Author: Kate Smith

Social media can be a mess. Trying to manage all of your social content across multiple pages and platforms is a big task and things can easily slip into chaos. Luckily, we’ve prepared this five-step spring cleaning guide to help you audit and refresh your social accounts.

1. Check Your Branding

Everything on your social pages has the ability to strengthen or weaken your desired brand image, so make sure no stone goes unturned. First, make sure you have a comprehensive list of all of your social media accounts. Next, ask yourself the following questions:

• Is my avatar or profile photo consistent on every page?
• Are my cover and header photos the same on all pages?
• Do my descriptions and bios match up on each page?

By the end of the audit, you should be able to answer “Yes” to all of these questions. And finally, clear away the junk. Since you last cleaned up your accounts, it’s all but guaranteed that undesirable content has made its way onto your pages. This can include:

• Boring posts with low engagement
• Overly salesy posts
• Low quality images & videos
• Old, irrelevant, or expired offers
• Generic content that anyone else could post
• Content inconsistent with your brand image

Throw it out! Delete it! Get rid of it! Start fresh with only the best.

2. Fold Together Goals & Metrics

Take some time to examine your past goals and assess how you did. Did you get the amount of impressions you wanted? The page likes? The clicks? If you’re unsure, you’re likely not paying enough attention to these important metrics. Now is a good time to set some benchmarks.

Regardless of what you want to achieve, it’s imperative to always have an idea of what metrics you want to keep your eye on. These metrics are crucial because they give you a numerical way to track how you’re doing. They also are a source of important insights that will help in making future marketing decisions.

So, when you’re making goals, be sure to fold social metrics like reach, engagement, and followers in with them.

3. Freshen Up Your Ideas

Have you been running the same boring contest once a week for the past year? Have you been using the same set of hashtags for months? Are you noticing your followers are engaging less with your content?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, there’s a good chance you may just need some new ideas.

It’s easy to get stuck in a rut when it comes to social media. Many brands post every day, if not several times a day, which requires a seemingly endless flow of new ideas. And when you finally find an idea that seems to resonate, it’s all too tempting to keep using it over and over again.

Coming up with new content ideas can seem particularly daunting if you’re working with a small team and/or limited resources, but it’s possible. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Monitor current trends online (hashtags, news stories, fads, etc)
• Collect screenshots of interesting posts you see on your personal account
• Follow competitor pages to see what they’re posting

4. Dust off Your Content Calendar

It’s time to start using a content calendar.

A content calendar should be at the heart of any social media campaign. It’s a way to organize all of your content and ideas in one place. You can track holidays, monitor upcoming promotions, and see any gaps that may need filling.

There are many ways to approach your content calendar. Most of the time content is planned monthly or quarterly in a shareable format. Here are some ways you can assemble your calendar:

• Create a spreadsheet
• Download a template (Hubspot)
• Use an online application (Trello)

5. Build the Habit

Remember, cleaning up your social media accounts may be tedious, but it doesn’t have to. If this is your first cleanup, you’ll probably be sorting through years of social posts. Don’t let that discourage you. If you clean up quarterly, you’ll have a much more manageable workload.

Another benefit of regular cleanings is a steady flow of insight. If you are able to recognize more frequently when ideas are and aren’t working, you will be able to adapt your marketing plan more quickly. You may even stop some bad ideas from making it to your pages in the first place, leaving a whole lot less to clean up long term.

As 2018 approached, every digital marketer and their dog began flooding the internet with predictions about upcoming social media trends. Some of these trends (like the pressure to further localize content) seem likely to occur, while others (like the death of blogging) seem a little more far-fetched. Whether or not you believe these predictions, there are a few things every social media marketer can agree on. Here are some social media marketing resolutions for 2018.

1. Up your content game

Quality content is always important to a social media campaign, but in 2018 it will be essential. Sites like Facebook are taking steps to crack down on engagement bait. This means no more “tag a friend” or “react to vote” posts. Many businesses rely on these types of posts to get more organic reach and fan engagement, so if your company has been relying on these strategies you may no longer hit your goals on key Facebook marketing metrics. Trust me, 2018 is the year to invest in more relevant, genuinely engaging content. If you don’t, you’ll be shelling out a lot more money just to achieve a fraction of the reach and engagement you may have seen in years past.

