 Social Media Stats and Best Practices
We recently took a look at some of the top social media stats for 2019. We wanted to see what the numbers were telling us about the state of social media and social media marketing. From this, we decided on some key areas new businesses could focus on. To round it all out, we added in some best practices. If you are just starting to promote your business via social media, or want to revise your strategy… here is a good place to start!
Before The Stats, Let’s Review Some Basics
First, and foremost a basic that is often times forgotten. The goal of social media is not to sell. Your goal is to engage followers with content that fills a need. The 80/20 Rule is the Golden Rule of Social Media. It states that 80% of what you post should be informational, educational and entertaining. Only 20% should be promotional.
Some additional guidelines include making sure that your company story is relatable. Only Posting Content that is Brand Appropriate, and being authentic and true to your brand. We even encourage you to be a little bit funny but remember humor can be tricky. Make sure you will not offend anyone and always be polite.
Following these basic rules will ensure that you are creating and distributing quality content that adds value to your followers and your business. Now, let’s get on with the show…. errr one-minute mini video, read fast!
Planning and Organization
Reviewing the tips in that quick video, I am reminded of the importance of proper planning and scheduling. There is no other way to ensure a strong social media presence. Without planning you will not be able to ensure that your content fully aligns with your brand. It will be impossible to be sure you are presenting posts that are cohesive across all platforms. Planning also allows you to schedule a well-rounded selection of posts that “Edutain” your followers. Are you looking for the best things to post about on Social Media as a Business? Take A Look at our 9 Essential Posts Blog and if you want you can even grab a Free Copy of Our 9 Essential Posts for Businesses Worksheet.
We recommend creating a social media planning calendar and regularly updating it with key campaigns, events and other occurrences that will impact your business. Then organize your posts making sure that they are appropriate for the time of year. Review it regularly to ensure the content you are presenting is varied and adds value. Social media management software such as Hootsuite and HeyOrca (if you need approvals or are running multiple accounts) also have great tools that will help you plan, stay organized and post regularly to all your platforms.
Numbers Don’t Lie
Now, let’s dig into the numbers. They say numbers don’t lie. I have tried to prove this theory wrong, and while I have successfully gotten people to agree that numbers may not tell the full story we have to stop short of saying they lie. What are some of the social media stats telling us and how can we adjust our strategy to expand on successes or compensate for shortfalls?
We selected three areas to discuss. First, how to stand out in a crowded marketplace of 2 Billion. Then we took a look at some of the social selling stats and provided some tips on this “trend” that isn’t going to go away. Finally, we take a look at the importance of serving your customer through your social media platforms.
2 Billion Users and Counting
Social media continues to become more ingrained in our daily lives. More people are accessing at least one social media platform every day. More businesses are using social media to reach customers. Facebook, which is still the largest social media platform, alone has 2 billion active users. Facebook also has 65 million active business pages.
The landscape is crowded and a tremendous amount of content is being added every single day. 100 million pictures and videos are uploaded every day to Instagram. If you are not creating quality content for both your feed and your stories you will be forgotten. Quality content is content that engages followers, has the potential to go viral and is representative of your company. Failing to create quality content and share it regularly will result in less brand awareness, engagement will continue to fall and the cost of doing business on social media will rise.
Stand Out In The Crowd
It is easy for your posts to get lost on social media nowadays. Stock photos, overly generic copy, fake authenticity, and recycled posts will not get you noticed. Flashy misleading headlines and fake promises will get you blocked. In order to avoid these pitfalls make sure your content makes sense for your brand and is adding value. Think about your audience and what they need that you can offer, then give it to them.
Posts that include user-generated content are more likely to engage followers. Encourage followers, customers, employees, brand ambassadors, influencers and friends, and family to engage with your company on social media. Build relationships with those who engage with you on social media, keep a short list of likes and dislikes and notify them if you see something you are certain they will love. A little effort like this goes a long way and will be noticed. Look into possible collaborations. Befriend an Influencer. And lastly, create more video content. Video is still hot and people are more likely to engage with it.
When you see numbers over a billion it’s natural to feel like its a mountain you will never climb. The beauty of social is that success is built one story at a time, and one customer at a time. Take the time to cultivate the relationships and you will begin to climb that mountain.
Increase in Social Selling
Followers being inspired to purchase an item because of something they saw on social media or discovering a new item that they want to purchase on social media is great news for businesses that have items to sell online. Customers are growing more accustomed to the concept of social selling and feel more comfortable making purchases via social media. These stats also reflect the availability of new features in Instagram and Facebook that allow companies to directly link products to posts, the rise of influencer marketing, and increased visibility on social media for startups.
If you are selling products and have an online store, I recommend getting social selling up and running, as I don’t see this trend going away anytime soon. As a matter of fact, stats like 49% of people say that the availability of easy payment options like ApplePay or GooglePay on social media platforms would increase the likelihood of them making a purchase and 50% of Gen Z view social media as the most relevant advertising channel suggest we will be looking at social selling for a long time.
