There’s no such thing as a static social media platform. Like most of the internet, social sites and the algorithms that power them are continuously being updated. Sometimes the changes are sweeping and make our lives easier. Other times they’re hardly noticeable at all, but can still have a huge impact on your social media marketing strategy.

The most recent algorithm changes to Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram are a mixture of both, but definitely ones your small business needs to act on. Ahead is a recap of what you should be aware of moving forward and how to plan accordingly. 

Facebook Compresses Mobile Ad Format

Social media advertising is mission-critical in the pay-to-play world marketers are contending with, and that goes double for ads viewed on mobile devices. Ad format changes on the largest social media network mean social media marketers will need to make their new paid posts even punchier with less space for images and copy.

Last month, a Facebook Business blog announced the compression, stating that as of August 19^th mobile News Feed ads would shrink to, “match the look and feel of the new Facebook design introduced earlier this year.“

Now, images and media will be capped at a vertical 4:5 aspect ratio, down from a previously generous 2:3. Copy, which used to show a lengthy seven lines, will now be reduced to a mere 3 lines of primary text before being truncated.

Why the change? According to the same post, Facebook is looking to “drive increased ad effectiveness and make it easier to use the same assets on Facebook News Feed and Instagram feed.” Essentially, this is great for cross-promotion between the two Facebook-owned channels, and not simply about looks.

What businesses need to do: Starting now, you can maximize your Facebook ad potential by making your first three lines of ad text as irresistible as possible, and formatting all your media to fit the predetermined height ahead of time.

LinkedIn Adopts Reaction Buttons

For the last three years, Facebook users have enjoyed emoting via their reaction buttons. Now, LinkedIn is following suit, offering desktop and mobile users the chance to not just “like” a post, but respond using a professionally-appropriate “celebrate,” “love,” “insightful,” and “curious” reaction.

They certainly took their time rolling out this feature. Now that it’s more than just a passing trend, the professional networking platform is hoping the reaction buttons will ultimately help them remain relevant among other social media players and increase overall engagement.

What businesses need to do: Make sure you’re posting regularly on LinkedIn. Include a variety of professional content so you can capitalize on these projected increasing engagement rates.

Instagram Cracks Down on “Offensive” Posts

All businesses want to make sure their Instagram posts and stories are seen by as many target audience eyes as possible. But they will need to be extra cautious to see that what they’re sharing doesn’t border on “inappropriate content.”

Now, even if a post doesn’t technically violate the network’s Community Guidelines, content that is too sexually suggestive or otherwise offensive will still have a drastically reduced reach. According to one Facebook Newsroom article, the demotion will limit, “those types of posts from being recommended on our Explore and hashtag pages.”

For the time being, your Instagram Stories bar will not be subject to the same problematic content management strategies, but best to steer clear anyway.

What businesses need to do: Before you post, verify that nothing you’re putting out into the world can be considered clickbaity or fake news-worthy. You should also be very careful about sharing any offensive memes (especially if they or the comments contain hate speech) or content that can be perceived as sexualized. In other words, don’t even attempt to push the limits. It’s also a good idea to review the “borderline content” section of the Instagram Help Center.

As the saying goes, “the only constant is change.” But don’t spend too much time mourning the past. If you need a hand to help your social media content roll with the changes just make contact.

Logged on to your Google + page lately? If so you might have noticed something different – nothing at all. Though the shuttering of this once highly promising social media platform wasn’t a total surprise you might have been anticipating more time together – and you’re not alone.

When Google first announced the shutdown we were told we would have until August 2019 to say goodbye. But security bugs coupled with reported, “low usage” forced Google’s hand. Earlier this year they revised that date to April 2^nd.

And close it down they did. But what now? If Google + has been a component of your SEO and social media marketing plan you may be looking for a new way to get in front of your target audience.

Here’s how localized social marketing strategies are picking up where Google + left off and helping businesses move onward and upward.

How will the Google + Shutdown impact your SEO + Social?

Google and search marketing are one and the same, so it stands to reason that a social networking product under this all-seeing search engine would make SEO soar, right? Wrong.

The good news is that you haven’t just been doing it wrong this whole time. Poor user adoption across the board meant that posts didn’t really amount to much in the way of increased traffic or SEO benefits. That paired with a security breach that compromised the accounts of more than 500k businesses left the writing on the wall.

