6 Social Media Publishing Best Practices

It is a challenge to define the audience for a guide to social media marketing today. Some of us have been using social media personally and professionally for more than 10 years. Or as my colleague Jeff Cohen put it a few months ago. 

"It is 2016 and we are still talking about social media marketing. Believe it or not, there are still companies that have not embraced social media as a means to improve marketing, customer service, lead generation and product development. They may come around in time."

Regardless of where you fall in the social media marketing chain, there are best practices and things to remember when it comes to social media publishing.

1. One Size Does Not Fit All

You know those studies out there that proclaim to tell you what is the best day and time to post to Facebook or Twitter to achieve maximum engagement? Forget them. You and you alone will know what works best for your audience, especially if you are properly reviewing your social listening data. Your audience may engage the most on weekends. And global companies need to take multiple time zones into account.

2. Cadence Consistency

One of the biggest mistakes brands make is not establishing a consistent cadence of publishing. It is vitally important to have a consistent message going out via

the social media platforms that work best for you and your brand. See the next section.

3. Platforms Aplenty

There is a veritable plethora of social media platforms to use, including the big boys: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The key is to know what platforms work best for your audience-what platforms help you achieve your goals. Don't dive right into Snapchat for example. Test it out. But if it's not the right fit, it's not the right fit. Period.

4. Be In Sync With Marketing

A huge part of social media publishing is to share content that your company created. And the best way to do that is ensure your social media publishing calendar is aligned with all content and demand generation marketing objectives.

5. Data

Metrics and social media can be complicated. But they don't need to be. Just determine what key performance indicators (KPIs) matter to you most in terms of aligning with your overall goals and go from there. If over time, your KPIs change, fine. Then change them and measure and track accordingly.

6. Mobile, Mobile, and More Mobile

According to comScore, 76% of all time spent on social media channels in the US is logged with a mobile device. Canada and the UK are close behind with 70%. This should come as no surprise. Your website and blog should be optimized for mobile, but make sure your share buttons are too.

Social Drives the Relationship

Modern social media marketing is still marketing. So if you understand your audience by listening, publish content that resonates, engage them, and measure your success, you will make great social strides in this digital world.

Download The Guide to Social Media Marketing and learn how to raise your game on social media.