Once you have the basics set up you can directly link to your products in posts, your Facebook page can have an up to date shop section with all of your products. You can feature products directly on your Facebook page. JRH Graphics has a Facebook store and regularly links to items in his IG posts and Stories.
Are you already utilizing social selling for your company, please share your best practices, we would love to hear from you!
Serving Customers via Social Media
With the rise of social selling, users utilizing social media to research products, and the fact that 45% of consumers go to social media first if they have a question or an issue about a product or brand it is clear that social media is no longer just a marketing platform. Social media is now another storefront and another chance to make a first impression. Your social media is part of your customers’ journey and one part of the omnichannel experience they will have with your company.
The Other 12%?
88% of social marketers believe it is important to serve customers via social media platforms. My question is what are the other 12% thinking? Social media is part of your customer journey, it is where they go to research your products, buy your products, and see if they have a friend that has used your product. If you are not available on social media to assist someone who wants your product YOU LOST A SALE!
Social media is a storefront and it is a storefront that needs to be manned. Whoever is managing the interactions needs to be well versed in your product and policies and has to be able to answer questions in a timely manner.
Social media is a chance at a first impression, and a way to continue telling your story. Your social media needs to reflect your brand and your story. Your social media should be easily recognizable. If I go to your store, your website, your social media platforms it should all be connected.
A bad experience on social media could end a relationship with a company. Just take a second to think about this stat. 51% of people would unfollow a brand if they posted irritating content.
Still thinking? Yeah, you got it you lost a follower, you lost a customer! Their customer journey just ended because of something you posted on Instagram. Ouch. This is equal to a customer having a bad interaction at your store.
A Stat That Drives Home the Point: Social Media Can Not Be Ignored
That one statistic alone drove home a very important point for me. Your social media platforms are equal to your store, your website, and the interactions that your customers have with you. Social media is no longer something for the marketing team to worry about, it is as big of a big picture item as anything, and it can’t be ignored.We reviewed the stats, made a few suggestions and we hope you have some jumping off points. If you need help coming up with a plan that works for your business please reach out to us here at JRH Graphics. We would love to help you craft your story, engage new followers, and build your business.Sources
8 Tools for Social Media Success
What 8 Tools Are Needed for Success on Social Media?
The 8 Tools for Social Media Success, like the magic bullet for social media! What are the things that will help you get the most out of the work you do, besides hiring JRH Graphics!
As a business consultant that focuses on social media management, I am always asked about the tools I use. I was recently asked to name the 8 tools for social media success. I couldn’t because everyone needs different things. What I could do is provide 8 types of tools needed for social media success. The difference is that there are hundreds of tools out there. Thousands more articles about what tools to use. You also have about 1 million people telling you that you are doing it wrong without providing any information on how to do it right.
So I am not going to do that. Instead, I am going to tell you what I use and why I like it and then you can decide if it will work for you. For a couple of tools, I will make recommendations based on needs. But lets first start with what types of tools I feel are essential for you to be successful on social media.
Types of Tools Needed for Social Media
- Tools to capture the moment and post it
- A Great point and shoot or DSLR camera
- A smartphone
- scheduling tool
- Tools for promoting and creating
- A simple tool for creating social media posts that involve a little graphic design
- Free stock photo site you like
- A photo editor or photo editing app
- Tools for Tracking and ROI
- Hashtag research tool
- Social Listening and Analytics tool
Yeah, that’s a lot of things just to start, thank goodness some of the tools I am going to recommend cover a few different roles and do it well.
Tools to Capture the Moment and Post It
- A great camera is essential, yes an iPhone can take great pictures but it is still a phone. If you are going to be active on social media and want to share moments from your life as you see them I recommend investing in a great point and shoot or if you are inclined a DSLR camera. You will find yourself using it more, loving it and taking great photos. This camera will also help you shoot video which is becoming a must.
- A smartphone is essential, sorry I can not imagine working full time on social media without the newest smartphone out there as I am constantly on my phone and pushing it to do more and more each day. I might also recommend a few extra charging cords and a backup battery.
- A scheduling tool! This is your number 1 must have tool. As a social media manager who does work for numerous clients, I use HeyOrca. I am a happy member of the pod when it comes to this tool as it has eliminated spreadsheets and constant google sheet updates and allows me to send clients previews of posts as they will appear. If you are doing social media for yourself there are a couple tools out there that I have used that do the job well. Prior to HeyOrca, I was a Hootsuite user and still use some of the services they provide. The great thing about HootSuite is that you can schedule, monitor, and react to your posts from the tool. It also has a solid analytics suite and for many, it will be a good tool to help keep your content flowing.
Tools to Promote and Create
As a business, you will not only need to capture real authentic moments to share but you will also need to promote things. Like your business, events, ideas, sales, webinars etc and so on. So what tools are there out on the market to help you do this.
