According to amaSocial, a complete social media tracking and reporting service, social media has become an extremely important marketing tool in the digital age.

Because of this, it is vital for social media marketers, community managers and analysts to correctly measure social activity and engagement.

Ready to start putting together attention-grabbing post copy that’s right for each platform?

Twitter

Tweets have a 280 character limit; however, most brands stick to about 100 characters or less to see higher engagement rates. It’s important to stick to one idea per Tweet, and to always include at least one hashtag.

Take a look at the content of your tweet and decide which hashtags will be the most relevant, based on their popularity. You want to choose a hashtag that relates to your brand, industry or offering, but that is also widely used on the platform. Using popular hashtags can increase the discoverability of your tweets, giving it the potential to receive more engagement.

Twitter is a great platform for B2B brands as it is easy for them to follow industry leaders, as well as to engage with the content they post. Keep your customers up to date with your own thought leadership pieces or your PR efforts by sharing a link to your website — or where the content was published.

Remember to always mention the source of the articles you share by tagging their Twitter handles — this provides your followers with the opportunity to get more information and allows the author the chance to engage with you.

Facebook

On Facebook, you have 63 206 characters to play with. But just because you have them, doesn’t mean you should use all of them. According to Social Report, Facebook posts between 40 and 50 characters tend to perform best; this is because your audience will not have to expand the post to read the full update.

The trick is to keep your copy short and attractive. If you find that your post is becoming lengthy, include a link to your blog or website where your followers can get more information. This not only allows you to spark interest (without over explaining), but it also increases traffic to your sites.

Hashtags also play an important role in Facebook posts, as they can help make your content more discoverable. Promote your ‘brand’ content pillars by including a product-specific hashtag, or use a campaign-specific hashtag to increase awareness across all marketing channels.

Incorporating the same hashtag or phrase on social media, as well as on your digital, print and broadcast channels, can help increase brand awareness through the repetition of key messages.

Facebook allows you to upload a number of different content types. From videos to GIFs, infographics and images — no brand’s Facebook post should be published without one. Utilise these types of content to post tutorials and other educational content to boost post engagement. These posts are often relevant to an audience outside of your followers and they have huge shareability.

Instagram

Instagram is used by brands to share key messages or raise awareness about their offerings in a visually appealing way. The platform works best for consumer brands, which have tangible products or services they can sell visually. This makes Instagram the number one platform to showcase food, fashion and travel destinations.

Because Instagram is a visual platform, low quality photos or videos simply won’t grow your following and your posts won’t receive the engagement they deserve. Make sure your creative is of the highest quality, and make use of the filters — but don’t overdo it, as authenticity is key.

The platform has a 2 200 character limit, but a long caption requires users to click the ‘See More’ button — which they are unlikely to do since it is largely a mobile-only network. Try to keep your captions short and sweet and under 125 characters, according to the Instagram team.

In order for your posts to be found by users, you need to include relevant hashtags in your post copy. You can include up to 30 hashtags in your post caption, however, it isn’t advisable to use this many as you run the risk of your post being perceived as spam. 

Choose hashtags that relate to your product, brand or industry and, where possible, include the most popular hashtags to increase the chances of your account being found.

Unfortunately, Instagram does not allow you to incorporate links in your post copy; however, you can include links in your bio to increase profile visits.

For more information, visit www.amasocial.co.za. You can follow also follow amaSocial on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.