Social Media Marketing has become an essential part of digital marketing. Due to greater potential conversion, many big companies invest a lot of money in social media marketing. Marketers know the value of social media to bring a real audience that helps them to grab organic traffic. But as we all know, the social media landscape keeps changing in a flash. So keeping up to date with each practice might be difficult for you. However, to rule the business in social media accounts, you must keep yourself updated. And for your ease, we’ve covered some social media best practices that you should follow.

Why is social media marketing important?

If we take a look from a business point of view, there is no other place better than social media to connect with your audience because a large amount of the audience is engaged in at least one social media account. 

 In terms of marketing strategy, social media offers many things to do and many different ways to do it. The privacy functions and the features provided by each platform are different because they are unique in their design. Each one follows its guidelines. 

The data provided by sprout socials shows that 80% of surveyed consumers are likely to buy the products on social networking sites due to brand familiarity. It’s huge. So, social media marketing is very important. If you need some updated news about social media best practices that you should follow in 2022, you’ve come to the right place.

Social media best practices that you should follow in 2022

Brands on social networking sites must focus on making a social media strategy that helps them grow their audience. But the strategy that you have made for one platform might not work well for another. So, you have to make different strategies for each platform. Following are the social media best practices that you should follow.

Know your target audience 

 Who is your target audience? Gen Y, Gen Z, kids, single mom? What do they want from you?

The main purpose of choosing social media platforms for marketing is to connect with the audience. But if you don’t know about your target audience, how can you connect with them and satisfy them. You need to do comprehensive research, such as their age, income, nationality, what kind of product they buy, etc.

Choose the best platform for your business.

Many marketers make the mistake of being on every social media. It is not necessary to be actively active on every social networking site. Research the demographics and determine which social media account is suitable for your use. Know about your target audience and decide which platform is good for your business. And use another platform for alternatives.

For example, if your business focuses on the young generation, Snapchat and Instagram are better places because they have maximum users of young age. But you can use Facebook to let the user know your brand.

Share engaging and diversified content.

Think of yourself as social media and its content like food. Wouldn’t you get bored if you ate the same food every day? The answer is right here.

If you post the same thing on social networking sites without making it creative and engaging, your audience will get bored. So, don’t get stuck around image content type. Though brands in social media mostly incorporate image content, they generate a lower engagement rate. Besides images, you can use videos, stories, GIFs, and polls to share your content.

“Focus on quality, not on quantity.”

Increase the quality of your content by sharing creative, trendy, funny, and attention-grabbing content. As the brand and marketer on social media, you must know what type of content your audience loves to see and then design your content according to that.

Set goals

How do you determine your success if you start social media marketing without setting goals? How would you know what is working for you and which thing you need to put on your focus?

“Never lack goal.”

So, never start your business without goals. Set your goals according to current best practices. So if anything falls apart, it would be easier for you to see where and what goes wrong. Your goals should be Specific, Measurable, Aspirational, Relevant, and Time-Based(SMART). The goal should stretch your abilities and use the metrics to measure your progress towards goals. Set fixed figures and a particular time to achieve it.

Have a plan for a specific event 

Goals are not enough. Without any plan, how can you get success? You can use the social media calendar to plan. 

“A goal without a plan is only a dream.”

Popular events such as New Year and Christmas come once a year. Use these events to increase the engagement rate by using creative social media posting. Offer giveaways and discounts at such events. It reflects your cultural values that help in building your business recognition.

Conduct an audit

Evaluate your performance and find out your weakness and strength. It will give you information about what to do next, where you lack, and what to improve. If you don’t know why is it essential to conduct an audit and how to do it? Don’t worry; we will discuss it here.

When you conduct an audit, you will know which is your most engaging platform, what is working well for your competitors, and what they are posting. In addition, you get insights that help you to improve your strategy. 

Steps to conduct an audit

1. Find your best performance post by looking for likes, shares, and comments.
2. Find out who is your target audience.
3. Find out who is connecting with you.
4. Check your official social media account and see if any information you provide is incomplete.
5. Which platform does your target audience use?
6. Compare the performance of each platform.
7. Find out the performance and ROI of your social media ads.

Use the answers to the above questions and decide what to do next.

Responds to all messages and comments 

Customers are like gods for marketers, so treat them well. Brands on social networking sites need to respond to their customers quickly. That’s why you have to develop the habit of looking at inbox messages regularly. It shows that you are not lousy but active and will respond to the customers. As a positive consequence, your business will be able to gain trust and an audience on social media. 

It should look like you are hosting a party, and you and your customers are at a dining table having two-way communication. 

If you find any harsh or negative comments, handle them with grace. The better way to do so is to empathize with them. It shows you value your audience and their thoughts.

Research your competitors 

You and your competitor are fighting for the same audience. So, you have to be always two-step ahead of your competitors. And to do so, keep an eye on them. Research about your competitors and see what works for them. See what type of content they are sharing and how much engagement they seem to get. Fill in the gaps that they are unable to do.

Competitive analysis will help you to make smart strategies with better decisions. 

For example, if your competitor has a solid Facebook account but lacks Pinterest, you can use Facebook and Pinterest. When you use your Facebook to promote Pinterest, it will reach a bigger audience. 

Post at the right time

If you want your post to get more visibility, you have to post it when your target audience is more likely to be active. For example, if you are running a clothing business that sells apparel for students. Posting the pictures at day time seems unreasonable because, at that time, the audience will be at their schools and college.

“Be professional.”

 In addition, people are more likely to use Facebook on mobile and desktops. So, they might open it at work or home whenever they are free. But people may be on LinkedIn during work hours. So, know your right time by looking at its engagement rate. 

