Social media can be a very gratifying marketing platform when it comes to your business, but it can also often be a difficult domain for small businesses to maneuver. There is a lot of information out there on the best times to post, the best content to post, and the best social outlets to use when posting—it can be overwhelming for any business that wants to make their brand more visible on social media, and it’s getting harder and harder to do this organically.
Below you will find three simple tips on how to optimize your business’ social platforms in an organic way.
1. Never Underestimate the Power of a “Lifestyle” Post
In social media, a lifestyle post is content that does not ask your followers or customers to do anything. I learned this when I became the Social Media Manager here at Launch thanks to a very smart friend, Jess Dover. It’s a photo of a new co-worker at your office. It’s a holiday post wishing your followers a “Happy Arbor Day!” It’s making sure that your followers know there’s a person behind all those posts. They need to know that you’re not a robot just asking them to “buy! buy! buy!” A lifestyle post is shareable, valued content that your followers will want to “like,” comment on, and share with their own friends.
Lifestyle posts also help boost up your page’s EdgeRank. EdgeRank is the Facebook algorithm that decides which stories appear in each user’s newsfeed. The more a Facebook user “likes” or comments on a particular page’s post, the more posts from that page will appear in that user’s newsfeed going forward. This is why lifestyle posts are so important—they humanize your page. They are the sharable and “likeable” content that helps boost your EdgeRank. Lifestyle posts are the small steps necessary to get you to a place where you can ask your followers to do something, like buy your product or schedule a test drive on your dealership’s website.
2. Keep Things Visually Appealing
Whenever I’m scouring the Internet for somewhere to eat or a place to get my nails done, I base a lot of my decision on where to go on the quality and relevance of the company’s social platforms. If I see that the company doesn’t have any photos or their posts have grammatical errors, I’m less likely to explore that site any further. It has become less credible in my eyes.
It is important to keep your page fresh, current, and visually appealing. This means doing a quarterly audit on all of your social platforms. Make sure your profile picture is crisp and displays your up-to-date logo. Make sure your Facebook cover photo is inviting and attention-grabbing. Check to see if your business’ phone number is up to date in your “About” section. And all the same goes for your website—these small things can make a big difference.
3. Use Facebook Insights… A Lot!
There is a lot of information on the Internet about optimal times to post on each social platform—midday for Twitter, early evening for Facebook, and mornings are great for Google+. This is all well and good, but that doesn’t really help us when trying to reach the exact audience for your business. You need to know your specific audience. Wouldn’t it be amazing if you knew the optimal times when the people who liked your page were surfing Facebook?
Enter the “When Your Fans Are Online” feature. This is a facet of Facebook Insights that shows a graph of not only the days of the week but also the specific times of day when your followers are on Facebook! When Your Fans Are Online is a great tool to use on a weekly basis (as it changes week to week) in order to make sure you’re posting your content at the optimal times. It’s important to ensure that your posts will be seen—that they’re not just floating there in Facebookland—and utilizing Insights is a great way to start.
Organically gaining success on Facebook and other social media platforms takes time. It’s a process. Be patient, work on creating engaging, relevant, and shareable content, and keep up with a consistent posting schedule. Remember, If you want followers who will engage and share your content, organic success on social is the best kind.
