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13 Social Media Tips For Driving Engagement & Revenue (Video)

You can never get enough help with social media, and in today's blog we're going to watch a video, and then I'lldiscuss my thoughts on the tips being offered.

This video offers 13 social media tips for driving engagement and revenue, two things that I'm sure you want fromyour social media strategy.

If that sounds good to you, then join me by watching the video (it's short, don't worry), and then let's discuss eachpoint...

13 Social Media Tips...but which is helpful for you?

First of all before we begin, please let me credit thedisruptive.com for their video!

Ok, let's get started on the tips:

1. Consistency

I agree that being consistent is a cornerstone of social media marketing, and in this video it's suggested as beingimportant for building trust. I agree.

If you're consistently present in your potential customers' social media channels, offering great advice, content, andoffers, then this helps position you as an industry 'thought-leader' who knows what they're doing, wants to offer freehelp, and can be trusted.

Learn more about becoming consistent by reading this blog: 3 STEPS TO ADD FUEL TO YOUR SOCIAL MEDIASTRATEGY FIRE & BOOST RESULTS

Being aware of when and how often you should be socially posting is also important, however this only comesthrough investigating your metrics. I would start with 'Facebook Insights,' where you can easily see which post timesare most popular. This will help you start getting an idea of when to post. 4 posts per day may work for them, howeveryou may find that this is way too much for your company. Test it people!

2. Create A Schedule

Totally agree. Without an editorial calendar it's easy to get side-tracked and then 'forget' to create some of yourcontent, or post your social media posts.

Try using Google calendar, or Basecamp. Either of these are shared across your company meaning that colleaguescan also know what should be happening, and when.

Different themes for different days isn't particularly to my taste, however it does make sense to 'give' your audience aconsistent output, and so if they know that on Wednesdays you post, say, wedding-related stuff, then those who areinterested will know to look out for Wednesdays!

3. Post Photos

"Photos get 50% more interaction."

Getting 'likes' is great, but for me the link share is still king.

Consider this, if someone clicks on your photo, what happens? Nothing. They see the photo larger on screen andcould like or comment.

A link share, when clicked on, will direct them straight to your content, be that a blog, video, slideshare, etc.

I'm not saying that you should never post photos, but keep a balance and bear in mind that link shares will drive moretraffic to your site and are better for SEO.

4. Create A CTA (Call To Action)

I think that all marketers need to get used to telling their social communities what to do. If you want them to share yourcontent, ask them! Be careful not get spammy though. Facebook, for example, will penalise posts that are overlypushy in asking for likes, shares, etc.

For me, CTAs are especially important as a technique to drive people to more focussed content from your blogs. Soat the close of a blog, you can ask something like:

"Enjoyed this blog about XXX? click the button below to receive your free guide on XXX!"

Send them through to a landing page, collect their details and add them to your email list in exchange fo your freeguide, and boom! You're building an email list through the use of CTAs!

5. Ask Questions

"Asking questions is a pattern interrupt."

I strongly agree with this. Statements such as 'buy this,' can be ignored and looked over, but a question forces thereader to think to answer it. Therefore by regularly questioning your social community you make yourself moreprominent in their minds.

If you ask good questions that people want to answer, then you may find engagement within your posts increasing.

6. Cross Promote Your posts

Incentivise people who aren't following you on another platform to go do so, for instance asking your Twitter followersto like your Facebook page.

This is a good idea, but depending on the content you post, not crucial. I would say the quality of content going outacross all social networks is more important. After all, users who prefer Twitter may not like to use Facebook, sonurture each community with its own good stuff.

However, if you are creating cool Facebook videos, for instance, that only appear there, then you will want yourfollowers from other platforms to see those. So share away.

7. Engage Independently

It's easy to automate posts going out these days, and i see no problem with automating all or some of the same poststo go out to each social network you're focussing on. However the point here is to not just 'fire and forget,' but rather tomake sure that you engage with people on each network who have taken the time to ask you a question or make apoint.

By doing so you continue to be friendly and build trust, rather than just endlessly spewing out posts with no dialogue.

8. Hold Contests

Contests and giveaways create a fun environment, and keep people coming back to your channels. If you're creatingfree content, you can also ask people to give you their details in order to get it, thereby continuing to build that all-important email list!

9. Don't Be "Salesy"

Totally agree.

There's nothing wrong with posting the odd offer or discount, but endlessly selling your products and services will getyou ignored quickly.

Social networks are just that, social. So it's better to build a community who enjoy that you give them free advice, so inour case like social media tips, free helpful content, and answer their questions. Then when it's time for them to buy,they know they can trust you.

10. Hold Flash Sales

On the occasions that you do want to post something like an offer or discount, do it in a fun way, and help maintain thefun (or interesting) persona of your social media channels. A flash sale is both fun, engaging, and a way to increaserevenue.

Since you put followers under time pressure to buy something awesome, those whose interest has been built up tosuch a level via your hard work of making your page a fun, helpful, and rewarding place to visit, will be likely to takethe plunge.

11. Integrate Social Media

Social media buttons are easy to add to your website and blog. Not having them is criminal, as you take away yourfollowers' abilities to like and share your stuff! Add those buttons people!

Here is Hubspot's Ultimate Cheat Sheet For Creating Social Media Share Buttons .

12. Post Reviews

Depending on your product or service you may have more or less success with reviews, and I feel that reviews arebetter for consumer items; however no one can deny that by sharing glowing reviews socially you will create a buzz,and cement the fact that you are awesome in your followers' minds.

It's a double-edged sword though, get bad reviews and it is very damaging!

13. Customer Service

I agree that social media channels can be a great forum for offering customer service (and in fact I wrote this blogabout just that using Facebook), and you should actively check them to see if you have messages and questionswhich could be answered in order to make someone's day a bit better!

You'll also get a better understanding of what your customers want by listening to their feedback, and by activelyparticipating in dialogue with them it shows that you're a responsive and friendly company. Best of all, it's free!

Your Turn...

How do you feel about these social media tips? Do you have any to add?

Are you already implementing these as a part of your social media strategy, or will you be having seen and heardabout their benefits?

Let me know by leaving your comment below...

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Posted by Adrian Leighton on Fri 30 Jan, 2015

Adrian has been in China for 7 years! He is experienced in all things social media, blogging, and SEO.When not working he enjoys weight-training, reading, watching TV shows with his wife, and baking!

Topics: Social Media