Social media can become your brand’s best friend—if you know how to use it correctly.
Having a social presence on more than one channel is a great start to building your following, but the key is knowing how to appeal to each audience. Each platform—whether it’s Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn—has its own demographic, character count and, most importantly, personality. Whether you are a social whizz or an online amateur, these tips will help any business boost their numbers.
By nature, Twitter is a short game. You have 280 characters to engage your audience, so make sure you choose your words wisely. When trimming down your copy, a good question to ask yourself is what do I want my audience to know? Focus on your call to action and minimize fluff. Twitter is where hashtags thrive. Not only do they boost engagement, but they can also be great tools to summarize your message. Twitter is also a platform intended to spark conversation. Keep your tone casual, avoid business jargon and, instead, focus on posting content that your followers will want to respond to and share.
Because Instagram is a visual-focused platform, coming up with the perfect caption can be tricky. The main goal of a caption is to provide context for the image or video you post and call users to an action. Given that users are not logging onto Instagram for a long read, it’s important to keep them short and sweet. (We recommend two to three lines.) Within your caption, hashtags can be a great way to boost engagement. Moderation is key here, so try to use more than two, but don’t go over 20. Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, Instagram does not provide a simple way to repost content. Instead, a good way to encourage users to action is by incorporating links. Instagram allows users to post links in the bio section of your profile. When including a link, be sure to include something like “check out the link in bio for more information” in your caption.
Facebook is the perfect place for casual content. Like Twitter and Instagram, your posts should take on a relaxed, conversational tone. When you edit your posts for this platform, formatting is key. Be sure to remove any @user tags and keep hashtags to a minimum. It is important to share content people can engage with, comment on, tag friends in and repost. The easiest way to drive engagement? Ask for it. While you can’t expect users to write a long essay about how great your product is, using phrases like “tell us what you think” or “what are your thoughts on … ” are easy ways to get people talking about you and your services.
While emojis and hashtags are perfectly suited for your brand’s Twitter fans, LinkedIn is an entirely different game. LinkedIn is a business-oriented platform and the go-to network to share professional content. Although LinkedIn is a more formal network, that does not mean your writing should sound stiff or impersonal. It does mean you should get rid of the GIFs, exclude the emojis and nix the hashtags. When writing for LinkedIn, don’t be afraid of sharing a longer post. Take advantage of this extra space to show off your knowledge, insights and professional experience.
When it comes to social media, the old adage “one size does not fit all” rings true. Small adjustments in your writing can make a huge difference in your audience’s engagement with your brand. Regardless of the nature of your brand or business, these tips are important for making the most out of your content.
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