Life as a social media manager can have a strange dichotomy – balancing the repetition of consistently churning out content while staying on top of algorithm changes, shifts in audience preferences, new trends, content formats, platforms…the list goes on.
While the world of organic social media looks a bit different depending on the brand you’re representing, there are some undeniable best practices that apply regardless of the industry and audience you’re creating content for.
What Works
While it’s important to trust the data to understand what’s working best for your brand, here are a few considerations we always recommend keeping in mind:
Quality over quantity
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Every post on social media should serve a purpose. Gone are the days of publishing content for the sake of “feeding the machine” and staying visible on platforms. Most algorithms have adapted to favor high quality content, but it’s important to remember when you’re creating quality content with your audience in mind, that’s the best way to expand reach and engagement. Authentic content always wins.
Audit strategies like reviewing competitors’ posting cadence across channels can inform your brand’s approach, but overall, committing to a few solid posts a week across key platforms is more beneficial than trying to publish something every day.
Scale back your publishing cadence to only include the highest quality content, measure performance for at least 30 days and see how metrics like average engagement rate improve. While total impressions and engagements may decrease due to lower volumes of content, if metrics measuring the average engagement and reach increase that’s a strong indicator that the shift is resonating with your audience.
Prioritize platforms
According to Hootsuite, 58% of marketers feel the pace at which social networks release new user and advertising features makes it hard to keep up. Sound familiar? As a social media manager, you know the challenge of adapting content to cater to each platform’s unique audience preferences and format requirements.
We recommend adhering to a quality over quantity approach when it comes to content, and the same should be said for social media platforms. The same survey from Hootsuite found that the majority (60%) of organizations have a presence on X (Twitter), but only a third of them feel strongly that it benefits their business—which might explain the 7% drop in brand use.
Rather than spending time and resources on platforms that are no longer fueling results for your brand, prioritizing the platforms that have the most impact is where our energy should be in 2024. Looking to determine which platforms may no longer make sense? Here are a few things to consider:
- Where is your largest audience?
- Do you get significantly higher reach and engagement on certain platforms?
- Do you get more comments on one platform vs. others?
- What platforms are serving as top referral sources to your website?
- Before jumping to a new platform, ask yourself: is my audience really choosing that platform over the others our brand is currently active on?
Find the human angle
Last, but certainly not least, embracing social media’s ability to connect people is critical. Regardless of your industry or brand, there is a human component that can be pulled out for social media. While it seems simple to incorporate more people into your social content, we find that our clients who empower us to take this approach stand out among the competition and see improvements in overall performance.
Whether it’s recognizing employees and their work behind the scenes or spotlighting customers and how your product or service benefits them, finding the human angle makes content relatable and interesting.
As a tech company, you can say you have the best product, but what sets you apart from the competition? As a nonprofit, you can say there is need across your communities and your organization is there to help, but what does that look like? Creating strong visuals of your team in action or showcasing the experts is ultimately what stops the scroll and drives consideration from your audience.
What Marketers Should Leave Behind
As we continue to learn more about what works today for success on social media, there are also a few things we’re leaving behind.
Optimal posting times and dates
One of the most frequently asked questions we receive from those newer to publishing on social media for a brand is what days and times are best for posting. While there may be a few exceptions when it comes to timely events, we truly believe high quality content is the key to peak reach and engagement.
Stick to an intuitive posting schedule that makes sense for your industry (maybe avoid posting on LinkedIn at 3 a.m.), but if you have a well-crafted post with dynamic creative and engaging copy that connects back to your brand’s vision, we promise the content will perform.
And if it doesn’t? Try again! Remember every social media post will only reach a fraction of your total audience (regardless of quality). Don’t be afraid to experiment with repackaging content, testing new elements and sharing again to see what resonates best.
Over emphasis on sales
Hootsuite’s Social Media Consumer 2024 Survey reported that 34% of consumers say “too much self-promotion” is a major turn-off in how they perceive brands on social. Rather than looking at organic social media as a tool to directly support sales, look at it as a touchpoint to develop brand awareness, meet your audience where they’re at and fuel future consideration to take action with your brand.
While branded graphics have a place, maintaining a well-rounded content strategy stemming from your company’s other marketing and communications initiatives is key. Don’t overlook opportunities to amplify thought leadership content, highlight success stories, demonstrate your company culture and educate your audience on who your brand is, not just what action you’re hoping they take.
Driving traffic off-platform in every post
As algorithms evolve, most social platforms have one thing in common: keeping users on the platform as much as possible. Based on all the other best practices discussed in this post, it’s clear that our approach to social media in 2024 emphasizes authenticity and an engagement-first mindset.
When you take all of that into consideration, it may be time to reassess what success looks like – which means lowering your expectations of how much website referral traffic you can expect to see from organic social media.
Including links within a post is fine, but don’t expect audiences to click through to the content. Focus on providing value in the few seconds you have with your audience on social media. This might mean experimenting with on-platform features like LinkedIn’s newsletters and articles – think through how you can use these content formats to reach your audience with valuable content and encourage continued interactions by including key links and additional resources throughout. When you start viewing organic social media as an engagement opportunity rather than a conversion source, there are countless opportunities to adjust your strategy.
Social media is constantly evolving. Interested in keeping up with our take on the digital landscape and tips for your brand to stay ahead? Subscribe to our Thoughts from the 313 newsletter.
Catherine Pace is an Integrated Communications Manager – Digital at Franco. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
