Social media has revolutionized how businesses connect with their audience. It’s a powerful tool for fitness businesses to engage with health-conscious individuals and build a thriving online community. However, effectively managing social media platforms requires a solid understanding of best practices. This blog post will explore social media management for businesses, exploring proven strategies and techniques to maximize your reach, create engaging content, and foster meaningful connections with your target audience. This guide will equip you with the knowledge to navigate the ever-evolving social media landscape and elevate your brand to new heights.
Social Media Management and Marketing Best Practices
1. Research your audience
This is #1 because You can’t build a following without knowing who you want to attract. That’s social media 101.
Dig deep into the following questions:
- Who are your customers?
- Where do they hang out online?
- Where do they work?
- What do they care about?
- Do they already know you?
- What do they think of you? Is it what you want them to think?
- What content do they need to see to believe your products or services are worth their money?
That’s just a start. Make sure your social media marketing plan includes detailed audience research. Document it so your entire team knows who they’re crafting content for.
2. Build a presence on the right social media networks
You don’t need to be on every platform to succeed, including jumping on the newest, hottest app just because everyone else is. Before opening a new account, ask:
- Do I (or my team) have the bandwidth to create relevant content for a new platform?
- Does the purpose of this platform fit my brand?
- Does my audience spend time here?
Focusing on creating thoughtful content for fewer platforms will always serve you better than posting generic content across every platform.
3. Strategic is better than clever
Set goals, create a content strategy, and don’t create a TikTok account solely to participate in Dance Like a Chicken Day; in short: be strategic in all your actions.
Your content is an extension of your business. Like any business practice, social media needs a thoughtful approach, S.M.A.R.T. goals, and regular tactical adjustments.
4.Audit your performance
Your following is growing. Your engagement rates are sky-high. You get daily DMs and comments from loyal, excited customers. Your content is fire. Life is good, right? No!
Sure, things are good right now, but do you know why? What exactly led to these great results? Striking Lucky is great, but a better path forward is learning why your content performed well (or didn’t), so you can build repeatable processes for successful campaigns.
Here’s how to do that:
-
-
- Run a monthly social media audit.
- Experiment with posting content on different days and times.
- Survey your audience to ask them what they want.
-
Use analytics to find your top-performing content.
5. Develop consistent brand guidelines
You need two types of rulebooks for your team:
- The visual style, tone, and voice brand guidelines
- Employee social media guidelines
The former ensures your branding remains consistent and recognizable to your audience in everything from visuals to caption style, punctuation choices (#TeamOxfordComma), and overall ✨vibes✨.
Brand guidelines cover things like:
- Favorite or favorite?
- Which hashtags will you use?
Sources employees should use for content vs. ones they shouldn’t
On the other hand, employee social media guidelines provide structure to your employees on what topics may be off limits to post about when representing your company — even on their personal accounts. This eliminates confusion, encourages employees to share positive content, and establishes clear consequences for violating terms, saving you from legal and PR troubles.
6. Schedule your content in advance
Don’t be a Last Minute, Melvin. Coming up with content right before you need to post it is a recipe for burnout.
Planning your social media content allows space to create high-quality content, logically put together campaigns (organic and paid), and seek collaboration and feedback from your team.
7. Cross-post to different platforms — but make adjustments
Auto-sharing your Facebook post to Twitter isn’t a content strategy. Of course, you can and should be repurposing content across multiple platforms, but that’s the keyword: Repurposing.
Instead of simply spraying a link to your latest blog post across your social media accounts, turn the article’s key points into a Twitter thread.
Create a script from the blog post, film a YouTube video, and then link to the article in the description.
Stand in front of your phone and record a “pointing to various text boxes” Instagram Reel and direct your followers to read the full thing on your website.
You don’t need to go into all-out production mode for every article and make a thread Reel, TikTok, video content, carousel posts, etc. But make an effort to repurpose as much of your content as possible.
8. Embrace social listening
Social listening may sound like a fancy marketing buzzword, but it’s free, real-time market research. Basic listening scans social media channels for mentions of your name, products, competitors, specific keywords, or anything else you want to scout for. Advanced tools can recognize logos in images, evaluate brand sentiment, and more.
This gives you the real scoop on what people think of your company or the product features they want. But knowledge alone isn’t enough. You need to put it into practice.
Day to day, keep your AI ears open for people asking about your industry or for recommendations and pop into the conversation with a comment or retweet.
Social listening is effective for developing new products, positioning, and major strategic issues. By monitoring brand mentions, Ben & Jerry’s discovered that people preferred to eat their ice cream curled up inside on a wet day instead of outside in the sun.
9. Ask your audience for feedback
Social listening is great, but also make a point to engage your audience directly. Ask for their opinions and ideas or fun questions to get to know them better.
