Social Media Best Practices to Carry into 2021
With 2020 in the dust and a clean, refreshing slate for 2021 on the horizon, we wanted to acknowledge the importance of staying up to speed with the ever-evolving world of social media. Blindsided by the pandemic last year, companies were forced to restrategize, pivot, and think outside the box not just when it came to the ongoing pursuit of strengthening their social presence, but when executing campaigns and smashing new goals as well.
We tapped into our team of pros to lend their knowledge and favorite tips they found to be extra successful in the Wild West that was 2020 — and why you should bring each helpful tidbit into this New Year.
Human connection is key.
Jules, CX Manager
Using human insight to get under the skin of the data means you can turn analytics into action, transforming your marketing and the consumer experience to resonate with the audience. You can win not just their heads, but their hearts.
Be consistent with posting. Do it for you, the brand, and the connection of community. Your content shouldn’t always need to be perfectly curated or data driven; moments do matter. When something just feels good to people/community, it’s the most beautiful unplanned result. When keeping your pulse on social as a whole, you have to look, listen and deliver — especially when it comes down to the core of social and what just one organic piece of content can do!
Go live and engage. Be authentic. Be where your audience is.
Michelle, Account Director
With annual conventions, in-person meetings and industry events still mostly canceled, people are online now more than ever for brand awareness and interaction. This is why you should be going live, and often, no matter the platform! Captivate your audience with relevant information and leave the digital floor open to questions from the community in real time to keep the conversation going.
A tried and true favorite: be authentic and real with posts by showing your honest self. Posting personality promotes relatability and connection — both feelings your growing audience subconsciously looks for when not only scrolling, but interacting.
Maintain a consistent presence wherever your audience is. Whether it’s TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, or social media’s most recent phenomenon, Clubhouse, (or all of the above!), create a content calendar, and make it a point to share meaningful content during prime posting times based on your analytics for maximum visibility.
Utilize Influencer Generated Content (IGC) to create authentic and fresh social content for your brand.
Sara, Account Director, Influencer Manager
Throughout COVID and all of the unforeseen obstacles in 2020, brands were still able to collaborate with influencers to help humanize their brand and assist with navigating sensitive topics. Influencer-generated content (IGC) gained traction as many brands found themselves in situations where they couldn’t conduct their normal shoots. IGC provided an agile approach in creating a high volume of content that tended to perform better than many studio-shot counterparts.
*Influencer content on social media earns more than 8X the engagement rate than brand-directed content.
*Social campaigns that incorporate influencer-generated content see a 50% lift in engagement, per research by Salesforce.
Educational carousels will continue to drive engagement.
Cristina, Social Media Manager
Over the past year, Instagram carousel posts have become such a beneficial tool for promoting educational content. It’s an incredibly visual way to engage with your audience while increasing education about your industry or product.
Think of carousel posts as mini-tutorials. Giving your audience that opportunity to swipe to the next slide has proven to be quite interactive, which means it’s time to take advantage of this very effective feature. Using a fun font and color palette that align with your brand is crucial, as is keeping the slides snackable in size. Compelling content leads to shareable content, resulting in more eyes on your brand and message.
A/B test and build on what performs best.
Paige, Content Producer
As features and platforms (sometimes platforms within platforms) continue to roll out, it’s important to test and learn to see if there’s any value in creating content for EVERY platform. What works on Instagram for some clients may work better for others on Pinterest or Facebook. A/B testing comes into play when trying to narrow down what messaging and content types generate the most engagement along with seeing which calls to action are delivering the highest conversion rates. Pro tip: The numbers don’t lie. Make more of what’s performing and keep testing!
If the previous year has taught us anything in our social media-centric world, it’s that we need to be able to adapt to overcome any obstacles, all the while knowing that it is still possible to lead successful marketing strategies for our clients by remaining innovative, flexible and focused.
Smarty Social Media is a full-service social media marketing agency based in Southern California with a specialization in healthcare and wellness.
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