On social media, everyone strives to get noticed. With all the noise, how do you get signal through to your audience?

Engagement

People learn to filter out uninteresting content. Choose a strategy that engages audiences with a consistent voice. Whether fun and playful, serious and confrontational or curious and inquisitive, your social media persona should be conversant with your audience. Respond to customer comments. Give shoutouts to people who love your brand, and to any partners in your success. Share interesting, relevant posts. Consider contests, giveaways and offering exclusive deals to your followers.

Images and Video on Social Media

The best way to drive engagement: include images and video in your posts. Tons of research backs this up:

• Four times as many consumers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it.
• Over 60% of consumers say companies that use video know how to reach their audience.
• Infographics are liked and shared three times more than any other type of content on social media.
• Facebook posts with images get 2.3 times more engagement than those without. Tweets with images are 150% more likely to be retweeted than tweets without.
• YouTube reaches more adults during primetime viewing hours than any cable TV network.

Authority

What happens on social media stays on social media. Even if you delete a post, the Internet remembers. Make sure any links or posts you share contain quality information from a reliable source. This builds trust with your followers.

Social Media Analytics

Businesses invest time and money in social media management. A great strategy requires expertise and the ability to create content based on data. Social media metrics are comprehensive, and careful analytics enable account managers to craft ROI-driven content.

Social Media Ads vs Posts

The efficacy of paid content varies across social media platforms. 95% of social media marketers say Facebook offers the best ROI, followed by Twitter. Instagram and LinkedIn nearly tie for third place. Pinterest, Slideshare and Snapchat lag significantly. Paid social media ads target specific audiences to make campaigns more efficient. Often, analyzing which of your free posts perform the best in terms of clicks, likes, shares and comments shapes your paid strategy.

Want to manage all of your social media channels and view analytics from one dashboard? Check out our So-Shell app for social media managers.