Run a quick Twitter or Instagram Stories poll, link to a web survey from your social accounts, or ask people to leave a comment with their response.
Social media management for customer service best practices
1. Remember that social media is a customer service channel
Yes, promotion and engagement are a huge part of why you’re on social media, but at its core, social media is not just about social networking — it’s about making your customers happy. You may have a 1-800 customer service number and email, but 70% of your customers would rather resolve issues on social media.
Want to go above and beyond? Combine a customer service mindset with social listening to help customers who haven’t contacted you. Whoa.
2. Respond promptly to DMs and comments
Besides tagging you in a post, users are messaging you or leaving comments on your social media posts with customer service inquiries. Those important comments are easy to miss, especially if your posts get hundreds of comments.
How can you see them and respond?
3. Use a chatbot to speed up simple inquiries
Customer service is important, though it can be time-consuming when most of your customers want to know the same things:
- “Where’s my order?”
- “I need to make a warranty claim.”
- “Do you ship to ____?”
Fortunately, technology has advanced to save time. Your customer care team’s burden can be cut by 94% when a chatbot handles simple FAQ-style inquiries.
4. Don’t ignore criticism
You don’t need to entertain obvious trolls but respond to your customers and fans, even if it’s interaction.
Coach your team on handling negative situations and offering solutions to angry customers. For criticism of company actions or values, ensure everyone on your team knows how to respond in kind and—let’s face it: legal-department-approved—way.
5. Have a crisis communications plan
There’s a difference between a few negative comments and a full-blown public relations nightmare. Whether the backlash you receive is legit or not, you need to have a plan for dealing with crises:
- Who on your team will lead the response?
- What will your response be?
- Will you make a public statement about it?
- Will you respond to individual comments or direct people to a prepared statement?
- Will you change the policy or action that people are upset about? And if so, how will you announce that?
Hopefully, conducting your daily operations ethically, responsibly, and inclusively will avoid situations like this, but it’s best to have a plan.
6. Have a content approval process
What is the worst way to experience a PR emergency? A poorly-planned post on your company account that gets a roastin’ quote tweet from a well-known US Senator.
Also read : How to Create a Social Media Marketing Strategy in 9 Easy Steps
Social media management for design best practices
1. Optimize content for each platform’s requirements
One of the (many) reasons you shouldn’t cross-post the same content on every platform is that each platform has its own image/video size or character count specifications.
2. A/B test creative assets
Sure, you’re running A/B tests on headlines and copy, but are you testing visual assets, too?
Try testing:
- A GIF instead of a static image.
- A video instead of an image, or vice versa.
- Changing the style of a graphic
- Using a different photo.
There are endless options to test, depending on your content, but the key thing is to test only one thing at a time. Otherwise, you won’t know which new element “won” at the end.
3. Use tools to achieve more
There are tons of social media apps to help out with design tasks. You can easily create graphics with Canva or Adobe Express if you need a design team.
Better yet: Hootsuite integrates with both to unlock max scheduling productivity.
Also read : App Designing Tips and Idea You Must Not Miss
B2B social media management best practices
1. Evaluate trends before jumping aboard
Yes, trending topics and popular TikTok audio can earn more views, but are they the right kind of views? Meaning: Is this a meme your target audience is likely to follow?
If not, you’re wasting time chasing the wrong content ideas. Plus, if it’s a trend your existing audience doesn’t understand or finds offensive, you could lose followers and damage your reputation.
Also read : The Future of Social Media Management: Key Trends
2. Check your accounts daily
Even if you don’t post daily, ensure someone on your team is logging in to respond to comments and DMs and check for potential spam.
Quick response times aren’t only appreciated; they’re expected. Globally, 83% of customers expect a response to a social media inquiry within 24 hours, and 28% expect an answer within one hour.
3. Snag account names even if you don’t use them
You may not be on TikTok. You may want to be on something other than TikTok. But it’s a good idea to reserve your company’s username on all existing social platforms.
Not only will this keep your options open for future use, but it prevents potential imposters from using your brand name to pose as you. Even if you never plan to use the platform, create an account to protect your reputation and intellectual property.
Also read : Top 7 B2B Lead Generation Strategies
Conclusion
In conclusion, mastering the best practices of social media management is vital for the success of any fitness business in today’s digital age. By implementing the strategies discussed in this blog post, you can create a compelling online presence, engage with your target audience, and build a loyal community. Remember to consistently analyze your metrics, adapt your strategies, and stay informed about the latest trends in social media. With dedication, creativity, and a deep understanding of your audience, you have the power to harness the full potential of social media and take your fitness business to new heights. Embrace social media opportunities, and watch as your brand flourishes digitally.
Also read : Benefits of Social Media Management For Business