Every morning when you check your social media pages, it’s almost common to see that one of your long lost friends has uploaded three new almost identical selfies each with a slightly altered pose. If you’re Ellen DeGeneres then you probably enjoyed record high TV ratings after the infamous Oscar selfie received 779,295 retweets. That is just an example of how utilizing the right digital tactics can have a big impact on your organization. With a strong online presence, your company can bask in engagement and generate leads if you capitalize on the respective social media trends. And depending upon the appropriate social media network, it is imperative to supply and level the amount of distributed content with the proper delivery. Your social pages should integrate with your website and coincide with the messaging. Today, there is a whirlwind of social networking sites, making it difficult to figure out which one is best for business and ultimately produce the best ROI.
Whether you run an association or senior living community, below are my top three social media must-haves:
– Drum roll please! Okay maybe that’s not necessary. Simply put, it’s no surprise that Facebook is #1 on the list as the network offering a variety of tools that can help grow your business. Pew research shows each year there has been an increase in users on the most popular social network ages 50+ since 2013. A family member can search for a senior community for a loved one without even stepping foot in the door! So it is imperative that you button up your business page. Start by building content around services and day-to-day activities as well as company announcements and news updates, to keep your audience in the know. You also have the option to launch highly targeted campaigns, consisting of messaging specific to products and services. My motto is “Facebook is like an empty canvas. Pick up the right brushes and paint a picture of what your organization is all about.”
– Every company can benefit from having an active Facebook page but maintaining an active Twitter page is a different animal. This social network thrives on original content yet requires frequent maintenance and more posts (tweets) than Facebook. The key to engagement on the Twitter is to create original content and include either a link or picture to coincide with the text. Since we have entered conference season every association and attendee should be actively tweeting! If another company or organization is included in your message, be sure to add their Twitter handle (Twitter name). Lastly, using the appropriate hashtags will send your Tweet to reach many users under that subject. Hashtags group similar messages together based on a topic and are most popular on Twitter. Remember, you’re subjected to 140 characters including links, photos and hashtags, so get to the point quick!
– Mainly used for corporate organizations and career networking, LinkedIn lays the foundation of a larger organization’s professional existence. Users on LinkedIn have entered the professional zone and are either searching for potential careers or gathering more information about an organization. Readers are looking for industry related articles, original content speaking to your services and press releases. Joining a LinkedIn group (or several) is another way to maximize your reach. Keep in mind; groups are more time consuming, so be sure to check your content! For smaller communities that derive off a corporate branch, this social network is not as important.
Overall, if enough time is allotted to maintain and monitor social media trends, your business can reap a big increase in lead generation and visibility. Not only is it important to follow the above best practices but also be prepared to wear your PR hat when crisis arises. To watch Bild & Co live in action, Like us on Facebook to follow our next senior living conference presence and Follow us on Twitter to watch Live Tweeting in action.
For more information on how Bild & Company can help advise with digital marketing and strategy, please contact us →
