What Are The Current Social Media Best Practices?

Simply having social media accounts is one thing, but using them effectively is whole other ball game. While it's true that being present on social media is half the battle, there are a lot of ways companies can optimize their feeds to create interesting and engaging profiles. For the purposes of this post, I'll explore the best ways to use two of the most important platforms on the web: Twitter and Instagram.

Using Twitter effectively, like anything else, requires time and effort. While anyone can type out 140 characters in a few seconds and circulate it through their following, thinking more carefully about type of content and timing can help users leave a bigger impact on the web. Though brands will inevitably do some things differently based on need, here are some universal practices that can help out any user:

• Use a profile picture that clearly depicts the brand logo. Companies should want their avatar to be instantly recognized by anyone scrolling their timeline. Keeping a familiar logo as the main photo accomplishes this.
• Companies should also make sure their background photo (and cover photo) are branded. They may use an alternate logo or design, but there should be a level of consistency between profile photo and ancillary artwork.
• Profile descriptions should include, at the very minimum, company website and location. Companies would do well to also post short bio for what the brand is about, accolades and accomplishments, as well as favored hashtags.
• Tweet several times daily. Though the number may vary based on the type of organization, it is crucial to get at least a few tweets up a day.
• Time your tweets. Companies should have a calendar as well as a daily schedule for tweeting that best matches their consumer base. Though timing varies considerably, the general rule is that weekends are best for engagement, and during the most important during-the-week tweets should go up near the end of the workday (5-6pm).
• In terms of actual content, there should be a comfortable mix between text, photo, video and links to other sites. This will skew based on type of company, but it's important to consider all media forms when tweeting.
• Brands should make use of hashtags, but not in an exploitative manner. Instead of using 10 hashtags to increase a posts connectivity, use one or two that best fit the content without seeming spammy.
• Brands should actively seek out their consumers and engage them. Reply to comments both positive and negative to show consumers they are interested in what they have to say.
• Creating new, brand specific hashtags is also a good way of engaging consumers and generating buzz.
• Stay aware of relevant trends can capitalize on them, even if they're unrelated to the brand and/or industry. It doesn't have to be all about the company, all the time.

Now that we've looked at some ways to best use Twitter, lets move on to Instagram. Here are some general pointers for companies looking to optimize their Instagram feed.

• Like Twitter, brands should use an easily recognizable logo as their main picture. Though this is probably of slightly lesser importance on Instagram, it's still a good practice to keep.
• Pictures posted on Instagram should be consistent with brand identity. This doesn't mean every picture needs a company logo- but the vibe and feeling of the brand should shine through no matter what the picture depicts. Followers should feel like they're truly "experiencing" the brand. Easier said than done of course, but this is of utmost importance.
• Though this may seem obvious, pictures should be of professional quality. This means making sure there is no blurriness, the colors pop, and there is an inherent aesthetic appeal. Instagram makes this easy by providing filters, but companies must also make sure the original picture quality is up to par. 
• Instagram content should be exclusive to a degree. There is value in knowing there is only one place to see certain photos, and it gives people a reason to follow.
• Brands should shine a light on the parties that help make them successful. This means brands should show appreciation by displaying photos of employees, customers, partners, and anyone else who helps their success. 
• Content should seem thoughtful- don't post a picture just to post something. Make sure every post is compelling and relevant in its own way.
• Hashtags are welcome, though like Twitter, there is such thing as oversaturation. Similarly, captions should be short and sweet as to not lose the viewers attention.
• Frequency and timing of posts is important. Just like Twitter, companies should update their feed at least daily, and should tailor the time of their posts to their consumers. Once again, weekends are the best for engagement.
• Share Instagram photos on other social channels for maximum exposure, including Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, etc.

References

https://business.twitter.com/best-practices

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/belle-beth-cooper/a-scientific-guide-to-pos_b_4262571.html

http://instagram-business.tumblr.com/post/29441248656/instagram-best-practices-to-see-more-tips-and

How Is Social Media Activity Measured?

It's not an easy task for organizations to determine how effective their social media presence is at achieving their goals. Though users can get a rough glance at their popularity through the standard number of "likes" or "follows," it takes more than that to truly measure consumer engagement. In order to paint a more complete picture of how an organization uses social media, and how their consumers engage with it, it is important to look at the analytics. Luckily for these companies, there are now a ton of sites out their that specialize in analyzing social media presence.

One commonly used metric is referred to as "impressions." An impression, according to Simply Measured, "...demonstrates the impact you’ve had on those users and the audience it’s helped you reach beyond your inner circle of influence" (Shively). In other words, impressions help users get a better sense of their interconnectivity with the rest of the social universe. This is a good indicator of whether or not something has gone "viral" or not. Impressions take into account things like "retweets," "shares" and "mentions," combining all the data to figure out how far a message really reaches. However, though impressions tell companies how many screens, feeds and timelines they pop up on, they don't take into account how users engage with a message. So although a high number of impressions is always a good sign, there is much more to the picture.

Focusing on the consumer sentiment, in addition to total impressions, has become of utmost importance. While "likes" and "follows" may imply a brand is popular and well-regarded, they can't tell us exactly how consumers engage with it. The actual content of the consumer messages is crucial. The good news is that it has become easier to track these things, as most social networks have implemented search bars, hashtags, and other sorting tools that are at the user's fingertips from the get-go. This makes for an easy, albeit somewhat crude way of tracking ones own social media activity. Though this could be sufficient for small companies, large corporations often need more sophisticated tracking technology for a reliable measure of their reach and the degree of consumer engagement. Your average mom-and-pop business might be able to see all of their consumer engagement with a simple search through the social media site itself, but a company like Pepsi with several million followers needs a more efficient way of measuring collective consumer sentiment.

Many sites have emerged that track consumer sentiment across social media, using algorithms to determine whether a post is positive, negative or neutral. One such site is Trackur, though many others exist. The site essentially works by "reading" social media posts related to your brand and analyzing key words and phrases to determine the overall sentiment of the post. These sentiments are then combined into one "score" that a company can use to determine its "social influence." Though there are flaws to using automated technology to track consumer emotion (ex. sarcasm detection), it's a useful tool and the best way for large scale companies to manage their vast consumer base.

Additionally, there are a host of tools that track who is engaging with a brand. The most popular site is probably Google Analytics, which can track daily visits to a site, the demographics of users, how they got to the site, how long they stay, and which pieces of content are most and least popular (Honeysett). However, the big social media sites like Facebook and Twitter also have their own analytics that can be accessed through their sites.

Overall, social media analytics is a growing field, and there are now many companies that specialize in the discipline. Whatever sites companies choose to use, total impressions, consumer sentiment and user demographics are incredibly important. By using these more advanced metrics to measure social media presence, companies can get a better picture of the state of their brand than ever before.

References

Honeysett, Alex. "4 Ways to Measure Your Social Media Success." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 22 Aug. 2012. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.

Shively, Kevin. "Twitter Metrics Defined: Potential Impressions." Simply Measured RSS. N.p., 29 May 2013. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.