Social Media Posts That Will Help Your Company Gain More Followers

Simply asking people to “like you” on Facebook is awkwardly similar to asking your middle school crush to just “like you.” We doubt you used that strategy then (and if you did we can’t imagine it was incredibly effective), so why use it now with social media? One approach to increasing your following on any social media platform is to communicate with your existing followers in a way that promotes engagement and social sharing, which consequently generates positive exposure for your company. Create posts that are:

• Funny: Although Charles Dickens wasn’t talking about social media when he said “there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor,” his words are most certainly applicable. Posting humorous content such as jokes, pictures, memes, videos and anything else that will make someone “lol” is highly likely to result in a substantial amount of social shares and expand your reach.

• Questions: When using social media, remember that it should be about them, not you. Don’t just haphazardly post boring information about your company and its products and services; your audience isn’t on social media for that. Instead, be engaging and encourage conversation by asking your followers to answer a question, fill in the blank, offer an opinion or anything else of that nature. Such interaction will not only strengthen your existing relationships, but it will multiply your audience and provide you the opportunity to build new ones.  

• Helpful: People always appreciate helpful tips and other information that may benefit them. Additionally, 94% of people consider how helpful a post would be to a friend before posting or re-posting it (Source: Marketo). In order to expand your reach through social sharing, try posting information that can help your followers and/or their friends save time, save money, create efficiencies, solve a problem or anything else beneficial that’s related to your business. 

• Current: News spreads like wildfire on social media, and being a source of that information can be advantageous for brand awareness, likability and therefore, the acquisition of new followers. Regularly posting breaking news or any other current information specific to your industry is likely to result in social sharing that will generate exposure for your company.

• Interesting: Trivia is incredibly popular. There are almost 50,000 Google searches a month for the word “trivia” (there’s some trivia for you!). iTunes has apps for it. Bars have nights for it. Television has shows for it. The reason for such prevalence is simple: people enjoy learning interesting information, and they love to share it. To promote social sharing and expand your reach, be the Snapple cap of the social media world and occasionally post information that is thought-provoking or just plain interesting.

• Relatable: 68% of people share content to give others a better sense of who they are (Source: Marketo). Therefore, it’s essential to strongly consider your audience and post content that will resonate with them. Doing so will increase the probability they will share your post in an effort to more clearly express who they are as an individual to their friends and followers, creating exposure and opportunity for your company.

• Visual: 44% of respondents are more likely to engage with brands if they post pictures than any other media (Source: ROI Research). Images have the ability to communicate a substantial amount of information in a way that is quick, effective and memorable. Additionally, images are more likely to generate an emotional response, increasing the chances that your followers will feel a true connection to what you are communicating – and consequently the chances they will want to share it with others. In short, use images!

• Don’t forget to look at analytics: Most social media platforms record information regarding the performance of your posts.  You can, and should, regularly analyze this data to determine the types of posts that produce high levels of engagement and post more content that aligns with that criteria.

For more information about developing effective social media strategies, contact ZAG Interactive.

• Social Media