The Ultimate Guide to Posting On Social Media

Posting on social media can be difficult if you are not familiar with it. Posting requires confidence and the only way to become confident is to do something, it is really a catch 22. Start with something you have experience with and ideally something that you are passionate about. Before I started Kow Abundant, I was passionate about helping and promoting local businesses within my community. I knew that local business is the lifeblood of the community and I loved the people I met along the way. Posting really isn’t difficult but requires planning to become confident. There are many platforms to post on and that is something that you want to see what works best to deliver your message.

Which Social Media Platform Is Best

The best platform for social media is the platform that you best respond to and want to actually use. Many businesses are comfortable using Facebook so that is a good platform to start with. If you are a B2B company then Linkedin will most likely also be a good platform to get used to using. If you love photography or taking photos then Instagram is the platform for you. There are so many options out there so pick the one that you naturally go on the most and try that for your business. It is best to have your own business profile page on these platforms instead of using your personal pages as well. This better sets you up in the long run and gives you some much needed social space as well from you and your brand.

Every platform takes time and consistency to develop an audience. Twitter is a great platform to reach tech-savvy people and connect directly to people you wouldn’t normally be able to. It is important to have fast response time on each platform that you use as well and respond to questions quickly. Some examples of businesses that fit on each platform (not in any order):

1. Pinterest works well with jewelry stores or clothing companies
2. Twitter for developers, coders, and marketers
3. Facebook for diverse businesses, direct to consumer
4. Linkedin for service businesses and B2B companies
5. Instagram for photographers, clothing companies, jewelry stores, unique products to consumers
6. Youtube to share tutorials about your products, musical lessons, realtors and home tours, brand awareness

Live Streaming Platforms

Live streaming is a great way to directly connect with your audience. You can even see live comments when streaming, which can be distracting but usually, people are respectable if you show it back and present yourself professionally. Below are some of the main live streaming platforms available.

Facebook live as a posting platform and live streams, in general, are very popular ways to directly connect with people who are interested in similar topics. The Facebook live platform does have limitations technologically that you should be aware of and when using various cameras it has been known to have issues.

Periscope is a great platform for live streaming but there is not a very large audience compared to Instagram or Facebook live. Periscope is great for you to test out your live streaming ability with a sort of – a less personal investment approach that helps you get confidence when you move to larger platforms. This platform is linked well with Twitter, so if you focus your time on twitter then Periscope would be a good platform to try.

Instagram live is a full platform that many people watch but has limitations in terms of length; maximum time is viewed in stores is often 15 seconds. Live streams are also difficult to find once they are completed.

Youtube live is a favorite platform as it has a full and robust feature set that works well with free production software call OBS for live streaming. Events are also saved for later viewing and very easy to share on other social platforms. If you plan to have a live event, Youtube Live should be your top choice. If you have a Youtube account for business or a channel you might have to enable live streaming by verifying your account for it to work properly.

Each live streaming platform has benefits and you will want to think about the community you want to reach. You can also use your smartphone to stream which makes it easy. If you want to reach more people, investing in a good live stream setup would be a good idea after you have streamed a few times and found the platform you prefer.

When To Post On Social Media

In order to know the best times to post on social, you will want to look at some metrics on your Facebook page and other platforms. Facebook gives easy access to this information. First login to your business page, at the top, go to Insights, then Posts, and see your best times. The best times can be found by observing trends of popular days of the week or times when interest ramps up. If most times are consistent then pick a time just before clicks increase to post and usually on a Monday for most businesses. The chart is deceiving as it is in Pacific time and not my usual time zone; this is just how Facebook does it.

 

The best times are outlined in pink when to post. For my business, it is saying that people are looking at 4 am but remember that is Pacific time, not my native eastern time. You will need to convert it to your time zone. So that means people are looking from 7 am consistent until a dropoff at 9 pm Eastern time.

If you were looking to post twice per day, then based on the above chart I would recommend posting at 7 am and also at around noon Eastern time. Monday is a great time to post as interest ramps up that day and then you can post later in the week to increase users. Each social platform has best recommendations on when to post and how often. The biggest thing with posting is consistency so that your audience can expect posts from you and will check back often to see what you are saying. If you have quality content, you can get away with posting less often. If you just spout nonsense (don’t do it), then you can post all the time but don’t expect people to care.