More good news – even if you were active on the low-performing social site, posts from your other social media profiles have been and will continue to (literally) pull rank. In other words, you really shouldn’t see much of a dip in your search rankings.

Remember that social signals have always had minimal impact on SEO while things like successful website development and backlinks from other credible sites to it count for a lot!

In the wake of this atypical Google blunder, be sure to go back through your site and other profiles to remove the G+ link and icon. Staying goodbye to G+ shouldn’t sink your SEO ranking, but dead links still can.

Google My Business (GMB) and Adwords pages will also not be impacted but hit those heavily for a nice counterbalancing effect.

Localized Social Marketing

Fear not. Especially if you have more than one location or run a multi-store brand platform like Facebook makes it easier than ever to communicate with your local audience in the wake of the Google + shutdown.

SOCi, a social media and reputation management platform, defines localized social marketing as, “marketing efforts that focus on building a local presence for a business, leveraging locally-driven communication channels to reach the specific local communities it serves.” The idea is to turn things like social reviews and ads into “two-way engagement channels.”

According to findings published in a recent SOCi report, “more than 70 percent of brand engagement on social is happening on location Pages.”

Setting up local Facebook Pages for your various locations makes capturing reviews a breeze and gives local leaders a chance to answer questions in more personal and thorough ways than your corporate team can.

In the end, it may not be as tearful a Google+ goodbye as you’d envisioned, but that’s ok. Where Google has closed a door, social media has opened a window.

Want help improving your SEO or setting up a localized social marketing strategy? Let us take your brand beyond.

Social media users are a judgmental bunch. In the literal blink of an eye, they’ll subconsciously size you up based largely on your bio. How quickly are we talking? About a tenth of a second. And these first impressions can be hard to shake.

If you’ve been writing your social media bios as an afterthought, time to start treating them like the valuable pieces of real estate they are. Here are seven ways to scrub the images, copy, and links in your bios to increase your conversions and strengthen your branding.

Images

1. Use a hi-res profile image

In social media marketing, a quality profile image is critical. True, some platform’s profile pictures are super small but that doesn’t mean they’re any less important.

Your profile picture is the first place a user is likely to look when visiting you on social media, and one of the last things they’ll remember about your company.

According to one scientific study, online photo first impressions influence perception so strongly that they usually remain even after interacting with you or your brand.

When uploading your profile picture, make sure it’s free of pixelation and the same across all your other social media channels. Even for small spaces like Instagram, hi-res images or renderings of your logo or leadership work best.

2. Take advantage of your header image

Some social networks like Twitter and Facebook have header images located behind your profile picture. This is where you can give followers a snapshot of your company’s personality, products, and services, or current sales and specials. There’s really no limit to what you can do with this highly visible piece of property.

Same rules as above apply here, too. Make sure the image – be it photo or graphic – is clear, high-quality, and properly formatted to fit the space.

As for what to cover on your cover, don’t be afraid to get creative! We’ve seen clients have great success advertising the following on their header images:

• An inspirational quote from a historical figure or CEO.
• A candid photo of their team.
• New individual products or an entire line of them.
• Giveaways, networking events, industry awards.
• Seasonal greetings or work anniversaries.
• Fan acknowledgment for hitting 10K likes.
• Testimonials or reviews.
• Sales or limited time offers.
• Percentage of each sale or annual profit that goes to charity.

Pictures may be worth a thousand words, but the actual words count for a lot, too. Next up: how to make those count.

Words

1. Use keywords

What modern business isn’t interested in improving their search results? Keywords are your brand’s most direct way to convene with the search engines and increase your ranking.

Thing is, your social media bios have much stricter character limits than other pieces of content you create. So while a couple of key terms are important, your bio still needs to read as a human wrote it. As with all other mediums, keyword stuffing is a no-no.

One way to give your social bio keywords extra staying power is to include your location. For instance, it’s no accident our Instagram reads, “Digital marketing agency in Addison, Texas.” It’s a great way to introduce yourself to local potential customers.

2. Develop your bios

Your bio is born from concise copy that tells social media users: who you are, what you do, your contact info, your USP (unique selling proposition), how you can help them, and what you want them to do (your CTA).

Tools like Bio Gen — bio generator for social networks and Designer Bio Generator™ can help you get a skeleton bio pulled together, but you may want to add some personal flare to help with the overall impact.

3. Include CTAs

Speaking of CTAs, it’s great if your profiles have their own specific calls that change and correspond to different marketing initiatives throughout the year.