2. Invest in video content

Just as photos killed text-only status updates, video content is forcing the still-photo off its social media throne. True, there are still places that photos thrive (Instagram, Pinterest, Flickr), but the big sites for marketers are increasingly trending in favor of videos. Even sites like Instagram are seeing more success with videos in recent months. And on Facebook, there’s been a noticeable drop in organic reach over the past year, with videos significantly outperforming every other type of content. If you want your content to be seen, video is your best bet in 2018.

3. Focus on relationships

Your work doesn’t stop once your customer engages with your content. In fact, you should be putting as much effort into moderating your pages as you do creating quality content. It’s easy to respond “thanks” to a couple of good reviews, but are you really having a conversation with your followers? Try to reach out to commenters even if they haven’t specifically addressed you or asked a question. Often, the small, unsolicited interactions you have with customers are the ones that turn them into powerful brand advocates. For you, 2018 should be dedicated to building lasting relationships wherever possible.

4. Clean up your social tools

No matter the size of your business, it can be tough to manage all the different social media and review sites that you need to be effective. Logging in, logging out, logging in, logging out. In 2018, try to clean up your process by finding a social marketing platform that works for your business. Lava Surf allows you to bring all of your social and review sites into one dashboard that saves you valuable time. You can even localize your content to ensure each region gets its own special touch. Check it out here.

The holiday season is once again upon us, and with it comes another slew of elaborate holiday marketing campaigns from big name brands. From the commercials meant to tug at your heartstrings to the memorable holiday mascots, the fight for screen time is getting more expensive. As a business owner it’s easy to feel discouraged in the presence of such grandiose, high-budget spectacles that always accompany the season. Luckily, thanks to social media, leveraging the holidays doesn’t always require a massive advertising budget. Here are some ways you can create engaging and effective holiday campaigns on social media.

1. Showcase your product

The holiday season is a better time than most to show off your wares. Most people are already making wish lists and searching for the perfect gifts for loved ones. Make sure your product is at the forefront of their mind by using Instagram stories, Facebook videos, and dark ads focused on important product benefits and discounts. If you do a contest or giveaway, make sure it revolves around your product.

2. Play on Heightened Emotions

Whether it’s because of the childhood memories, religious overtones, or the spirit of giving that permeates this time of year, nearly everyone gets emotional around the holidays. Without being too cliché, find a way to use these emotions to your advantage. Heck, your audience may really dislike the holidays, but rancor is an emotion you can capture as well. You could make fun of the consumerism or family squabbles that people so often despise.

3. Tailor to Your Audience

Make sure your message is targeted to your particular audience. Too many people put out generic holiday posts. They’re usually lovely and sometimes shareable, but they tend to lack the personal touches that really make an impact on consumers. Show your customers you know them and your social media engagement will improve.

4. Research Relevant Hashtags

Though hashtags tend to have more importance on platforms like Instagram and Twitter, it’s always important to know what is trending. Because so many posts are tagged with generic hashtags like #MerryChristmas or #HappyHolidays, it’s easy for your posts to get lost. See what hashtags are trending at the time and tailor your holiday messaging to what people are already talking about.

5. Ask Customers to Share

Most people on social media are there because they like to share. They share selfies, political opinions, memories, and funny cat videos. Why not take advantage of their giving nature? Ask users to share photos of themselves in ugly sweaters, use Facebook reactions or a Twitter poll to vote for their favorite holiday films, or leave comments with their favorite Christmas memories.

6. Adjust for Platforms

Remember that all platforms are different. What may be successful on Facebook may not translate well to Twitter. Instagrammers may be more interested in seeing photos behind the scenes, while Twitter users may be more apt to engage on posts that ask their opinions. Familiarize yourself with each platform and adjust your media and messaging accordingly.

7. Call Them to Action

Once you’ve created the perfect holiday post for the perfect target audience on the perfect social platform, make sure you include a call to action. Don’t go through all the trouble to get your audience’s attention, only to leave them in the lurch. If they’ve engaged, they’ve already shown interest in your brand. Try linking to your online store or sharing a time-sensitive voucher code to seal the deal.