More than ever, search engines are monitoring your performance on social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn (just to name a few). I want to touch on the basics of what these are and what will help you succeed in your social media marketing efforts.
As you know, social media is a platform where people can interact with each other. What you might not know is that search engines are now using social media to help them understand what people are saying about your brand. This means that if you’re not active on social media, you’re missing out on an opportunity to improve your search engine ranking.
You post a piece of content on Facebook – Your fans then “engage” with that post by commenting, liking, or sharing your creation. This “engagement” (AKA social signals) is what really matters. It’s not the number of posts you make, nor the amount of words you write… It’s the number of likes, shares, comments, re-tweets, thumbs ups, views, subscribes, +1’s, Facebook reactions, and any other behavior in which a person publicly interacts with your pages, posts, or business profiles.
So again, the most important metric that Google, Bing, and Yahoo measure, is the number of people who interacted with any of your content offerings on social media platforms. These can take the form of anything really; your videos, photos, blog-style posts, quotes, etc.
Importance of Social Media Engagement for Your Brand
The social interactions that really move the needle are those in which people spend the most time. These are called “long-form content” and they include things like blog posts, infographics, eBooks, and whitepapers.
While short-form content (status updates, tweets, etc.) is still important, long-form content is what will really help you succeed in social media marketing. The reason long-form content is so important is because it demonstrates your ability to create something of value. It shows that you’re not just a one-hit wonder, but someone who is consistently producing high-quality content. This type of content also allows you to build trust with your audience. Trust is essential if you want people to buy from you, or even just listen to what you have to say.
How Often Should You Post on Social Media?
Although posting more frequently leads to more opportunities for fan or follower engagement, if you over-do it, you may also annoy your loyal subscribers to the point where they see your efforts as spam. This will likely earn yourself an “unfollow”.
It’s a delicate balancing act to post often enough to attract the right amount of attention, while avoiding going overboard to the point of overstaying your welcome on your users’ newsfeeds.
A general rule of thumb for one industry could be to post 1-3 times per day on Facebook, 3-5 times per day on Twitter, and 1-2 times per day on LinkedIn. These are just guidelines for a general business though, and you should experiment to see what works best for your brand and your audience.