Gaining Confidence With Posts

The more you post, the more confidence you will get. You will be able to track insights on Facebook and other platforms to see what people like and if you are consistent people will start to mention your posts too which can be very rewarding.

Posting is like learning a new language

The best way to learn a new language is immersion. The same is true to learn how to post. In many ways, it is a different language than what you are used to. The use of hashtags is a great example. Not every social platform is optimized for hashtags; they can even be downright annoying sometimes. In order to immerse yourself in this new language, you should listen to the people in the space as much as possible (or that you can take). Below is a list of great resources like audio podcasts and business books to get you into that world but first let’s talk hashtags.

Hashtags, when to use them and when to not

 

Not every post on every platform needs hashtags. Facebook is actually pretty poorly optimized for hashtag use and twitter usually only lets you use a few. The best place to use hashtags would be Instagram and even Linkedin. I like using a hashtag generator like best-hashtags.com.  When using it, I like to use a combination of best-hashtags website along with a search on Instagram to see what is a popular hashtag. Usually, do not use the more popular ones like #love which might have millions of posts using that tag. You want to use tags that have 30K or even less. I find around 3K to be the sweet spot. Try to find hashtags that are relevant to what you are posting. Hashtags are used by other users to find relevant posts on certain topics; kind of like an index for your posts.

Every social platform has a different number of hashtags recommended to use at a time. For Instagram, that number is no more than 11 hashtags. Studies have shown that using more can actually decrease post reach. There are some that also say to post your hashtags in a separate comment below your post and to favorite your post. Experiment to see if this actually helps you.

When using Twitter, five hashtags is a good number to use. You don’t want to use too many hashtags. Linkedin, you can use five but no more than 10. For Facebook, don’t use hashtags as they are distracting and look spammy.

Boosting Social Posts

It is important to boost social posts as they will not show to your audience if you do not. Facebook actually holds posts back even if people follow you. You might only show to around 1/3 or a quarter of your actual audience unless you boost a post. It doesn’t take much, around $15 will work and greatly extend your reach.

Here is how to boost a post on both Facebook and Instagram.

 

A complete guide to marketing yourself can be found from our ebook, Think Like A Marketer! Available here for free sign up.

Here are some of the best podcasts to listen to that helped me:

Best Marketing Podcasts

1. Social Media Marketing Podcast – Great all around marketing podcast to listen to.
2. Akimbo – A thought-provoking podcast that makes you think about what marketing is and the factors behind each topic. From Seth Godin, who helped us come up with our name!
3. The Brutal Truth – A fantastic podcast to help inspire and up your selling game. This podcast also is packed with great tips to market and share stories with new customers.
4. James Altucher Podcast – If you’re looking for confidence when posting, listen to this podcast. Filled with great stories about how unique and successful people think and what helps drive their motivations to do what they do.
5. The GaryVee Audio Experience– Marketing icon Gary V shares his unique insights and experience in this podcast. Great to learn how to craft a message, be consistent, gain confidence, and learn what to say to your audience.

There are so many great audio podcasts out there but the key is to find something that speaks to you and start listening to it. It doesn’t have to take all of your time but you will want to dedicate appropriate time to it. You can even listen at 1.5 speed so I can listen to even more great podcasts. Download a diverse array of podcasts including comedy, marketing, self-help, or your other interests to keep you coming back and listening to more.

Best Business Books to Read (or listen to)

1. The Sustainable Edge – A favorite business book with goals that help you set priorities and get your business on track!
2. Gary V – Crushing it! – A great book to help with every marketing aspect to getting your message out there. Get the audiobook for the best experience.
3. The Richest Man In Babylon – A fictional tale of two men, one that saves his money and one that squanders it.
4. Eat That Frog – It’s time to get things done, start with the hardest task first and eat that frog!
5. How to Win Friends and Influence People – A classic that will change the way you think about business and connecting with people.

There are so many great books out there but the key is to find something that speaks to you and start reading it. It doesn’t have to take all of your time but you will want to dedicate appropriate time to it.

If you have any questions and have a business, are interested in getting your website optimized, or running ads on Google, then please contact Kow Abundant at 614-230-2308 and we are happy to offer affordable packages for small business owners to market yourself.