Making the most of social media
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – facts and figures
· 1 billion daily users.
· 82% of online 18-29 year olds use it
· 56% of online over 65s use it
· Spans generations – 83% of parents with a teen between the ages of 13 and 17 are friends with their child on Facebook.
· 66% of Facebook users consume news on the platform
· 88% of percent of millennials get news from Facebook
The best time to post on Facebook will vary from business to business, but many sources cite Thursdays and Fridays from 1 pm. to 3 pm. as being particularly effective times to gain attention and engagement.
Facebook presents a huge opportunity to provide fast, direct, and personal customer service. People will continue to expect faster and faster responses to their comments.
Since so many Facebook users watch video without the sound on, captioned video ads can increase video view time by an average of 12 percent.
The most effective length for an ad title on Facebook is four words, and 15 words for a link description.
Aim for around 2-3 posts per day.
· 317 million active monthly users
· 23% of all internet users are on Twitter
· 37% of all 18-29 year olds use it
· 25% of all 30-49 year olds use it
· 21% of all 40-59 year olds use it
· 10% of those aged 65 and up use it
· 86% use the platform to get their news, with nearly three quarters of those doing so every day.
· 64% of users share news on the network.
Twitter users access the platform on the go and multiple times a day.
They’re active – more than a third of users tweet or retweet several times a day
Including a Website Card increases engagement by 43 percent.
Twitter allows you to see what industry leaders are seeing, sharing and thinking, to discover what’s happening right now with different audience and communities – and to engage with them.
Aim for around 5-12 posts per day, depending on your audience and how they engage
· 75 million daily users
· Young audience – 53% of users are 18-29, 25% are 30-49, 11% are 50-65 and 6% are 65+
· Per-follower engagement is 58 times higher than on Facebook, and 120 higher than on Twitter.
· 60% of top brands use the same filter for every photo, to create a consistent, professional identity.
· 75% of Instagram users take action after seeing and advert on the platform
· Posts with at least one hashtag average 12.6 percent more engagement than those without
Instagram users are a passionate, engaged and active community.
You’ll be reaching a creative, image-driven audience.
The network relies on easy-to-digest visual language.
Top brands post around 5 times a week, on average.
Engagement
Different types of post:
· Information
· Image-led
· Poll
· News/ features
· Retweets/ regrams/ sharing
· Replies – joining a conversation that’s already taking place
· Behind the scenes – social media is an important channel for building trust, so be as transparent as you can
· Match the medium to the message – different elements of a story can be communicated through the same channel.
· Video – Facebook and Instagram Live, Facebook stories, Boomerang
Getting the message across
• What’s the fun thing to do?
• What’s the easiest thing to do?
• What’s the fastest thing to do?
• What’s the safest thing to do?
• What’s the bravest thing to do?
• What would you write on a placard?
Images and tools
Pixlr image editor – https://pixlr.com/editor/
Twitter cards – https://dev.twitter.com/cards/overview
Social listening and influencers
Twitter lists
Hootsuite streams
https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-listening-business/
Influencers
Joining conversations to reach more people, and put what you’re doing in the spotlight:
Giving recognition and working together for mutual benefit:
Takeovers with trusted influencers to add variety and reach a new audience:
Monitoring and evaluation
Facebook insights – https://blog.hootsuite.com/facebook-analytics-insights-beginners-guide/
Twitter analytics – https://analytics.twitter.com
Tweetreach – https://tweetreach.com/
Campaigns
· Creates ‘surround sound’
· Adds variety and avoids repetition
· Allows for clear boundaries within which to evaluate the impact
Contact