Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last 15 years, you’re probably not surprised by this statement: Social media is firmly entrenched in our daily lives. In fact, the average amount of time adults are spending on social media right now is higher than ever at 95 minutes per day.
For business users, LinkedIn remains the gold standard for connecting and networking, with 58 million companies on the platform and four out of five members identified as business-decision drivers. The latter is likely why 94 percent of B2B marketers are also on LinkedIn.
Of course, there’s a big difference between merely having a social presence and using such platforms to effectively engage your audience. Following are our “five Bs” for maximizing your social efforts:
- Be responsive. While what you post can help establish your expertise on a topic, to build meaningful connections with others, it’s vital to do more. Interacting by sharing or commenting on other people’s posts, or replying to their comments on your posts, opens the door to dialog and familiarity—which in turn leads to trust. Although it takes a bit longer, comments are always more impactful than simple “likes,” so avoid the temptation when possible. (#protip: Set aside ten minutes twice a day to check your social feeds and engage by commenting, sharing, and responding.)
- Be creative. It helps to break through the noise by engaging with others in different ways on social platforms, especially if you’re a business. Conducting occasional giveaways or opinion polls, for example, is a departure from the mundane and can boost engagement. Likewise, opt for posts that include an interesting graphic or image as opposed to being text-only.
- Be length appropriate. Different social platforms have different “sweet spots” for post length, so familiarize yourself with them. Twitter, for example, limits Tweets to 250 characters. This article by the Content Marketing Institute says that while 1,000-words-or-less posts tend to dominate on LinkedIn, the most shared ones are longer—1,000 to 3,000 words.
- Be timely. Similar to post length is post timing, or knowing exactly when to post to capture maximum eyeballs. Optimal days and times vary by platform and the audience you’re trying to reach, so do your online homework. The best times to post on LinkedIn, for instance, are Tuesdays through Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon. We also generally recommend that companies post three to five times per week to appear regularly in their audience’s feeds.
- Be balanced. Let’s face it—if you’re a business on social, your end game is to sell. But full-court presses are sure to cause engagement rates to freefall. The most important aspect of social selling (not to be confused with social marketing; we explain the difference here) is to develop credibility. Spend the majority of your time offering your subject matter expertise and perspectives on industry trends or topics, not talking about why your technology is the best. When the time comes that your followers need a solution like yours, they’ll likely seek you out since they’ve already come to know and trust you through your social presence.
Need help optimizing an engagement strategy for LinkedIn or another social platform? Carabiner offers profile audit/optimization, coaching (individual and teams), and content development designed to get results. Connect with us today to learn more.