Starting out on social media for your business can be tough, we’ve scoured the web to deliver some tried and trusted insights from the experts to help you on your journey to online marketing success. Every business uses social media differently but these 42 core principles have proven successful in every business that has put them into practice.

1. Control your message
2. More is not better, post visual content and articles that are thoughtful and relevant to your target audience,  fans and followers
3. Make your message consistent
4. Have a social media policy + KPI’s in place
5. Use data to nurture. Track who your social followers are and know where they go and use that information
6. Real time response is everything, when someone posts on one of your channels don’t leave them hanging
7. Balance your posts. Share relevant information and news. Don’t brag (too much) or only share inhouse company news.
8. Link your social media platforms to make your content available to target audiences across platforms
9. Have a presence across all common platforms and actively push out promotional messages
10. Engage and respond to brand mentions
11. Don’t overshare! Be precise, deliver value.
12. Social is a 2 way conversation, pay attention to what your fans and followers are saying
13. Don’t just share content, engage your audience…..start a conversation.
14. Cast a wide net with Facebook advertising and incentivize sharing
15. Integrate your social media tactics into a tool that tracks your outreach so you can see what works and what doesn’t
16. Paid ad’s are great for priming your social media presence, but as paid ad’s deliver more reach, share valuable content and dial down the paid to let your brand grow organically.
17. Gather data about your prospects via social channels
18. Fast reaction time dramatically increases conversion rates!
19. Measure the influence of your current efforts in terms of demand generation when using social media to reach customers.
20. Show your human side by injecting a bit of humour every so often
21. When running sweepstakes and promotions make the prizes worthwhile and then promote the winners
22. Nurture the leads + email addresses you get from contests and promotions by sending periodic updates throughout so entrants stay familiar with your brand
23. Consider small giveaways each week; ask for product feedback, ideas and suggestions. This will also drive “soft” leads which  you can follow up on.
24. Send regular email blasts with share buttons. Announce new product releases and webinars on your blog Facebook and Twitter, then send an email as well encouraging subscribers to share.
25. Use social channels to drive traffic to your blog, engaging with customers through social is critical for potential upsells.
26. Include social media, QR Codes and share buttons in all your marketing efforts.
27. Social media will bring in digital “handshakes”
28. Inconsistency is the biggest mistake you can make.
29. Make all of your campaigns social
30. Create a genuine voice to build genuine, meaningful and trustworthy relationships
31. Don’t commit and then stop, maintaining your social media platform is the best way to build
32. Create a steady balance between push and pull tactics, make sure you have enough cross engagement and pay attention to your targeted messages.
33. Always have a launch plan!
34. Make sure you are always on top of content generation and thinking about the next post engagement
35. Don’t censor comments, let people express their views and opinions
36. Visual content is key on social media channels, people love video too
37. Combine inbound and outbound content
38. Titles are everything! Create interesting headlines and engaging layouts
39. Social media takes executive buy-in to get others to engage in the organisation
40. Use social media marketing to guide your customers and teach them how to share your content
41. Don’t silo your social! Integrate social media with all of your campaigns
42. Get employees and team members involved

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Driven by our passion to help small business owners in South Africa succeed, Social Mammals specialises in Social Media Marketing properties + communities management, website design + development and online marketing services. Contact one of our certified specialists today on : 021 827 0607 or email to: partners@socialmammals.co.za

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