32 Tips for Social Media Domination

The Big Question: With the social media world changing

so fast, are you keeping up?

Social media has been around for a long time by internet standards.

But marketers are still coming to grips with how to effectively tell

their story on social.

At NewsCred, we talk to hundreds of clients every day, and understand the common pain points that our customers face on social media.

This deck captures the latest social media changes and best practices across the networks most important to NewsCred:

Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

What are we going to cover?

•  Social Media Channel Overview •  KPI Overview

•  Best Practices

Social Media Channel Overview

Channel Overview Introduction Before we can talk about social media best practices, we first need to examine each platform: what it is, how to use it, and its current demographics.

•  First, some noteworthy statistics:

•  52% of online adults now use two of more social media sites

•  56% of all online adults 65 and older use Facebook

•  53% of internet-using young adults ages 18-29 use Instagram

•  50% of internet users with college educations use LinkedIn

http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/09/social-media-update-2014/

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

Associations Photo/status sharing, video, pop culture, staying in touch, news sourcing, long-form content

Breaking news, “snackable” content, trending topics, fastest way to share/receive information

Thought leadership, education, branded content, medium-to-long form content, networking

How It Works Posts appear in feeds, profiles, and brand pages

Posts appear in feeds and on profiles, posts get buried fastest

Influencer posts appear at top of page, updates from people and brands

Who Uses it? 1.31 billion active monthly users, growing 50+ audience

284 million monthly users, educated, high-income, under 50

313 million members in 200+ countries, college grads are fastest-growing demographic

Social Channel Overview

KPI Overview

KPI Overview Introduction What is a KPI? KPI stands for “key performance indicator.” KPI measurement is

essential for all marketing, especially on social media. But while metrics are

key, there is a not a one-size-fits-all measurement on social. Each platform

has a unique set of KPIs that should be analyzed and measured.

KPI Overview What are we measuring? •  Brand awareness, engagement, and lead

generation

The obstacle?

•  KPI measurement is difficult for everyone

The solution?

•  Measure what you care about, and agree on it

with your marketing team

1 ZenithOptimedia

2 Kelsey Cox - Column Five

We’re pretty much just reporting numbers, even though we know these are not as accurate as they

could be. 2

79% of marketing pros said two of

their biggest obstacles are measuring online social media

(79%) and demonstrating return on investment (85%). 1

”

“

”

“

KPI Overview

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

Brand Awareness Page likes, page visits, impressions, reach

Followers, impressions, reach, follower/following ratio

Company page likes, page views, visitors

Engagement Post likes, comments, shares, clicks, “stories created”

RTs, favorites, replies, @mentions, clicks, engagement rate

Likes, comments, shares, clicks, engagement

Lead Generation Link clicks to form or gated page, blog subscribe

Lead generation card clicks, link clicks to gated page, blog subscribe

Link clicks to form or gated page

Best Practices

Best Practices Introduction Once you’ve established what social media platforms make the most sense for your brand and what KPIs you are going to

measure, it’s time to make sure your strategy is set. This is where

understanding the best practices of each network is essential.

Think of it this way, the more you know about social media, the

more you will be able to grow your brand and push past your

competitors.

Here are a few best practices that every social media marketer

needs to keep in mind.

Best Practices: Overall •  Establish a unique voice and stick with it

•  Be transparent and authentic

•  Give due credit to authors and sources

•  Make sure images are optimized for both desktop and mobile

•  Maintain a consistent cadence

•  Maintain a variety of content: original, licensed, UGC

•  Respond to fans (and haters) in a timely manner

•  Truly know your audience

Best Practices: Twitter

•  Cadence: NewsCred shares 1 tweet an hour, 7 days a week between 8am-2am

for maximum engagement across

different time zones

•  Don’t be afraid to post the same tweet

more than once – or with A/B variations

•  Say thanks – it’s the most effective way to

increase organic engagement and

followers

*Companies who test are 75% more likely to show ROI for content

marketing than those who fail to test their strategies.

