Social media is pervasive in our society. You’re on it, your kids are on it, even your parents or grandparents are probably on it. And, of course, your company is on it, using social media as the valuable storytelling tool it is. However, there is a massive gap between casual personal social media use and strategic social media management that drives your business goals. There is a misconception that corporate social media accounts are all run by interns, or “just posting” and that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Successful social media requires groups of professionals who know these platforms inside and out and are able to create content flows and digital presences that can take your business to the next level.

Our digital team encounters many of the same questions from our clients when we are working through strategies, often stemming from their experiences as a personal social media user. So, here’s a few things your social media manager probably wishes you knew.

1. It’s okay to repeat your key messages

I’ve noticed that many of our clients overthink their social media content. Of course, we want content to be great, but I often hear from clients directives like “we already posted something similar” or “let’s post that in a few months when we have an update” but that’s not the correct strategy. Why? 1) Organically, at maximum, 5-10% of the people who follow your page are going to see your post in their feeds. Think about it, do you see every single thing that Nike or the Atlanta Braves post? If you follow many accounts, probably no. 2) Repeating your key messages in different and creative ways is the best way to increase not only brand awareness but brand advocacy, equipping your audience with the information they need until it sticks. We might post about the same industrial warehouse for a client every month, using different photos,  graphics and videos to keep it fresh, and while I get how that can feel redundant internally, to your audience, they might only see it once. And if you don’t repeat your key messages, maybe never at all.

    2. It’s easier than ever to go viral - if you’re consistent

Okay, your social media manager might hate me for that one. We used to tell clients we can’t promise online virality, and while that is still true, it’s easier than ever to hit an algorithm avalanche and have a video go viral. It’s still tough to predict, but if you are regularly posting on-trend, interesting videos on Instagram Reels or TikTok, catering to what your audience wants, there is a solid chance one or more of those videos will “go viral” hitting 50,000, 100,000 or or more views organically and increasing visits to your page. Consistency is the key here; you can’t post once and expect to hit the big time, you have to keep pushing that highly shareable, valuable content out if you want a chance at internet stardom.

     3. Little tricks of the trade make a big difference

Trusting your social media team results in better content because we are in and out of these platforms for 8+ hours a day, and understand little tricks and tips that can make a big difference in performance. Many clients collaborate with us on content, and may not realize feedback they are giving that is rooted in more traditional marketing tactics might actually hurt social media performance. A few examples:

• We may purposefully edit a short-form video for the text to move too fast to read so people loop the video, increasing our views and thus prioritizing the video in the algorithm (the algorithm loves videos that loop).
• Saying “no” to posting text-heavy flyers and working to find a photo of a person to represent the message instead - social media users are proven to respond best to seeing other people vs. text-only graphics.
• Pushing your team to add meaningful context around holidays vs. posting a generic “Happy Juneteenth!” message to bolster engagement and positive sentiment. We generally only recommend posting holiday messages when it aligns with company values or ongoing initiatives, such as a diversity commitment or festive event.

      4. You don’t need to post every day

As I’ve already mentioned, consistency is hugely important, but that doesn’t mean churning out content seven days per week. On most platforms, feed posts live in the algorithm for 2-3 days, sometimes more, and posting too often can lead to overshadowing your own content. Our advice to clients is to establish a cadence and stick to it: posting consistently (once or twice per week is fine) long-term brings better performance and credibility than trying to post too often, or posting very sporadically.

     5. Don’t let internal red tape sabotage “trendjacking”

Most of the time, we are happy for our clients to take their time reviewing content, especially if we are launching something or introducing a new series. However, sometimes we need to move quickly, such as jumping on a trending audio or meme that will be obsolete in 24 hours, or commenting on local news that will be old news by the weekend. In situations like these, we encourage our clients to appoint a singular content liaison on their team who we can work with on quick approvals. Your chances of earning high engagement and awareness by smart “trendjacking” or commentary on a new topic increase when you’re quick to join in the conversation. If you’re too late, you can risk negative sentiment, or a content piece we worked hard on becomes obsolete because we hesitated.