Over 5 billion people globally are social media users. And, most likely, if you’re a brand in 2024, you already have a social media presence. How to capitalize, and make the most of it for your brand? We’ve got the top 10 ways to optimize your social media, and see results for your business.
What Is Optimization?
This may be obvious, but to be clear, optimizing your social media is kind of like getting a tune-up for your car. It may be driving, sure, but is it driving at its best? Optimizing your social media is ensuring that it is.
Ways to do that? Let’s take a look below.
Ways to Optimize
Thankfully, optimizing your social media pages is quite simple, for the most part. Once you have created your content, we recommend implementing these 10 steps below to help it achieve its maximum success.
Create a Strategy
No good plan has ever succeeded without a strategy behind it. The same goes for your social media. Before creating content and posting, be sure you (and your team) outline clear objectives to why you are there, and what some end goals are. This should include goal timelines, as well as predicted ROI when it comes to your social media investment.
Hashtags
Think #hashtags are unimportant when it comes to your brand? Think again. These little guys help bring your relevant audience to you, allowing for algorithms to not only see your content but also know what type of content you’re bringing to the table. As with everything online these days, though, they are evolving. Currently, it’s recommended to use only 3 to 5 hashtags per post, allowing a more focused understanding of your content.
Relevant Keywords
Hand in hand with hashtags are keywords. When setting up your social media strategy, you should define your brand’s top keywords. These should be relevant to your industry, product, and overall service that you provide. For example, one of our keyword phrases is “Building Your Brand”, as that is one of our objectives when it comes to our audience at Waves. Want help defining your keywords? Click here.
Use Video
In 2024, video makes up a little over 82% of all online content. Factoring in the multiple social media platforms currently available, it’s safe to say most of that video lives on them. In short? When it comes to your brand’s social media, using video is a no-brainer. Of course, with each platform comes its own specific types of video. And, as said before, this and everything else online is in constant fluctuation. For example, TikTok used to be the king of short-form video. But guess what? YouTube Shorts has now surpassed its competitor with a reported 2 billion users vs. TikTok’s 1.1 billion. Ultimately, do your homework, and keep up with what’s current.
Want help with optimizing your YouTube, specifically? Click here.
Include Closed Captions
Closed captions are both yours and your viewer’s friend. Why, you may ask? For one, most viewers watch videos without sound, and thus, need them. As for your benefits, captions not only expand your audience reach but also boost your SEO. And the good news? Most social media platforms offer them as an option to add to your video, making their addition super easy.
Write for Your Target Audience
This next one applies to both text posts as well as video posts. Whether you’re writing for a script or including a caption beneath your video, always bear in mind who you are writing to and for. The answer should be: your target audience! Think of the type of language that would attract them to you; for example, are your clients coming from a corporate background, and thus, looking for a more professional tone? Or is your product geared towards kids, and wanting a more casual, fun approach? Unknowingly or not, it’s these details that people pick up on, that make them give you a call.
Respond Quickly and with Quality to Customers
Adding to this, make sure your response time to any customer inquiries on social media is prompt and excellent. Meaning? Remember every interaction you have with them is an opportunity to build relationship. So provide quick replies, with informed answers, and friendly customer service. We promise you, it’ll keep them coming back to you, as well as recommending you to others.
Engage with Social Commerce
By 2025, social commerce is expected to be a $1.2 trillion channel. If you ask us, not too shabby. And a great opportunity for you to make sales! Whether your brand offers a product or service, look for ways to promote on social media, and include strong CTAs (call-to-actions). Some simple ways to get started selling online would be through the TikTok Shop or via Instagram. In short, you’ve got options, so start building those accounts, and start reaching those customers!
Utilize UGC (User-Generated Content)
Speaking of your customers, involve them in your social media! User-generated content is an ever-growing opportunity to not only connect to your current clients but also gain new followers through them. Consider it the modern take of “word-of-mouth”, building brand trust and credibility. AND, if that weren’t enough, it can also help with your video budget, as it’s virtually free content at your fingertips.
Implement AI to Support You
We know, it’s the buzzword of late: AI. Whether or not your business has already started to engage with AI or not, it’s worth taking a look. Incorporating chatbots to help with immediate customer needs online, going to ChatGPT for content creation inspiration and ideas…the list goes on. The point is, don’t discount its use to potentially support you and your team.
At the end of the day, the takeaways for your approach should always be this: keep it authentic, be consistent in your posting and interactions, and stay updated on trends and changes online as well as in your industry. If you follow this path, you’ll have a solid journey.