Sunday, December 20, 2015

16 Social Media Tips for 2016

With the start of 2016 on the horizon, marketing and media experts are making a variety of predictions about the future of social media. Will Facebook take over Google or vice versa? Will Twitter still be in existence at the end of 2016? What will be the next trendsetting platform? No matter which social platforms your business prefers, there is no denying that social media marketing is a key component of all brand building. Therefore, here are 16 tips from social media experts to improve your social media activity throughout 2016.

[1] Jim Joseph (@JimJosephExp)
Find your social media voice, and be consistent in not only what you post but the tone you take in your posts. Are you serious, comical, witty, or snarky? You should decide this up front and make it a part of your social media brand.

[2] Kathi Kruse (@kathikruse)
Brands must do a better job of generating employee engagement and participation in content marketing. Employees, especially salespeople, are the fountain of quality information that your customers crave. Start with a social media policy, provide training, make content submission easy, establish WIIFM (what’s in it for me), and encourage growth of employees’ personal brands. Employee expertise = quality content!

[3] Paul Biedermann (@PaulBiedermann)
Social media is now a part of our every day and so ingrained within our society that simply “doing social media” is not enough. Carving your own niche is becoming increasingly important but ever more difficult to do. Establishing a truly unique, personal brand and sharing content of only the highest caliber will continue to set you apart and build trust – your only hope for deepening those relationships most important to your business.

[4] Rich Gallagher (@gallagherPOC)
Set response standards and stick with them. Social media is now a routine, legitimate communications channel just like the telephone, and your responsiveness brands you in every channel. If you wouldn’t ignore a voice mail or email, don’t let Tweets or Facebook posts sit in limbo either.

[5] Heather Coleman Voss (@HeatherEColeman)
Social media, ultimately, is about building strong professional relationships through the use of various platforms. It’s about engaging, working together, and building something greater than we can individually.

[6] Elaine Fogel (@Elaine_Fogel)
It doesn’t matter how many people follow you on social media. What matters is how many of them fall within your target audiences, respond to your call to action or content, and become sharers, business leads, and customers.

[7] Phil Gerbyshak (@PhilGerb)
Do short videos that address one problem your customers have or offer one insightful story and then use the recording of the video as the basis for longer form content (i.e., blog posts, email newsletters, Tweets, Facebook posts, or LinkedIn posts) and more. A short video with full energy shot on your mobile phone will go further than just text any day. Bonus points if you experiment with Blab or Periscope to get your customers and prospects involved in your video.

[8] Neen James (@neenjames)
Invest 15 minutes each day paying attention to others and share their brilliance. Give people a virtual hug by focusing on what’s important to them, recognize their success, give shout-outs, make recommendations, write testimonials, and promote their content.

[9] Mike Kunkle (@Mike_Kunkle)
As social media becomes more mainstream for business professionals, and especially for sales professionals, we’re seeing much more bad behavior spill over from other media such as email and telephone. In 2016, ease up, remember your manners, and if you’re in sales, stop pouncing on buyers immediately after you connect with them. The power of social networks is the ability to build relationships, support others, earn trust, and nurture interest – before asking for a commitment or a sale.

[10] Amy McCloskey Tobin (@amymcctobin)
Turn back to LinkedIn and reassess its value as a networking and distribution tool. As much as we like to complain about the spam fest that is LinkedIn Groups, there is still nothing like this network for professional networking.

[11] Gina Schreck (@GinaSchreck)
Plan out your potential client journey from social media initial contact to qualified lead. Most people use social media to broadcast information about their company without giving much thought as to how they will convert LIKES into LEADS. Create “value offers” such as whitepapers, special video tips, and tip sheets that people would be willing to exchange for their email address. Now create a landing page to capture the emails and a great graphic that has your “Download our free whitepaper on (add an expertise of your business here).” Once you have these in place, use the graphic call-to-action at the bottom of blog posts and strategic spots on your website. You then use social media to send people to each blog post or even use the graphic as a social post. NOW, you will see a greater return on your social investment.

[12] Jenn Herman (@jenns_trends)
2016 will be the year to put your “face” in front of your audience. Whether through videos or live streaming, you will be expected to interact more personally and authentically with your customers and audience through video methods.

[13] David Schwartz (@1ad_dad)
We have entered a point when we need to start to look at social media in conjunction with our media plans. We can no longer silo social media and media. Facebook, for all intents and purposes, is a paid medium for brands. The other networks will be sure to follow. What this means is you need to include paid social dollars as part of your media plan, so consider greater segmentation and targeting on the new found mediums.

[14] Lyn Boyer (@Lyn_boyer)
Pin your most recent work to the top of your site/social pages so your network can help to promote your latest work.

[15] Peter Hillard (@Mr_hillard)
Just because you have 20,000 followers does not make them customers or clients.  It is imperative to engage like-minded people and keep them engaged. So 2,000 real followers can turn into 20,000 real customers/clients with time and effort.

[16] Amanda Brazel (@AmandaBrazel)
Focus on your business goals and the development of your brand’s message. Then execute with action and energy.

If you don’t follow these experts on Twitter, check out their handles as noted above following their names. They add incredible value to the Twitterverse and also on other social platforms. I thank these amazing social media experts for appearing on my blog and wish everyone a happy and successful 2016!


Image Credit: Stuart Miles via FreeDigitalPhotos.net