SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS
The first rule of writing for social media sites like Facebook is to be brief. People have limited
attention spans on social, and often scroll past content. Always include a visual with your text
content, as research from Buzzomo found posts with an image got 2.3 times more engagement
than posts without.
Hashtag all your social content on Twitter and on Instagram too, using relevant, and preferably
trending tags. You can research trending hashtags using tools like Hootsuite or look up the top
tags on Twitter and Insta and add them to your post.
Don't use hashtags for Facebook though as these can have the opposite effect and make
people more likely to scroll past or switch off.
INSTAGRAM HASTAGS
Hashtags are crucial on Insta, if you want to get more followers, and improve your posts’
engagement rates.
Posts on Instagram that use hashtags average 12.6% more engagement than posts without.
Instagram allows you to use up to 30 hashtags on a post and a max of 10 on a story.
Don't make the mistake of using just the most popular Instagram hashtags. It's better to use
hashtags that are more niche, with an engaged audience that's relevant to your industry.
To find niche tags that have a high engagement rate, you should look and see what your
competitors are using. It's also worth researching what hashtags your customers use to tag the
topics they are interested in that would be relevant to your brand.
There are three main types of Instagram hashtags you can use to get more followers and raise
awareness of your brand:
Community tags.
Designed to connect Instagram users with an interest in a specific topic. Community tags can
be local, or they can be more general.
#BlackCats would one an example of a fairly niche but still general topic. #BlackCatsInBolton
would be an example of a local specific niche topic.
It's recommended you use both local, specific tags and general tags to really max your post's
engagement and chances of discovered.
Campaign Hashtags.
Typically designed to promote a promotional period or event and run for a specific number of
days, weeks, or months.
#12daysofXmasSale would be an example a tag like this, for a company running a promotional
festive campaign.
Branded Hashtags
These are used to connect followers of your brand and encourage them to share content. This
helps others find out about you and is an especially effective way of demonstrating social proof
and gaining new followers.
Branded Hashtags can feature your brand name or can be a promotional phrase you want to
feature.
If you had a sneaker company for example, you could use your brand name as a tag, or you
could use a relevant phrase you created such as #NeonKicks for a campaign to promote the
bright colours in your range.
Check your branded hashtag regularly to keep track of what people are saying about your
company.
OBSERVE YOUR COMPETITORS...
When you're on social, notice what works for customers, and what doesn't. You can do this by
researching your competitors, so look at ads for competing products on Facebook, Twitter, or
Instagram.
Be sure to look out for complaints in the comments section that crop up over and over again, as
if your product can address these, you can then emphasise this in your copy.
You'll easily be able to win a slice of their action, if your product can plug the holes in your
rival’s product or service by offering customers something that's superior
