A guide to keeping your Social Media in check

In this day and age it is vital to the health of your business to have a strong and consistent social media message. There are literally hundreds of social networking websites that attract the interests of the general public worldwide. From heavy hitters Facebook, Google+, Instagram and Twitter to the specialty niche sites such as Flickr for photography, Soundcloud for music or Linkedin for business; every man, woman and beast is clawing for attention.

With the potential to expose your business over a variety of different online formats it is crucial that its brand is in the best possible shape to capture maximum results. So how is this done exactly?

Firstly, yep you guessed it. Your branding visuals must be consistent throughout each site. This doesn’t necessarily mean each header, cover or internal image has to be exactly the same (in fact the opposite); but the tone of the imagery should match your website and various other printed collateral. Consistency is king!

Similarly to your brand, your Social Media should have a style guide. If you, or your Social Media Manager, is away or out of the office there is no excuse for a lull in well-organised and well-branded posts heading out to the world. Regular exposure of your brand is key to its success.

Don’t share too much information on Social Media. Keeping your content short, sweet and engaging is far more beneficial than bombarding potential clients with paragraphs and paragraphs of text. Best practice is to provide a link back to your website where the bulk of the content is waiting for any eager readers. Sticking with a Facebook page, rather than a website? Maybe you should read this.

Ever wanted to know which of your Social Media services is dragging the chain? Track and adapt which sites are reeling in the traffic with an online analytics tool. Google Analytics is an industry leader when it comes to measuring and reporting which sites link most effectively with your own; including all Social Media. From here you can decide whether or not to place more emphasis on particular networking campaigns.

The unstoppable train that is Social Media certainly isn’t slowing down anytime soon so jump on board and enjoy the ride.