The Dos And Don’ts Of Social Media

Posted by msmessenger on Aug 1, 2016 12:00:00 AM

Are You Controlling Your Brand’s Identity And Reputation?

As many of you know, having a strong social media presence is a very important part of controlling your brand’s identity and reputation. However, just having a social media presence isn’t enough, and there is such a thing as poor social media engagement. Social media marketing and management requires time, dedication, and a plan. Keep in mind: What are you trying to get out of this post? Do you want engagement? Do you want to inform? Do you want to increase your reach? Or, do you want to share your company personality? To make the best of your social media efforts, here are a few tips to remember when it comes to handling your social media accounts.

The Dos

  • Promote the work of others and staff.
  • Share knowledge of the industry and establish yourself as an expert.
  • Add images or videos as often as possible.
  • Respond to questions, comments, or issues when they arise. Moreover, make sure to say thank you when people leave you compliments.
  • Be authentic.
  • Experiment with new ideas. Mix up your posting times and days based on your analytics.
  • Post new things and keep your content fresh.
  • Add company events or announcements.
  • Try to respond to every message, if you are able. At least within 24 hours.
  • Ask questions of your followers.
  • Encourage positive dialogue online.
  • Connect your social media accounts to other marketing and sales objectives.
  • Try to develop a loyal fan base by providing quality content.
  • Create your own hashtags to create a more diverse profile.
  • Post on a regular and consistent basis (Five times per week for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Google+; seven times per day for Twitter.)

The Don’ts

  • Don’t post sales, promotions, or discounts on a regular basis (one for every 20 posts)
  • Don’t make most of your posts about yourself. Make them about the self-storage facility or company and your role within that company.
  • Don’t post personal opinions on your social media posts. If you are a local storage operator, don’t spend your time posting about your political views.
  • Don’t engage in arguments over social media. Take all complaints offline and encourage a phone call or email.
  • Don’t post meaningless or unimportant information; you are an expert in your industry.
  • Don’t encourage people to like every event or post that you create.
  • Don’t use harsh or offensive language or post inappropriate pictures, even if you think your followers will like it.
  • Don’t ignore your followers.
  • Don’t forget to post often and consistently.
  • Don’t forget to follow your competitors.
  • Don’t overdo it. You do not need to be on every single type of social media platform; a few strong profiles are more than enough.
  • Don’t try to sell people.
  • Don’t use generic marketing techniques.
  • Don’t buy likes; encourage natural engagement.
  • Don’t badmouth your competition.

Social Media is a great medium to quickly and efficiently show your leadership in the marketplace. By using social media, you can also gather vital information on areas for improvement within your facility or business. Years ago, large brands would spend tens of thousands of dollars for market research; now with the advent of social media the average self-storage facility can poll their “friends” and clients to gain valuable marketing and customer service data.

If you are struggling to find a social media marketing strategy that is fresh and fits your needs, consider these easy-to-implement digital marketingtips:

  • Audit Social Media Activity – Analyze what works and what doesn’t by reviewing posts during the past three, six or 12 months.  Determine which got the most traffic; shares, and overall engagement- adjust your new social media marketingstrategy appropriately. Some tools that help include Google Analytics, Pulse, Facebook Page Barometer, and Instagram Statistics.
  • Increase Your Reach – Setting yourself apart from the number of other self-storage brands on social networks is challenging but necessary. Even if you have a strong following, there is no guarantee your messages are seen. The key is to post more content in more targeted places more often. Keep in mind you need to be where your customers are. When combined with best practices (quality content + strategic approach to channels = fan base), this method of distributing content increases your likelihood of getting through.
  • Investigate The Competition – Find what works for your competitors, and then use the information to enhance your social media marketingstrategy. To gain the most insight, look at their rankings, keyword prioritization, and search engine presence. Then analyze their traffic sources (direct, organic, or otherwise), review their content marketing, and look at how and where they are advertising.
  • Popularity – The right audience strategy will inspire your fans to engage and share your content. Know who they are, what they believe in, and what they have in common. Determine how to attract more followers by going beyond a basic content strategy to find the overlap between why youthink your self-storage matters and why customersthink your self-storage matters.
  • Improve Mobile Content – Mobile Internet traffic doubled last year and will double again this year. Mobile devices are being used more than ever to consume content, so be sure to include mobile analysis as part of your monthly reporting. Mobile is much different from desktop and bears unique considerations:
    • Header images are important; make yours big and impactful.
    • On Twitter, keep track of tweets and retweets and focus on visual content.
    • With Facebook, share images, links, and pin posts with updates.
    • LinkedIn’s mobile content is more structured, requiring a strong bio and crisp content to grab people’s attention.

With tools such as Hootsuite and companies like Fasturtle, there are partners out there to help you develop, manage, and report on your social media marketing activity. Always remember to execute, measure, and repeat what is working.

Eric Olsen founded Fasturtle, a Ranking AZ Top 10 website design and digital marketing firm, in 2000, providing business owners strategic digital marketing solutions. Fasturtle is a member of AZSA and works with numerous self-storage organizations including The Monolith Group, Cooper Companies, and many other independently owned and operated facilities. As a Constant Contact® endorsed presenter on Search Engine Marketing, email marketing, and website usability standards, he and Fasturtle continue to empower business owners and their staff with the tools and techniques to expand their brands.