Small things to work on that can add up to make a big difference.
Recently, I saw a post in a social media marketing group on LinkedIn where someone asked a question about how to get more followers. The responses kind of surprised me; numerous people suggested posting three to five times a day — every day.
Now, we can argue about whether that would work (research suggests it doesn’t) but my thought was: where are you getting the content to post that much?
Too much
If you’re posting external links to your website all the time, Facebook isn’t going to like that and will de-emphasise those posts. It wants you to stay on the platform, after all.
So you can do that once a day, maybe. But you won’t get much action. What about your other two or three posts that day? You could write a blog. Cool, what’s next? Video is worth more than a single image — but it can’t be a YouTube link.
See how difficult it can get? It’s not impossible but for many brands, it’s just not practical without repeating yourself multiple times — another thing Facebook (not to mention your followers) doesn’t like.
So if you’re able to make 20+ individual pieces of content every week, Mazel tov!
For the majority of us, though, we have to pick our moments — and think harder about what we’re posting.
Not enough
Then there’s the opposite problem: brands not posting enough to make any impact.
One issue we sometimes run into to is getting clients to understand that one piece of content is just one piece of content. Sometimes it’s hard to convince people that you need a whole content plan and a brand’s whole existence doesn’t have to exist in one single piece of content.
And yes, one piece of content can mean lot (shout out Gary Vee) but once that one video you worked on for hours is gone, what’s next? What’s coming down the pipeline tomorrow?
You need to strike a balance between frequency and quality. Post often enough that your followers know you’re there — but give them enough quality that they’re not bothered by your posts and continue to be a fan.
There are a few simple things that can help with this.
4 (very) simple ways to improve your social posts:
Work on your post text
This is a big one a lot of brands get wrong straight out of the gate. Aside from the basics — spelling, grammar, inappropriate content — is your post too wordy? If you’re linking to an outside website through a bit.ly link, is your link appearing under the fold (or the ‘read more’) because the post text is too long? Is there a more succinct way to get across what you want to say? You might need less text than you think, especially if your video, graphic or link headline is enticing enough.
Work on your messaging
If you’re trying to inform your followers, is the message of the post clear — or are you meandering on the way to your point? Is your post clear about what it wants from your fans? Is there a call to action? You’d be surprised how often I’m not sure what a brand’s post is trying to promote, even when it should be obvious. If you have a graphic, is the graphic simple enough to understand if someone is just scrolling through — or eye-catching enough to make people stop and look at it?
Work on your interaction.
Engagement works both ways, so maybe sure you’re involved in the commenting as well. Are you replying to comments on your posts? This is particularly important when you’ve invited interactions with your post. And if you’re not — why not?
Work on your variety
Make sure you have variety in the type of post you’re doing.
Video is more valued by the Facebook algorithm but you’ll soon burn through all your video content unless it’s all done in an on-the-fly style — and if that’s the style you’re going for, more power to you. Changing things up takes the pressure off somewhat.
Variety also goes not just for variety of media (video, images, blogs etc.) but variety in the format of posts. For example, motivational posts, promotional posts, polls and educational content.
All of which boils down to:
Work on your content
Not every single piece of content needs to be a masterpiece — but it does have to have a consistent level of quality to keep your followers, fans and customers subscribed. Think about what would be useful or entertaining for your fans and work backwards from that.
It’s really hard to be a brand on social media these days. Things that used to work don’t anymore (remember ‘tag a mate’?) and it can be a constant struggle to keep up with all the changes. But one thing that will always put you in good stead is having good content that people want to see from you and will engage with.
If you want help improving your social media content, get in touch today.
