One of the most important measurements for any work done on social media is engagement and interaction. This is notoriously difficult to examine with accuracy. There are a range of tools and services out there but they often return different results and because social is so fluid, you often find people using multiple tools to get the best information possible. Even onsite analytics can be misleading and don’t provide the depth you want. While I could probably write an entire paper or e-book on social media and the various ins and outs, I’ve listed three of the biggest factors that you should be aware of.
Identify your audience
I’ve harked on about this so many times in previous blog posts for so many different reasons but that’s because it is simply so important! Your audience are the ones you who will engage with whatever it is you are doing and if you are activity isn’t something they’re interested in then you’ve got the fundamentals of this resource wrong straight away.
It doesn’t always have to be about the brand or product but there should be a link. On occasion, random content designed for humour can be a good selection itself but if you are a carpet retailer, for example, and your content is focusing on gardens then there’s something missing – unless something has happened to cover both industries but otherwise you are only potentially reaching a small niche in your market.
My last series of blog posts covered the main different types of content and if you’re not sure what is available to you, this can be a good way to get an introduction to them.
Be patient
One thing to keep in mind with your social media efforts is that things won’t happen the instant you send a post, tweet or update live. It needs to be seen by other people, who may not be looking at the time. It then depends on the mood of your audience – is the content in line with what they want on that day, at that time?
You need to capture the attention of the big influencers among your audience – the ones who are going to share it and that action alone will bring interactions and further shares. If it doesn’t have the impact you hoped for, then you need to address this for the rest of your campaign. Social media is an ever changing medium.
This can be hard to predict but if you play it safe, you’ll never have as big an impact as you want.
Take risks
It’s far too easy to play it safe when it comes to social media. You do need to be careful what you are doing, who you are engaging, why and how as well as much more. The thing is, it doesn’t have to be the best thing out there if it is the newest, most original and relevant to your audience. These factors are more important than being the best and because social changes on a daily basis, things can and will change very quickly.
Social media is not a 9-5 job every Monday to Friday. You might operate mainly in these hours but there’s a chance a large part of your audience does too and you need to be ready to engage with them on their terms and at their times. This means whoever is managing your accounts has to be on hand too. You can make plans and schedule updates but the engagement can and does happen at any time. You need to be ready for it.
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