The Perfect Social Media Post
Social sharing is the key to bringing in traffic immediately to your site and engaging your fans and customers, plus it has long term value for your overall search ranking. These three things are obviously very important for a business to get found on the web. But with all the changing rules, new players to the game, and updated algorithms, knowing what and how to post can get a bit tricky.
Fear not my friends. In this post I break down the anatomy of a perfect post. Ok, ok, I exaggerated. There is no such thing as perfection in social media, but there are some best practices and ways to showcase your content in the right context for the network you are sharing on.
How And What To Post On Different Social Media Channels
There are some basic rules of engagement that apply to all networks. First and foremost, you must share to the right audience. If you are sharing the wrong content to the wrong audience, you might as well stop right there. Also divulge just enough information to peak interest and encourage click-through is standard across all networks.
How To Create The Perfect Pinterest Post
1.Your Image Tells The Immediate Story.
* The longer the image, the more it gets repined.
* Red pins work better than blue pins.
* Colorful photos get 3 to 4 times the repins.
* Pins with faces get the least traction.
* Portraits work better than landscape.
* Don’t over saturate your images, they will lose oomph.
2. Descriptions Matter
* 200 character descriptions are most likely to be repined.
* Use keywords wisely as they will be found on search engines as well as within Pinterest
3. Use Hashtags Wisely
* Use trending hashtags to increase engagement.
4. Stay within context
* Food, fashion, and lifestyle are the most popular categories on Pinterest.
* DIY, Tutorials and guides have a good click-through rate.
5. Encourage Click-throughs
* Most people repin things and never click the link. Change that by adding a call to action on your image or in the description. Something like Click-through to read more works very well.
6. Optimize Your Website For Pinterest
* Use rich pins when necessary, and especially if you are a online retailer or commerce store. Pins with prices get more action, plus people will be notified when an item they pin goes on sale.
* Optimize the images on your website or blog by including targeted keywords in the file name. Also think about adding your Twitter handle to the alt text so you will increase your mentions when someone tweets a pin.
How To Create The Perfect Facebook Post
1. Messaging Matters
* Humor, inspiration, and positivity are the most liked and engaged with content on Facebook. By keeping things positive you can encourage shares, comments and likes.
* Ask questions and tell stories to encourage commenting and interaction with your page.
* I think a 2-3 sentence teaser is enough. Don’t make your post too long or you will lose the attention of your audience.
2. Facebook Users Love Links
* Link visibility is up in the news feed and now you don’t have to include an image to see a gorgeous photo on Facebook posts.
* Links allow you to give people more information and a way to get users on your site.
* I prefer not to shorten my link so people know exactly where the content is coming from. This is a personal opinion.
3. Timing Is Everything
* Make sure you are sharing when people are online. You can find out the exact time frame through Facebook analytics.
* If you have a global audience think about sharing during the peak times for both audiences.
4. Images Grab Attention
* Photos on Facebook have a long shelf-life and high visibility.
* The perfect size image is 800×600.
5. Engage With Your Audience
* Comment on your own post to get the conversation started.
* Comment and reply to others to keep the conversation going.
* Comment again after the Facebook posts starts to lose it’s viral appeal to boost it up again.
6. Mobile Useage
* Social network users are accessing social sites through their phones and this includes Facebook. Make sure you can capture those on the go. Short, sweet and eye-catching images.
How To Create The Perfect Twitter Post
1. Include A Clear Call To Action
* Click here, here’s why, retweet this, and read on work to let people know you want them to click through or re-tweet.
* Sometimes all you need to do is motivate people to get the results you are looking for.
2. Messaging Matters
* Keep your tweets between 100-120 character for best results.
* Don’t sacrifice grammar and punctuation to get the tweet in. You’ll look dumb.
* Questions, stats, and facts engage users and encourage retweets.
* Mention, thank, quote, give credit and engage others to encourage conversation.
3. Images Increase Engagement
* Images when directly uploaded to Twitter increase engagement and retweets.
* Don’t over do it. You don’t want to annoy people and you want to save the images for times when you really want to get in front of people.
4. Shorten Links
* Shorten links it looks better and it is good etiquette.
5. Use Hashtags
* Hashtags are a great way to get inside a conversation and show people you are hip and get it.
* Stick to 1-2 hashtags only. Otherwise your tweet loses impact, and you can barely read it. See my example below.
How To Create The Perfect LinkedIn Post
1. Messaging Comes First
* This is your opportunity to shine. Your message should be business related and offer your expertise on the given subject.
