Social media tips and tricks

Social media is a key tool that companies use to maximise engagement levels, increase coverage, drive more traffic to the website, and provide a different, more ‘human’ touch. So we have pulled together some key social media ‘dos’ to help you understand how to utilise your social media effectively to ensure maximum benefits.

Do:

1. Have a plan

• Plan what you post and when
• Time posts to coincide with and promote work you are doing (e.g., press releases, events you are attending, etc.)
• Time posts to coincide with industry or national events (e.g., elections, the Budget, new tax year etc)
• Think about the time of day when posts are scheduled
• Use a planning tool, such as Hootsuite, to plan ahead

2. Be professional

• Be positive, and always be professional and polite
• Always act as you would like to be treated

3. Be conversational:

• Get involved in discussions and polls
• If someone comments on what you are saying – thank them for their comment and reply if relevant
• If someone asks a question, make sure you reply

4. Add value:

• Add value to your followers
• Provide worthwhile information and perspective– education, news, updates, opinions, insight etc

5. Make sure your profile is complete:

• Add a photo, a short description and your contact details at the minimum
• Remember that your profile is what others will use to decide whether to follow you – first impressions count – and will help to improve your search engine rankings
• Make sure your profile is always up to date

6. Be consistent:

• Post updates frequently to show that you are active on social media
• Retweet/share other users’ content to show that you are engaged in the issues

7. Use common sense:

• Remain consistent in tone of voice as you would if you were in a meeting. And don’t share information on social media that you wouldn’t share elsewhere
• Talk about the issues that you believe in. Use content such as press releases and publications to form your messages and views
• Be aware of the profile you are helping to create

8. Use hashtags:

• Make sure that your content is seen by the people who are interested in it

9. Build connections and join groups:

• Follow the people you want to be connected to, share their content, and respond to their updates to show that you are interested in what they are doing and that you have a shared interest
• Join groups to build an audience and establish a network of people with shared interests
• Focus on being active in just a few groups and contribute by posting new content and commenting on existing content
• Share reports and news, which will be appreciated by group members, especially if accompanied by a commentary
• Track the conversations you’ve joined using the built-in email alerts

10. Make time:

• Schedule time regularly when you will check your profile and the groups you belong to
• Monitor posts, share, and reply as appropriate

11. Be generous:

• Share handles and mention people on social media
• Share a great article from a journalist, this will help your connections

12. Go for it:

• Jump in, and spend a few minutes each day to focus on your profile, share content, update your status, or ask a question in a group

13. Utilise multiple users:

• Make sure the platforms are consistent for tone of voice both for the organisation and across updates, if more than one person will be updating

14. Use imagery:

• Statistics show that a tweet is three to four times more likely to get noticed/be read if imagery is attached