How To Have Agency-Perfect Social Media Marketing With Photos, Apps and More

With all of the amazing apps available to businesses for social media marketing, thee are endless opportunities for regular, fresh, creative, and engaging content.  Many of them can make photos and posts look like they were done by a professional agency, which can be a small business's dream when marketing dollars aren't unlimited and one must get creative.

While variety in content and presentation is essential for engagement, we have seen some creative businesses cross the line into actually damaging the branding that is so essential to their business.  Remember, keeping fans engaged on business social media is not the same as your personal social media- there are branding standards and an image to consider, and this is reflected in the words and images used, but especially with how your social media apps are used.  

Here are our top 10 tips from professional advertising and PR agencies for ensuring your apps are not making your business look like a 13 year old's social media account and are helping to enhance your branding and contributing to business progress and image:

 On Photo Sizing:  Use the photo size on Instagram, which is formattable/transferable to all social mediums, if you are looking for a "one size fits all" approach to cross-promoting photos in your marketing (or using a service like HootSuite).  However, here are the preferred sizes for each social medium, if you do one per account:  Instagram:  1080 x 1080 pixels ;  72 (dpi or ppi - pixels per inch) |  Facebook: 200 x 900 pixels;  72 (dpi or ppi - pixels per inch) | Twitter:  506 x 253 pixels; 72 (dpi or ppi - pixels per inch).  And please, if you take your own photo, make sure it is in ample light and looks as professional as possible.  There are many apps out there that allow corrections to photos on smart phones  (Camera Plus is one of our personal favorites).   There is no reason photos posted on business social media have to look pitiful.  You are better off not posting a photo if it does not look decent.  This is your business. Keeping up the "storefront" image is essential.

On Color:  Make sure your social media manager (or anyone posting)  knows your brand colors. If they create photos or posts from scratch that involve images, make sure the any background color or text font reflects the branding colors in your logo and business design.

On Logo:  Use your logo somewhere on the image (social media is about images and branding being shared by others, so prepare for it - this is something you should want and welcome).  Ideally, your logo (or company name if you don't yet have a logo or one that shows up well on photos) should be at the bottom of the image, centered, or off to the right.  You may wish to have two logos in your colors for a choice: one suited for being posted on darker images, and one better suited for being posted on lighter images. 

On Font Style Make sure you know the font name of your branding and that it is represented in social media on all photos and posts, including videos and use that font exclusively, so each post is complimentary to the other stylistically and conveys brand consistency. 

On Language:  Determine the language style of your business when you post.   Is your business more casual (note: there is a difference between "casual" vs. "sloppy", and bad spelling, typing and grammar errors on business marketing is never ok), or is it more high-end with more of a formal tone?  Who is your audience? Your potential customer?  Tailor your language to appeal to that consumer while paying attention to your branding message and image as well as your own "voice" style (lots to balance and think about, isn't there?).

Mix up content.  From fun trivia about your business or history of it, to posting good reviews from happy clients, to photos of events, stories on your employees/team to make your business personal,  or share what you are doing during the day: that's what social media is about.  Telling your story.  And that takes variety.  Video clips are especially popular and increase exposure on social media** .  But posting all one type of content or all videos is exhausting for viewers.  Mix it up. Keep it fresh and engaging.

Pick (Create) Top Hashtags:  Use brand-approved hashtags that have been used or are approved to be used in all marketing endeavors that are unique to your company and brand.  Be consistent and use them every time you post.  Make sure everyone who is authorized to post at your company uses these same hashtags.

On Over-designing: A simple single image should have little to no words (10 words max ideally);  do not place words over someone's face or that interfere with the "story" the picture is trying to tell.  Some apps are notorious for souping up an image so much, it just looks tacky.  Keep it simple. An image says so much.  If words are necessary, keep it minimal.  On "collage" style photos - they should be kept to a minimum, as too many are perceived as "clutter" in one's newsfeed.  While sometimes a collage is necessary to convey an at-a-glance "feel" of a one-time experience, save this app/feature for when you really need it. 

On Boomerang: We cannot say this enough:  keep it to a minimum. Maybe 3 posts a week, so choose wisely.  Boomerang is fun, but if not done sparingly, can become overwhelming in a follower's feed and conveys more of a teenage feel to a business if it predominates the wall/social media.  Use it - but use it sparingly and to spice things up when necessary.

The Power of the Regram/Repost or the "share":  It's not always about posting your own content.  Savvy social media experts know that harnessing the audience and demographic of their follower's followers or other leading brands in the industry is paramount to increasing followers and potential customers.  When an entity has shared something relevant to your business - whether or not it is about your business specifically), by regramming their post (on Instagram) with one of the Repost/Regram apps available and/or "sharing" their post on Facebook or Twitter, you are calling their audience and followers to your brand and getting in front of them - bringing a whole new potential customer and follower base to your business.

Finally, none of the above tips will work if every person who handles social media for your business is not on the same page with these professional endeavors, providing consistency in marketing.  Have a meeting, put it in writing, and get everyone on the same page.  

**Need a little boost in training your team in these basics?  Want to know some other "hidden" tricks that do not cost anything regarding maximizing social media marketing, including how to do a "Live" broadcast on social media?  Not sure how to regram on Instagram or create hashtags and more?    We can help.  Drop us a line.

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Engaging Inspiration offers leadership, marketing and training solutions for the special event and hospitality business.