The Anatomy of a Perfect Social Media Post
Social Media
Savvy businesses know that it’s absolutely essential to have a presence on social media, but to have and maintain a strong presence on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and now LinkedIn, or Google+ is all about the right approach. Having a strong social media content strategy is important for figuring out what you want to say, but what’s just as important is how you say it in order to make the biggest impression with users.
Below are a few tips for crafting the most effective types of posts for each of the top social media networks – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Facebook:
Status Update: The most appealing updates are approachable. Ask a question or offer something, but don’t give away too much, you want people to click to learn more.
Provide a Link: Make the link traceable by using a social media software like Hootsuite or Hubspot.
Include Images: Posts with images get the highest amount of engagement. Simple imagery also helps capture the attention of mobile users who are scrolling on their phones. The perfect size? 800 x 600px.
Engage: When you make a post, the floor is open for users to go on Facebook, see your post, and make a comment or ask a question. Make sure you’re available to engage and build relationships with your users.
Twitter:
Call-to-Action: Since you have a 140 character limit, say something that will provoke a click. This could be a clear CTA, question, interesting fact or statistic.
Avoid abbrev.: Just because you have a character limit, doesn’t give you an excuse for bad grammar. Avoid abbreviations and all caps.
Retweeting: To get more retweets, leave some extra room in your post (for about 20 extra characters) so users have room to retweet to their profiles.
Shorten URLs: If you don’t, you could be wasting good character space. Bit.ly is a great URL shortener tool.
LinkedIn:
One quality post: Focus efforts on one great post per week. This leaves time for it to trend on LinkedIn Today, targeted email campaigns, and increases overall traffic.
Marketing offer: This professional site was made for b2b. Offer a marketing offer, free eBook download, or registration for an upcoming webinar.
Join groups: Get networking by joining groups in your industry or area of expertise, which can increase your reach. Don’t be shy to ask a question or start a conversation to make an impression.
Shortened link: Posting directly on LinkedIn will strip your link URL and will hinder you from keeping track of clicks and lead interest. Use software like bit.ly, Hubspot, or Hootsuite that allows you to include a shortened link in your post.
Google+
Tag: Tag brands and people when applicable. Users receive notification, which can enhance your engagement.
Use hashtags: Google will auto-generate a hashtag based on what’s trending when you create a post, but feel free to add more, just make sure it’s relevant.
Use images: Full sized images (800 x 600px) and video will make posts stand out on the site.
Communities: Find relevant communities in your industry or location to engage and contribute in them. You’ll see your engagement and conversation soar.
Get creative: Take advantage of filters and other editing apps that allow you to add text or add different effects.
Hashtags: Be aware of weekly hashtags such as Throwback Thursday #tbt to tap into loads of engagement.
Caption: Write a funny or interesting caption that will users attention, maybe ask a question?
Direct Message: Use Instagram’s new direct message features to contact users who make a comment or show interest in you post!
Portrait style: Images that are vertical perform and look better on this platform and tends to perform better.
Be Bright: When in doubt, add saturation to images. Highly saturated color images do 10x more than black and white images.
Add color: Images with dominant color (like red, green, yellow, blue) tend to get up to 3x more repins and likes.
No human faces: Images without human faces tend to do 23% better than those with human faces.
Subscribe to our blog to catch part 2: The Timing of the Perfect Social Media Post!
About Small Screen Producer
Small Screen Producer is a full service, marketing firm located in Houston, Texas that specializes in online digital media marketing through a 4-step process. Step 1: WE PLAN a custom web presence strategy for your business through website design and development, mobile development, social media account creation and branding. STEP 2: We then POSITION your brand through Pay-Per-Click advertising and search engine optimize tactics that include on-page and off-page SEO that are Google and Bing approved. STEP 3: We then PROMOTE your brand using an Inbound marketing strategy or a content marketing strategy to help you accomplish your marketing goals. We do this through blogging, video production, infographics, call-to-actions, landing pages, and free educational offers. We help you build trust and rapport with your customer base. STEP 4: We then PROTECT your brand’s web presence with a reputation management program that monitors social media and on line reviews. Get started today with a free online marketing assessment of your company’s web presence. Your company deserves it.