A successful social media strategy is key to thriving in the social media world. Different markets are going to have different expectations when it comes to running their platforms, and different platforms that will be more lucrative, at that. Here are a few tips that will be relevant no matter the market, no matter the platform!

Mix It Up!

There is an exorbitant amount of content that can be shared on your platform. Keep it interesting by not always posting the same type of stuff. Toss some pictures in instead of an all-text post one day, or share a blog post as opposed to a video. Mixing it up will allow different members of your audience to interact with your page in a way that is comfortable for them.

Make a Plan

scheduled posts

Plan out your posts. You want to share 3 blog posts and 2 motivational images a week? Great! Print out a calendar or download an app, and schedule it. Keeping up with your posts day-to-day will be less of a hassle if most of the work is done already!

Use a Scheduler

To make even LESS work for yourself day-to-day, consider using a post scheduler. Facebook allows you to schedule posts right on their platform, which makes planning out and scheduling your posts a one-day activity rather than an every day task.

There are also third party schedulers you can use, some paid, some free. The paid platform, Hootsuite, has some rave reviews. I use the free version of Buffer, personally. I like it because I can share the same post across different platforms all from one app. Be careful though, if you are concerned with visibility, Facebook's algorithm favors posts made directly on Facebook over third party ones.

buffer social media management

Be Responsive

Larger companies have entire divisions dedicated to managing their social media, just so they can make sure customers' comments and messages are answered in a timely manner. For those of us DIYing it, we will also want to respond quickly to keep people active with our page. Users may be discouraged from interacting if they see multiple unanswered questions and may take business elsewhere if they see a business has a poor message response time. Take some time at least once a day (add it to that schedule we talked about!) to sit down and respond to everything needing a response. Even a "thanks for the comment!" can go a long way.