How to Get Social Media to Work for Your Business

February 2, 2016 // ADP®

How to Make Social Media Work for Your Small Business

Whether you want to drive traffic to your website or create buzz around your products, having an effective presence on social media is a must. When you post social media content for your business, keep these best practices in mind.

Follow the 80/20 Rule

Brands that use social media to only talk about themselves are easy to tune out. So make sure that for every 10 things you post, 8 contain content that focuses on the needs of your audience. That sounds daunting, but you don’t have to create brilliant original content all the time. If you read something online from someone whose opinions you value, just repost that content to your own followers (making sure to credit the original writer).

Some topics that do make for good original content include answering common questions from your customers, talking about your entire industry or showing how your product or service can solve a problem. When you do directly promote your products or services, make sure it’s in a way that benefits your target audience, either through a discount or special offer.

Have a Social Media Policy

Unless you’re the only employee, it’s wise to spell out your company’s unique approach to social media so that employees understand what is expected of them when they post on the company’s behalf. This policy should cover who is allowed to post, whether employees should identify themselves when posting, what kinds of content are acceptable for posting and should deal with negative comments.

Know When to Post

Studies have shown that if you want consumers to click on a Twitter update, you have a better chance if you post tweets between noon and 2 p.m. People are likely to have downtime as they’re eating their lunch. But if you’re going for retweets, then you might want to try having an update around 6 p.m., since that’s when retweets peak as people increasingly spend their evening commute on social media.

Weekends are also good times to get in front of consumers on Twitter, as are Wednesdays. But if you’re targeting a B2B audience, then stick with normal business hours, that’s when companies prefer to engage with other companies, since they see that social activity as work.

With Facebook, engagement rates are higher on Thursdays and Fridays and much lower earlier in the week. By late in the week, people are itching for the weekend, so they’re spending time on social media instead of working. Like Twitter, Facebook content is most widely viewed at midday and in the afternoon.

Use Multiple Social Media Networks

The average social media user has five different accounts. If you hope to reach your target audience, spend time where they do. Since Instagram is all about images, you’ll want to make sure to put resources into the photos you share there. Twitter is great from promoting discounts and special offers. If you’re targeting older consumers, then make you’ve got engaging content on Facebook.

Videos Can Work

Consumers are increasingly expecting to find videos on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Amazingly, 79 percent of all online traffic is expected to be video by 2018. Today, brands are uploading videos to Facebook directly more than they are to YouTube, so to make your business shine, throw some videos into the social media mix.

Content is King for SEO

Google’s algorithms give less weight to sites that are stuffed with less keywords and more on content that’s relevant to those keywords. Focus on what your site says, not just how many keywords you can get into the text.

Having a high quality presence is essential in modern business, so make sure to make the most out of your company’s interest.

This blog does not provide legal, financial, accounting, or tax advice. This blog provides practical information on the subject matter. The content on this blog is “as is” and carries no warranties. ADP does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy, reliability, and completeness of the content on this blog.

ADP®

ADP® is one of the world’s largest HR organizations. We are leaders in HR outsourcing, systems and solutions – in everything from basic payroll, benefits and record keeping to complex tools for recruiting, compensation, succession planning and data analytics. We focus on what we do best – be it systems, process or compliance – so you can concentrate on what your business does the best – because thriving businesses succeed with motivated and empowered people. We know your purpose isn’t simply better process – it’s building a business on a better workforce.