- I personally think that the best tool out there to create social posts is Adobe Spark. I have used it non-stop since discovering it years ago and it has improved over time. If you are a graphic designer you will see it as a stripped down InDesign or Illustrator but the functionality and the results are clean and professional. Plus, I feel like you have more control over the outcome than with tools such as Canva. However, many people swear by Canva! I recommend trying them both and picking the one that works best for you!
- As much as I hate stock photos there is a place for them in the creation of social media content. So, I figured a solid list of free stock photo sites would be useful. Be careful to check on the license of all stock photos to make sure that you understand how they can be used before you use them. Generally, you are looking for images marked as CC0 aka Creative Commons Zero. This means you can copy, modify, distribute and use the photos for free, including commercial purposes, without asking permission from or providing attribution to the photographer.
Free Stock Photos
- Gratisography Gratisography is one of the most interesting of the free stock photo sites due to the quirky style of photographer Ryan McGuire. All of the photos are high-resolution and royalty-free—ready for your use wherever you please.
- Pixabay Pixabay offers over 490,000 free images and videos for both personal and commercial use.
- Unsplash Unsplash offers 10 new photos every 10 days via an email subscription and on their website. All photos are licensed under Creative Commons Zero.
- Negative Space This site adds new free CC0 stock photos every week. These images are searchable by category, position, and color.
- Life of Pix Life of Pix is a collection of free high resolution stock images donated to the public domain by the Leeroy Advertising Agency in Montreal.
- Pexels The free stock images on Pexels are curated from sites such as Gratisography, Unsplash, and Little Visuals. All of the photos on the site are licensed under the Creative Commons Zero
A Photo Editing Tool
New camera? Check! Tons of photos taken? Check! But none of the photos are quite right… now what do you do? This is the beauty of a great photo editing app! A photo shot with a high resolution in good light can become an amazing picture with just a touch of editing on a good photo editing app. I personally recommend Adobe PS Express.
Adobe Photoshop Express (a go-to app)
This compact little app can be intimidating to start with but it is a powerhouse of photo editing once you realize all it can do from the palm of your hand. From cropping to a adjusting the horizontal and vertical skew. Light, color, detail and effect adjustments that you can break down or opt for a full auto adjustment. It includes Red-eye reduction, ability to add text, add borders, fix blemishes and export to photoshop. It also includes a good set of filters to help brighten or add color to your photo. I provide a quick tutorial with screenshots on this awesome app here!
Tools for Tracking and ROI
A simple hashtag is your gateway to discovery on Twitter and Instagram. But how do you know what hashtags to use and what hashtags to avoid? The popular tags are always changing and whats trending may impact the hashtags that are used. What about branded tags? Following tags? We all need a bit of help keeping up and that’s why there are tools for this…
Use Twitter and Instagram
Pop around on the platforms, look at the people you are following, look at who they are following, what hashtags do they use that bring you to content like the content you want to be discovered for? Make a list of those hashtags. Repeat the process as you grow and explore the platforms.
Want some other tools
- RiteTag: With RiteTag, you can get instant feedback on your hashtags and get recommendations of hashtags not to use. This tool is very flexible and it can give you analytics on any hashtag that you are following, not just the ones that you’re actively using
- Keyhole.co lets you track Twitter and Instagram hashtags in real-time. This tool will tell you the number of posts that contain your hashtag within a specific time period, how many users are using it, and each post’s reach and number of impressions. It has multiple paid options after a free trial period.
- Hootsuite again has a huge suite of services that can be easily managed from your dashboard within their platform including hashtag research and tracking.
- Are you in the photography world, I use Focalmark for my photos and images and it autogenerates a list that I can then edit add or subtract from to get a full list to add.
- Hashtagify- I have not used this one much, but Hashtagify will give you all the information that you need to know about how your brand hashtags are being used. Information includes the top influencers that are using the tags and it’ll show you example posts and reach.
Measuring It All
And with all of these tools, if you have no way of measuring the success of your strategy then what is the purpose. So the last group of tools needed to be successful on social media are the analytics, metrics, and social listening tools. Keyhole published a list of the top 25 Social Media Metrics tools to help measure ROI that is still fairly relevant. I have personally used and like Buffer, HootSuite, BuzzSumo and Simply Measured.
For many of you, Hootsuite will be your starting point for a lot of your social media tools needs based on their extensive suite of services across all the needs of a small business for social media. I do recommend exploring as many tools out there but be aware of inconsistencies in your calendar and marketing and how they can detract from brand identity.
In Conclusion the 8 Tools Are …
Up to you to decide. Which ones work best for you.
All of these tools should be helping you to focus on the endgame. Creating engaging content for your followers. The edutaining content that they want. If any of these tools is taking away from that then it is not the right tool for you. That is the best way to measure the value of a particular tool and how it works specifically for you.
Best of luck finding the combination of that suits your needs and keep in mind it is what works for you and your followers.
- Tools to capture the moment and post it