Establish your social media profile

Your company identity should be similar on all platforms. You need to focus on the following areas to maintain consistency across each platform.

Tone and Voice

You have to define your social media voice and tone. Is your brand sarcastic or professional? Communication is the key to a healthy relationship. So, make your and your audience’s relationship better by using the right voice and tone.

Use a user-friendly voice tone that passes positive vibes among the audience on all platforms. Also, don’t include any slang language if they don’t relate to your brand.

Logo & Tagline

Make one particular memorable logo and tagline for your brand. And use it on every social media platform. It will help to stick with your target audience.

 Company description

Use a clear description of your company in the “about us” section. Add the website link to every platform’s profile. Include the words that immediately grab the public attention and compel them to take them to your sites.

Images

You need to post the same picture in each media to maintain the same look of your brand. The viewers must feel the brand through your posted images.

Use Social Media Management tools such as Sprout Social.

It takes time to manage several social media platforms at once. You have to go to each platform manually to create and post the content. Automatic content creation and distribution can save you time. A social media management tool, Sprout Social help marketers communicate with their target audience easily. The in-depth analytics helps them understand how their brand is performing on social networking sites. 

Best social media practices that you should follow for different social media platforms

It is necessary to have a specific content strategy for each social media network. The things that work on Snapchat might not go well with Linkedin. So, here we will discuss some best social media practices for different social media platforms.

Best practices for Facebook marketing in 2022

Since Facebook holds all types of audiences, many big brands still depend on Facebook Marketing. Use the top best practices to level up your marketing strategy by following ongoing social media trends.

Use fewer Hashtags: 

Use no more than two hashtags in one Facebook post. Study shows that excessive use of hashtags decreases the clicks on Facebook.  

Post pictures and videos:

The algorithm of Facebook compelled people to spend more time on it without leaving it in search of content from other platforms. So, to drive conversation and increase engagement rate, you need to post videos directly on Facebook. Videos are believed to be more compelling and attractive than pictures. Use videos of 2-5 minutes short for your Facebook post. But to get likes and shares, you also need to focus on pictures. 

Go Live:

Go live for at least 2 hours. It will double the engagement.  

Best practices for Instagram marketing in 2022

Instagram has huge numbers of users. That’s why in 2021, Instagram win the title of most engaging social media platform. The best practices for Instagram that the brand should follow are given below:

Keep your caption shorts but include more related hashtags:

Instagram is completely the opposite of Facebook. On Instagram, hashtags can help to improve engagement. You can use up to 30 hashtags per post. So, make your caption shorts and let the hashtags do their work. But that doesn’t mean including hashtags randomly. Have deep research and add it relevant to the post. 

To make your caption clear, list your hashtags at the end of the post.

Post videos and photos in Story and regular feed:

You must post at least five photos on your Insta story. By doing so,  the retention rate will be raised by over 70%. Also, create regular video and reel videos to demonstrate your brand more creatively and post it on your Insta story. You can include it on the regular feed also.

Try for authenticity:

People came on Instagram to entertain and fresh themselves. So, if they see only the promotional posts on their feed, they might get irritated and unfollow you.  

It is better to post the things that users enjoy. Be yourself and be real while presenting your brand.

Tag influencer’s accounts while collaborating with them:

While working with any social media influencers (either big or small), don’t forget to mention them in your post. It will help you to drive their followers into your account.

Add location

When you add a location to your post, it will give context to the images. Geotagging helps to generate more engagement. While you make a post from some events or concerts, make it clear by adding a location on it. Also, it will help to increase the local business.

Best practices for Twitter Marketing in 2022

Twitter is social media platform where people come to gather news and information. Twitter marketing is not so popular among every brand. And that can be the reason that many people are still confused about what practices to follow. But for your ease, we have included the best practices for Twitter marketing. Follow the given practices to level up your business on Twitter.

Respond to customers

Leaving comments on social media posts without replying can leave a negative impression on your audience. Reply to the audience and satisfy them because communication plays a vital role in every platform.

Use images 

Tweets with images get more engagement than without them. So, try to include images to have good Twitter marketing.

Avoid more hashtags

Hashtags play an essential role on Twitter. But avoid hashtag spam. Use only that will add exposure to your tweet.

Best practices for LinkedIn marketing in 2022

LinkedIn is a professional social media account. It is important for business-to-business marketing. Follow the given practices and strategies to increase your marketing rate on LinkedIn.

Share informative news

It is not a place to share funny and entertaining memes. Leave it to Instagram.

Since LinkedIn users want some information that helps their career, share such content. It will increase the authority, and your brand can become a trusted source.

Add a link in the comment section

Try to include a link in the comment box rather than the post. It will be better for a greater engagement rate. 

Post video content

People are keen to comment more on video-related posts rather than others. So, boost your engagement by using visually stunning creations.

Best practices for Pinterest Marketing in 2022

Though Pinterest is not discussed compared to other social media accounts, it is the best place to enhance your brand.

Use evergreen pin descriptions

Include the caption that reflects your brand. It will generate public attention for a long period. 

Create themed boards

Boards help people to find a group of pins related to the topic. 

Make it positive

People on Pinterest prefer to keep the site positive. Unlike Twitter, which accepts some sort of debate, people on Pinterest want to get inspired. Inspire the audience by giving them ideas for the project using your brand.

Conclusion

The best social media marketer should know how to keep their customer satisfied. They need to keep up to date with new social media practices. This article covers the best social media practices that you should follow. Knowing the social media practices is just a start; implement them and see the changes. Don’t expect to see the difference in just a few days. Be patient and consistent.

Now, I hope you know the best social media practices that you should follow. We love to hear which social media best practices work for you. So, feel free to comment.