20 Tactics to Optimize Every Social Media Post (part 2)

Here is the second half of 20 tactics to help you become a social media master. This list first appeared on the Tom Ferry Show podcast with Jason Pantana.

11. Titles and Headlines: YouTube keeps people watching by delivering videos based on what they think the viewer will like.  This is largely determined from the video title, which they turn into keywords to fulfill search results and recommendations.  YouTube reads from left to right in terms of priority, so be sure to put the topic of your content right up front in your title.  Also, try to keep your title 50 characters or fewer!

12. Timing Your Post: One of the most important considerations for posting on social media is when to post. Your goal will obviously be to reach the most people. The correct timing will depend on the platform. For Facebook and Instagram, posts basically have a 24-hour shelf life before people are going to move on.  Posts are meant to immediately garner comments, likes, shares, etc. Take a look at “Insights” in your Instagram business profile or Facebook’s Analytics to view your audience’s behavior. Make sure to use this information strategically, and save your best content for when your audience is the most dialed in. 

13. Stickers & Interactive Components: So if you haven’t picked up on it yet, the goal here is conversations. We want people to see your post, engage with it, and then for you to continue that conversation. One great way to keep conversations going between posts in your feed is to do the same thing using Instagram Stories (specifically, interactive stories).  Stickers and interactive components make it easy for people to engage by voting in a poll, answer a quiz, ask questions and more. Make sure you’re capitalizing on these opportunities.

14. Cards & End Screens: When a video is ending on YouTube, you’ll often notice custom “end screens” pointing the user to related videos.  Likewise, “cards” can be utilized throughout a video to insert external links, polls, and more.  Utilize these at opportune times to keep people watching your content longer!

15. Comment Replies:  One of the biggest mistakes you can make is failing to reply when someone comments on one of your posts. Not only is it rude from a societal perspective, but it’s failing to capitalize on an opportunity to expose your post to more people. Remember – those conversations are exactly what Facebook and Instagram are looking for, and posts with lots of engagement will be shown to more people.  Make sure you’re replying anytime someone comments on your post!

16. Tags: With tags (not hashtags), you’re able to input descriptive terms on the back-end of Facebook and YouTube posts that relate to your video and/or your channel as a whole. Find tags that will help people find your content… Homes for sale in [YOUR MARKET], [YOUR MARKET] real estate, etc.  Add tags in terms of relevancy to the content from highest relevancy to lowest.

17. Image or Video Quality: Social media platforms have optical-recognition AI that can analyze your content to gauge everything from image quality to the overall tone of the language you use. Thus, you should always strive for high-quality images. don’t post blurry pics or overly grainy videos. This doesn’t mean you have to be a professional videographer to post on social media, but it does mean you should be discerning about what you post, because it will impact your post’s performance if there are audio or video issues.

18. Pay to Play: Did you know that studies have estimated that only 10% of your followers will actually see your post?  It’s difficult to make a big impact purely from organic reach. Thus, it’s all about paying to play. Put money behind some of your posts – and ads! – to two audiences: Your “warm” audience of people you know, and a “cold” audience of people you don’t know but are in your desired geographic area or meet demographics you want to reach.

19. Post to Story: Sharing a story is a chance to get more eyeballs on your posts and increase engagement, which enhances the possibility of getting your post spread far and wide.

20. Video Animation: Remember this mantra:  “Anything that can be video will be video.” Case in point: When you run ads on Facebook, there’s a tool called Video Animation inside the Ads Manager.  It will take a static image and turn it into a lightweight motion video. This feature allows you to take a boring, static image and turn it into something more dynamic and engaging.