* 3-4 sentences is a good amount of content to offer before adding the link. You want people to know why you shared it and what they can get out of it by reading.
2. Link Love
* Images show up when you share links so make sure it is a good picture. You want to use the image to get the attention of the reader, but use your message above to really get them clicking.
* Links are automatically shorted into LinkedIn’s shortener so you don’t have to worry about that.
* This is your opportunity to bring people to your website which can hopefully turn into good business for you.
3. Use Images
* I’ve been exploring LinkedIn and using images to gather attention. It works. I’m seeing 10x more likes and comments when I upload an image and don’t use a link.
* Because people don’t share images often on LinkedIn you have a real opportunity to make your mark here.
4. Commenting & Liking
* Comment and like your own posts to increase the odds of people seeing it.
* Commenting on your own post also encourages conversation
* Make sure you reply and like others who comment on your posts.
5. Tag Users In Posts
* This is a good tactic to get others engaged with your conversations and get noticed by the person you are tagging. You have to be connected to the company or person to do this.
How To Create The Perfect G+ Post
1. Images Are Ideal
* You might not know this but people share and interact with images more than anything else on G+. * Include an image in your post to grab attention and to have an active photo gallery.
* The ideal size is 800×600.
2. Messaging Matters
* Keywords and hashtags are the key to getting found on Google Plus. Hashtags show up in regular search as well as G+ search and keywords, well, this is a search engine we are talking about.
* 4-5 sentences is a good amount of content to share. You want this content to be longer than any other social network you share on because it has value for search engine. Plus, the audience is more interested in longer form content.
3. Tag People
* Google Plus users are really interested in siting sources. By giving a +PERSON’S NAME not only will they get a notification, but it is also good etiquette.
* You can also tag people in private messages so that your post goes to their inbox. Don’t undervalue the importance of an email inbox.
4. Link Love
* Sharing links is an important factor in the search algorithm and thus you should take that into account.
* Plus, sharing links gives people a way to find your content and come back to your site. You should include a link.
5. Engage With Users
* Comment on your post and don’t forget to respond to others. This is true on all social networks but it is very important.
6. +1
* I always plus one my own shares. It helps spur the action on the post and hopefully get in front of more people.
How To Create The Perfect Instagram Post
1. It’s all about the Images
* Images are everything on Instagram. Without a good image you’ve got nothing.
* Blue images get more attention.
* Red and Orange, while popular on Pinterest, don’t do as well on Instagram.
* Images with low saturation and block colors are popular.
2. Messaging Matters
* Your message can be tweeted and shared so make sure it is of value. Your regular message can’t be found through search, but hashtags can.
* Twitter sized messages are best because they allow others to share your posts and keep your message intact.
3. Use Hashtags
* Hashtags are the #1 way to get more likes and attention on Instagram.
* While there are many banned hashtags, you will want to actually use the ones that work for your audience. Do some research and find the most popular and liked hashtags within your industry.
4. Tag People
* Tagging people and asking others to tag people that the image reminds them of is a good way to increase engagement and comments.
* To tag someone all you have to do is the @sign.
5. Links Don’t Link
* You can’t hyperlink on Instagram so you will want to shorten it to something very easy to remember if you add links to your posts.
* You can always say something like link to my blog post in profile as that link does work.
How To Create The Perfect YouTube Post
1. Keywords Matter Most
* YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world which means keywords are the most important thing ever.
* Use keywords in the title and description, tags, and category.
* Use video as one of your keywords. People search video when looking for videos.
2. Descriptions Are Crucial
* As you will want to be found through search which is text heavy, make sure you transcribe your video and add it to your description area.
* This is where you want to include your link as well
3. Tag Correctly
* MarketingThink recommends using 6 keywords to increase the chances of being found
4. Make Your Video Sharable
* Make sure you make your video public to allow comments, video responses, voting and embedding.
How To Create The Perfect Vine Post
1. Titles Are Important
* Include your twitter handle when creating the title so that when people tweet your video you will get a mention.
* This is a Twitter property here so you will want to keep your titles short and sweet.
2. Use Hashtags
* Hashtags are your key to getting found on Vine, use them effectively.
* You can use multiple hashtags if you want to get found for different things.
3. Content Matters
* Funny, stop-motion, and relatable are the most commonly liked and shared videos.
4. Tag Others
* The Vine community is all about sharing so tag people who you want to see your video to increase the chances that they will respond, share or like it.
If you like visuals take a look at this.