Some of our favorite galvanizing CTAs include:

• Expressing what you want: “Click the link in our bio for a free consultation”
• Asking for shares: “Tag us + #brandedhashtag to be featured”
• Promoting sales: “Shop our Summer sale”
• Highlighting a contest: “Caption this photo for your chance to win!”

Now that you’ve asked them what to do, time to tell them where to go!

Links

1. Utilize different links for different marketing goals

Many companies simply link to their website. Be it a specific landing page like your contact page or one you’ve created for incoming social media visitors, remember to keep the link updated in your social profile. You can even use a UTM code or bit.ly link to help you track the number of visitors you’re getting from your social media profiles.

Other popular links include:

• Updates about product launches.
• Email sign-ups for webinars.
• Articles written about your business or your latest YouTube video.
• Event registration pages for speaking engagements or networking events.

2. Offer promo codes

Followers always appreciate a little extra incentive to take them from socializing to making a sale. If your budget allows for it, consider including a small promotional code in your bio. These types of online coupon codes are known conversion drivers. Bonus: they also double as conversion trackers! Just make sure to create a unique code for each of your profiles so you can more accurately account for the increased traffic.

Take it from us, your bio is the beginning of your relationship with your followers. Make sure it starts off on a good foot with the best possible social media bio.

Want a social media professional to take a stab at your bios? Just say the word?

Posting on social media takes Goldilocks-like sensibilities. No, we’re not suggesting that your social media strategy is child’s play. In fact, having a well-developed social media presence is a critical part of running a successful business in the digital age.

Instead, what social media experts prescribe is a not-too-much, not-too-little approach to running your social channels.

So how do you achieve that “just right” sweet spot when posting on social media? That’s what we’re about to unpack.

General Rules for Posting on Social Media

Every business is different. In fact, let’s make that rule #1. Keep it in mind as you continue reading.

What do we mean by that?

Start with these tips and times as a baseline, but make sure you’re checking your insights and analytics regularly to see how your particular audience compares. Make adjustments so you’re posting the right kinds of content when they’re most active

The next two rules may seem obvious. But they’re worth repeating.

1. Post consistently. The more consistently you post, the less the frequency matters. That may sound like a bold statement to make in a post that’s all about how often you should post on social media, but we stand by it. Why? Because the absolute worst thing you can do is give your social media followers the silent treatment. It’s the equivalent of ghosting. Better to post at a pace you can actually manage without burnout.

2. Make sure your content is high quality. Again, posting too much won’t be an issue if the content you’re sharing is truly high quality. The more engaging your social media posts are the more likely your followers are to take notice.

How Often to Post Per Platform

Before we launch into the specifics of how often to post on different social media channels, we’d like to take an opportunity to give some sage advice.

Don’t try to be a star on each one.

Your audience is likely to be more active and engaged on one of two platforms. Put your effort there.

That’s not to say you can’t or shouldn’t have a profile on each of the five major players. (You absolutely should.) However with your limited marketing resources we recommend focusing on one or two or hiring a digital marketing agency to post for you.

Here’s how often to post on each of the most popular social media sites:

• Facebook: HubSpot recommends posting on the king of all social media platforms 1-2 times per day. Of course, some of that depends on the size of your follower count. Typically, oversaturating them with content will cause your Facebook audience to tune you out, hide your posts, or worse, give you the old unfollow.
• Twitter: Life moves fast on this microblogging platform. Most experts say posting between 5-10 times a day is the best way to get in front of the majority of your audience. Check your analytics to see when you have the most eyes on your posts and try to spread them out accordingly.
• Pinterest: The social media buffs at Buffer recommend posting on Pinterest up to 30 times a day. If that sounds like a lot to you, start small. Once you get in the habit of posting 5-10 pins a day you can work your way up for more exposure.
• LinkedIn: By their own admission daily posting on LinkedIn tends to yield the best results. Remember to keep the content business professional – think case studies, industry news, company milestones, etc.
• Instagram: Posting to your feed 1-2 times per day is best for the ‘gram. If you have additional content to share, consider making updates to your stories to keep from overwhelming your followers. 

When it comes to social media, you don’t want to seem like you’re yelling or whispering. Talking in a consistent, conversational tone will help you keep a pace that encourages all variety of Goldilocks type followers to hang on your every word.

Want us to do the posting for you? Let’s chat!