Improve your social media visibility with 15 minutes a day

Introduction:

You don’t need to be a big-time social media strategist to implement a little social media strategy. Succeeding in social media and growing your network of followers is about listening and learning from posts from the day or month before. You should be tracking monthly analytics for social media, such as your follower growth and the top three most popular posts from the month before. This post, however, is all about quick things you can do each morning to be more present.

First off: why should you do this in the morning? 

1. News isn’t news after 4pm. If you’re a public company publishing a big company update, it’s important to immediately see the reactions of your network on social media, and make sure the news is circulating. Though your email list will be informed appropriately, social media is another outlet for more instantaneous feedback.

2. You want to hit people when they’re fresh and most likely perusing the internet. Lots of tweets are read and digested along with that morning coffee.

3. You’re going to get busy later in the work day, and listening to social media conversation will probably be the last thing on your mind. Unless your title is social media strategist. Then how fun for you!

*Disclaimer from Father Time*: Don’t forget about timezones! Publishing a post at 9AM for you could be either 6AM or noon for someone else. Utilize Hootsuite’s timezone scheduling tool or MailChimp’s ‘timewarp’ for email newsletters.

 

 Here are four things to do each morning to increase your social media visibility:

1. Review yesterday’s posts and see what’s working

Take five or so minutes and check how your network reacted to what you said the day before. Your followers show you what they connected with by the number of likes, shares, and mentions on your posts. Once you see which post did the best, don’t just leave it at that, but ask yourself why? Did you include a high-quality image that people connected with? Were you sharing great news? Did you unveil a new project? If your post was something worth sharing again, maybe consider re-posting sometime down the road with fresh copy or an image. Most social media platforms have built-in analytics tools that give a brief overview of how you’re doing. For example, LinkedIn’s analytics tab tracks engagement, while Twitter tracks things like profile visits and daily mentions.

2. Engage with your network

Follow back relevant new followers

If you’ve gained new followers since the last time you checked in with your social media accounts, take a few moments to see who’s showing interest in you. Consider following back those who would add value to your company or network (and no weird spambots).

Respond to mentions/messages/favourites

Use your discretion with this one. Start by deleting any spam messages (hey! I made $450 an hour with one simple trick!) and respond to the ones showing genuine interest. Responses on social media can be light and friendly! There’s no need to spend all morning concocting the perfect paragraph to write in response to someone’s mention of you. A simple, ‘Thanks for the shoutout, you guys are doing awesome work!’ works great.

Direct people to your website

If someone has sent you a lengthier question about your company or investment opportunity through social media, give a friendly response and direct them to other places they can find information. Link your investor page, your FAQ section, or to a specific contact who would be happy to help them.

3. Listen to the industry conversation

Sometimes overused expressions can ring the truest: social media helps you take the pulse of your industry. Before you start your day, know what your industry is currently talking about. Are there any trends on Twitter that apply to your area of expertise? An example from Blender: one morning we saw that the topic ‘Mobilegeddon’ was blowing up on Twitter after Google released their new mobile-friendly website algorithm. We saw this as an opportunity to promote our mobile marketing guide on social media.

4. Schedule the day’s posts before you get too busy

Before you dive into the work day, schedule at least 2-3 posts for the rest of the day across all channels. Share a relevant article and give some love to the writers, Also ensure your community knows you’re listening. Big companies like Starbucks, T-Mobile, and Whole Foods rock customer service on Twitter and respond almost instantly. Set up notifications when someone responds to you on social media, so you can interact with them. Don’t let someone’s important words go unnoticed for too long.

 


Marika Hirsch
Marika Hirsch

As Blender’s Content Manager (aka ‘Resident Wordsmith’) Marika enjoys bringing readers the latest and greatest in both digital trends and IR tips. Follow along on Twitter: