It’s Valentine’s Day, so we’re spreading a little love, particularly in terms of social media. In the midst of your last minute Valentine’s Day shopping scramble, we invite you to take a breather and check out some of our favorite social media tips!

It’s all in the name of spreading the love.

1. Listen to your people. What are people responding to the most? What are they re-sharing, what are they commenting on, what are they clicking through? Pay attention to their activity and adjust your content strategy likewise. If your people respond really well to client testimonials and you’re only sharing those a few times a week while burying people in stats and education about your service or product, you’re likely going to lose them in the sea of oversaturated noise.

What do people want to hear more about? If people are emailing you or submitting contact forms—then think through the questions and comments they share. Are they responding to a certain kind of post or news more than others? Share more of that same kind of content. Are they requesting more information on certain products or services? Publish and share how-to guides and free informational downloads.

2. Don’t overthink it! At the end of the day, sometimes we get buried so deep in all of the details that we can’t see the forest for the trees. Details are good, but when everyone on your team is down in the weeds and no one is looking at the situation from a 30,000 foot level, you’ll miss big opportunities.

Make sure you have visionary people who can speak into the general social media strategy. If you don’t have enough capacity on your team to do so, then make an intentional effort at pulling yourself out of the data and the analytics a few times a week to take in the full picture and evaluate what other brands and competitors are doing. You need a bigger vision to follow in order to have a successful social media strategy—it isn’t just about the clicks and the impressions and the followers—it’s about carving out a space for your brand to flourish and grow by cultivating a welcoming space for all who are interested in what you’re doing.

3. Ignore the one-size-fits-all mentality. Beyond having an editorial calendar and actually updating your platforms, you need to take social media advice with a grain of salt. There are so many experts and thought leaders all sharing what they think you should be doing, but it’s important to keep in mind that everyone is speaking from their unique experiences and the results that they’ve seen. So what worked for a shoe brand to cultivate engaged customers on social media might not work for a new non profit that’s just desperate to generate some awareness.

Social media seems like it’d be a no brainer and super easy to implement, but it can be tricky! With the three tips above in mind, approach your social audiences with a renewed spirit and determination to meet THEIR needs. 

Need more help with your marketing? Check out our library of free resources to help you along the way!