Updating Your Social Media Strategy for 2013

With social media like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest rapidly evolving and becoming more prevalent than ever, businesses have begun to use these various outlets as a way to promote themselves. Having a social media strategy can be beneficial to your company, however, if not used properly it can turn clients off.  Social media platforms are constantly changing and updating your social media strategy to reflect these changes is crucial. So what should you do to build up your social media the right way in 2013?

Carefully Connect Social Media Accounts

Linking your accounts is a great social media strategy to get followers across all of your accounts. However, it’s tempting to link all of your accounts to save time logging in but it’s important to be careful when editing the sharing settings. Twitter, for example, has a 140 character limit so if you have all your Facebook Posts automatically post on twitter you can end up with a lot of shortened tweets. Pinterest, on the other hand, is a great site to link to your Facebook account because every picture you pin will show up on your page as well as newsfeed, saving time from having to post it to Facebook separately. Your Facebook fans can then click on the link and follow your boards on Pinterest, or even repin it to their own board. Even if your Facebook fans don’t have Pinterest they can still see the pictures you’re posting.

Use Hashtags

Hashtags are a useful way to promote your company as well as a new product or service. Hashtags were originally introduced by Twitter but now can be used on Facebook, G+, Pinterest and Instagram. When you create a post, you can add in a hashtag that will categorize your post in searches on that social media site. For example, if you are posting a link to a blog post about graphic design, you can use a #graphicdesign hashtag. Anyone searching for posts about graphic design would be directed to your post, driving more traffic to your website. It’s important to research hashtags to make sure that you are posting about something that others are posting about. Using #mondaymadnessfun isn’t a good idea if no one else is posting about “Monday Madness Fun” because that means no one is searching for that topic.

Implement Visuals in Your Social Media Strategy

Posting pictures of services or products give those connected to your social media account a more tangible experience as opposed to trying to just reading about it. Pinterest is so popular because people love to see great images of products or items. If you are selling items directly to your audience, having high resolution, enticing photos will get a better response. A great description with all the important information specs is essential but without a great picture, no one will buy into your item. Get visual and post great images.

Follow Other Businesses

Follow Competitors: They say to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. The same is true for social media. By following other businesses in your industry you get an insider’s look on what they are doing to interact with fans and  gain free insight on tried and proven methods.

Follow Clients: By following clients and supporting what they do you show your appreciation for the business they provide you. Remember that business for your clients indirectly supports your business. Maintaining a positive rapport can keep your clients happy with you and the service you provide them.

Be Social

Most businesses miss the golden rule of social media – be social! Your followers need to be provided with the right amount of posting to receive the message you intend to convey. However, too much “me, me, me” posting will cause you to lose followers. Rather than share post after post of information about you and your services try to engage your audience with questions, polls or just plain fun posts. Red Bull, one of the most popular Facebook Pages with over 39 million followers, rarely posts about themselves or reasons why consumers need to purchase their product. Rather, they post images of parasailing, motorcycle tricks and party scenes. They’ve dedicated the entire page to showing their audience what they want to see not “click here to buy now” links. Be fun, social and interactive and you will gain a real audience that wants to see what you’re posting.