Social media has been around for quite some time, so by now we've pretty much heard every advice in the book.
Tips like using hashtags, pinning stuff, and (my personal favorite) "engaging" with users have been written and re-written about countless times that they're not even considered "tips" anymore. At this point, it's just common sense to do these things on social media.
Now, having common sense is great and all, but you're smarter than that. As an effective social media marketer, you know that you have to go beyond the common sense tips and implement something more strategic.
How do you that, you ask? Below are a few things to help you go from a social media newbie with common sense, to a pro that gets results:
Newbies Post Comments. Pros Post Comments To Get To The Top.
Everyone knows that posting comments on other pages where your target audience hangs out drives more users-and potential likes-to your Facebook page. The thing is, a lot of people just add comments for the sake of doing it, and this tactic just won't cut it anymore.
With some posts garnering hundreds, if not thousand of comments, standing out is becoming more and more of a challenge. Fortunately though, it's not impossible. Facebook rewards high-performing comments by placing the ones that are most liked or replied to at the top.
It doesn't matter if there are hundreds of comments on a post or if other comments got there first. If your remark gets the most votes, it'll get the most visibility.
What this means for you: When posting comments, strive to make it to the top. Don't just add a remark for the sake of doing it, be sure to contribute something witty or insightful to the conversation. Be opinionated. Or ask questions that would encourage people to reply (and thus help your comment get to the top.)
Newbies Add Comments Using Words. Pros Use Images.
In case you missed the memo, Facebook now lets users embed images into their comments. And while Facebook marketing n00bs probably saw the news, said "Cool" and went about their day, the pros immediately looked for (or created) images to further enhance their comments and make them stand out.
Newbies join conversations that mention them. Pros start conversation with potential customers and provide relevant offers.
Clicking on the Connect tab on Twitter to see who mentioned you? Everyone does that. On the other hand, actively networking on Twitter and looking for conversations that concern you--even if the person didn't mention you by name--is the next level of Twitter marketing.
Expand your Twitter routine by being proactive with your conversations. Go beyond the Connect tab and utilize Twitter's search feature to find users who tweeted about your keyword or industry. For instance, if you own a clothing boutique, you might do a search for tweets about the latest trends and what not.
Also consider using tools such as SocialCentiv, a service that enables you to find and start conversations, then send out personalized offers in real-time based on what people are saying about your brand on social media.
Newbies see the people who viewed their profile and do nothing. Pros take the initiative to reach out.
You know that "Who's viewed your profile" tool on LinkedIn? That nifty feature isn't just a way to see who's stalking you on the site, it's also a goldmine for potential customers. The people who viewed your profile are most likely interested in you or your company, and it's practically a list of qualified leads handed on a sliver platter. Not doing anything about it is a crime to your business.
The next time you're on LinkedIn looking at the people who viewed your profile, reach out to them by sending a quick "Can I help you?" message. For instance, if you're an SEO who specializes in local search and you see that the owner of a Los Angeles coffee shop recently checked you out, send them a message and say something like, "Hey, I saw that you recently viewed my profile. Do you need an SEO specialist to help your site rank higher in local searches for coffee-related keywords?"
People will be impressed by your initiative and if they ARE looking for someone like you, you stand a good chance of getting your foot in the door.
Newbies Start Group Discussions. Pros Keep Group Discussions Active.
Joining groups and starting discussions is commonplace on LinkedIn. But making an effort to keep those discussions active? Not so much. Which is a shame, because active discussions can be your ticket to your audience's inbox.
See, LinkedIn routinely emails its users about active discussions in the groups that they belong to. It doesn't matter if those discussions were started a day ago or if they're already 2 weeks old. If they're still active, they will have a spot in LinkedIn's group messages.
What keeps a discussion active? Two things: comments and likes.
Don't just post a discussion and leave without a second thought, be sure to actively monitor your posts for comments and likes, then to respond to each one. Doing so will put your discussion in LinkedIn's group emails, and give you more visibility.
Newbies pin stuff on a regular basis. Pros track pins and re-pins as well.
New and average Pinterest users pin images from their site and recent blog posts to help drive traffic and increase exposure. Pros go beyond that and actually track who's repining stuff from their site.
Use PinAlerts to track re-pins from your website. A tool the acts as a Google Alerts for Pinterest, it lets you set up alerts so you can receive email notifcations whenever someone pins an image from your website.
Doing so doesn't just give you insights on the popular images and posts on your site, it also gives you a chance to thank people who pinned stuff from your site so you can network out and spread the social love.
Newbies pin images. Pros pin words, too.
Pinterest may be image-heavy but that doesn't mean text can't perform well on the site. Words of wisdom and quotable quotes receive their fair share of likes and repins, so don't shy away from pinning them.
Turn words into pins quickly and easily using sites such as QuickMeme, Someecards, or PicMonkey. Or an easier way is to use a tool called Share As Image, a bookmarklet that allows you to convert text on a page into a Pinterest-ready image with a click of a button. Just download it onto your browser, highlight the text that you wish to pin and you're good to go.
Excellent post, Federico! And talk about actionable. Your article definitely goes beyond the vague and cliched social media tips about engaging users or providing value. I love how you included detailed and specific steps/tools to really show us how things are done.
Thanks. 🙂