Best Practices: Twitter

•  Interact with your audience on a human-to-human level – take a look at Pandora

and White Castle

•  Be visual: tweets with photos are 150%

more likely to be retweeted (78% of user

engagement with a brand’s tweets are via

retweeting)

•  Tweets with 100-130 characters get the

most engagement and retweets

Best Practices: Facebook

•  Cadence: NewsCred posts 2x per day, 5-7 days per week to align with

when our audience is most active

•  Visuals are the most crucial element

to Facebook – posts with photos

get 53% more likes, 104% more

comments, 84% more click-throughs

•  Content: should be varied, with a

mix of cultural and educational

posts

Best Practices: LinkedIn

•  Cadence: NewsCred posts 2x per day, 5-7 days per week to reach our

audience at peak activity levels

•  LinkedIn posts must be more than

company updates and recruiting

posts – you need informative

content too

•  Voice: LinkedIn is most authoritative

of the three platforms due to its

well-educated demographics

Building Brand Awareness

Building Brand Awareness: Introduction

Creating brand awareness on social requires strategic thinking, in addition to organic and paid methods. This is one

of the most important aspects of social media marketing, and

the key to success is knowing where your audience is.

Here are some of the ways to reach your target audience

using a combination of both paid and organic methods.

Create Content for the Right Context

Twitter – Has the shortest shelf-life for content, but can generate substantial engagement from retweets, favorites,

and @mentions.

Facebook – 75% of a post’s impressions and reach will have been

made within the first five hours of posting.

Pinterest – Evergreen and SEO friendly content can continue to

generate buzz long after the publishing date.

People behave differently on each platform.

Buzzfeed 2014

Build Brand Awareness + Engagement Organically

•  Recycle your content: keep posting until it’s dead

•  Grow your audience: follow people you care about

•  It’s not all about you: like or favorite other posts

•  Trending: use tweetable words or hashtags ONLY if they

make sense

https://blog.bufferapp.com/twitter-tips-get-more-followers

Most ReTweetable Words & Phrases

1  you

2  twitter

3  please

4  retweet

5  post

6  blog

7  social

8  free

9  media

10  help

10  please retweet

11  great

12  social media

13  10

14  follow

15  how to

16  top

17  blog post

18  check out

19  new blog post

Brand Fail •  This is what happens when brands

use a trending hashtag for the sake

of gaining visibility – without

understanding the meaning behind

the hashtag

•  Hint: it almost never works

http://www.businessinsider.com/13-epic-twitter-fails-by-big-brands-2012-2

•  There are many ways to boost brand awareness with paid spend:

•  Twitter: promoted tweets, lead generation

cards, web cards, etc.

•  Facebook: boosted posts, ad sets

•  LinkedIn: sponsored updates, ad campaigns

•  Unsure about which to use? A/B test until you get

it right

Build Brand Awareness + Engagement with Paid

Blog Subscribe A/B Test: A Success Story

•  NewsCred tested identical Twitter campaigns driving to our blog subscribe landing page

•  We wanted to see what type of paid tweet

would perform best: promoted tweet, web

card, or lead generation card

•  We found that promoted tweets and lead

generation card were the most effective

•  As of our Dec. 1 campaign, we gained 1,000+

blog subscribes – 14% of these turn into leads

A Few Items to Suggest – Pro Tips •  .@ mention for tweets to show up in

your timeline (not in replies)

•  Know your audience. Leverage

technology (like NewsCred!) that provides

search, social, and audience behavior

analytics to give you a full picture of who

your audience is and what they want

•  Visuals are key – blatant stock images

won’t cut it

•  Think about the “burrito effect” – if someone has time to eat a burrito,

they have time to check their social

media accounts

•  Ideally, you should engage with everyone

who @mentions you, across all platforms

•  Remember there’s a human on both

sides of the computer – act like it and

you’ll be rewarded!

Ready to take your social media marketing

to the next level?

We’d love to help. NewsCred is the world’s leading content marketing platform.

We’re powering marketing technology for the future – helping brands

transform the way they connect with people, build brand love, and win

more customers. Our software enables top brands such as Pepsi, P&G,

Dell, General Electric, and AIG to create amazing content experiences

with simplicity, speed, and global scale.

We’re on a mission to help marketers create content people love, and

prove that great storytelling will drive long-term business growth.

Learn more at newscred.com and follow us on Twitter @newscred.

Thank you!

Ready to create amazing content? Contact NewsCred for a free demo today! NewsCred.com • Sales@NewsCred.com • +1 (212) 989 4100 • @newscred