DIGITAL - Top Social Media Sites that Matter to Marketers

Narrowing down which social media sites are the most important for your organization can be a big challenge. With new ones popping up and the feeling you shouldn’t ‘miss out’ on any of them, it can be overwhelming.

Luckily, Hootsuite has compiled the key demographics for the core group of platforms that are crucial to consider for your social media strategy, allowing you to focus your budget of time and energy where it’s most effective.

They also include a list of companies that have used each platform successfully - giving real-life examples that can only help you create effective campaigns.

Did you know that YouTube reaches more 18 to 34 and 18 to 49 year-olds than any cable network in the U.S and that besides being the second largest online search engine, it is also heavily used as a resource for how-to content?

The New York Times saw a 2.3 times increase in subscriptions through strategic use of Facebook - a platform that over 1 billion people use daily.

Twitter has over 80 million monthly users and 50 percent of users visit or shop at the website of a small or medium business they follow.

Instragram users are two and a half times more likely to click on ads than on other social media platforms. With 75 million daily users, that’s a lot of clicking.

Hootsuite’s post goes into more - very useful - detail about these platforms as well as Pinterest, Snapchat and LinkedIn.

Read the full article here.

DIGITAL - Tips: Effective Posting on Popular Social Media Sites

Do you look at the different digital media networks and wonder what the difference is? Why a story or idea works on one and not the other?

You’re not alone. It can be challenging to figure out the different platforms.

Here are some tips for posting on the most popular digital media networks.

Timing is Everything

The best time to post on digital media depends on the platform, the region, the content of your post and your goals.

Hubspot recently created an infographic which includes best times for a variety of platforms. Use this as a guide, measure your own results and go from there.

Use Hashtags Wisely

It used to be the humble pound sign and now it’s a way to hone in on different topics online. Hashtags are used and can connect conversations on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, and Tumblr.

Hashtags should be specific and cater to the social network you’re using. Before posting, plan the hashtags you want to use for your organization’s general posts and do the same for campaigns.

Facebook – Start a Conversation

Most Facebook users are chatting with friends or catching up on news, so it’s a great medium for telling stories and asking questions.

Posts on Facebook get more attention if they include a photo. Keep your photo in the 1200 x 630 pixel range.

Use Facebook insights to see which posts get the most engagement and make adjustments using this data.

Pinterest – Inspire and Educate

People on Pinterest want to buy a new product, learn a skill or find a new project, so informative posts are the most popular.

It is often used as an internet bookmarker – saving and storing links from all over the world in an easy-to-use, pretty platform.

Resize your photos to 600 x 1200 pixels and spread your posts out over time rather than uploading a lot at once.

LinkedIn – Professional Posts

Users approach LinkedIn with a work mind-set and it’s the place to share industry strategies and updates.

The tone of conversations should be like speaking with peers and potential clients. Unlike other digital media platforms, you can use industry terminology and it won’t be out of place.

Images boost engagement and work best if they are horizontal and about 646 x 200 pixels.

You don’t need to share or update every day because LinkedIn users don’t check in as often as other platforms.

Twitter – Up to the Minute Conversations

Twitter users are following news at a specific moment in time and want to talk about it.

Your space is limited to 140 characters and it’s a great platform to share news, updates and answer questions.

The use of hashtags began on Twitter in 2007 and is now the norm.

Adding images to your tweets can increase your retweets by about 150%. Horizontal 440 x 220 pixel images are best.

Instagram – Visual Perspective

Beauty, inspiration and entertainment are what Instagram users look for.

Images are number one, but the captions are also very important. It’s a great place for a call to action, a quote or a story about your photo.

Instagram images used to have to be square, but the platform recently gave the option for vertical and horizontal images. Don’t forget to add a logo or other branding element to insure you benefit from any ‘regramming.’

While it’s easiest to post the same information on every platform, it’s much more effective to customize posts for each. Start with the overall message along with a graphic, and make changes to fit – it’s worth the extra time and effort.