You’ve Been Asked to Take Over the Social Media for Your Company, Now What?

A friend of mine works in sales and even though she has zero marketing experience, she was asked to help create content for her company’s social media pages. While we sat at dinner, she asked me for advice. That’s when it dawned on me: although I have written pieces explaining why your business needs a social marketing strategy and why you need a social media manager, I’ve never written a guide for beginners.

“If only I had a blog post ready to help her,” I thought. And so for my friend, the non-marketer being asked to do social media marketing, and so many others who find themselves in the same boat, here is the beginner’s guide to social media marketing.

Embody your brand’s voice

A brand identity is made up of many different elements. Brand colors, brand voice, etc. When you’re crafting social posts, be mindful of the voice you use when writing copy for your content and captions. For example, if your brand guidelines are strong and sophisticated, you’re not going to want to write humorous copy. If you don’t have a brand guideline, I recommend reviewing the language used on your website, product sheets, and other documents to get an idea of your brand’s voice.

Build with branded visuals

Brand guidelines go beyond tone of voice. Brands usually select a palette of colors that represent the company. For example, when you think of McDonald's, you think of red and yellow. When you think of Dunkin, you picture orange and purple. Your company’s brand colors should be used for your social post graphics. If your brand colors are blue and white, you won’t want a graphic to be yellow or orange. Don’t be afraid to use brand icons, typography, and photo or graphic styling too.

Remember graphic sizing

Sizing is always important. You’ll want to make sure the graphics you’ve created fall within the intended platform’s sizing requirements so the image doesn’t get cut off.

Here’s the sizing you’ll want to reference:

LinkedIn: 1200 x 1200 px or 1200x628 px

Facebook: 1200 x 628 px

Twitter: 1600 x 900 px

Instagram: 1200 x 1200 px

Create graphics in a scalable way

Besides the sizing of a graphic, what goes in the graphic is just as important. Don’t overuse text and keep the design elements to a minimum as it can cause clutter and will distract the viewer from the goal of your post. Canva is a valuable, free tool for graphic creation. With thousands of eye-catching templates ready to use, you’ll have everything you need to get started; just customize the template to fit your own brand and content needs.

Use only the words you need

When writing social captions, keep it simple and make every word count. Although some social platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook grant you 2,200 characters – that doesn’t mean you should use them. It’s important to take into account the goal of your social post. For instance, if you’re looking to share an educational post, a longer character count is okay, but if you’re sharing a fun or casual post, no one will want to read all that text. Use what you need, and don’t feel pressure to add more.

Don’t forget hashtags

Hashtags are a simple, effective social media marketing tactic used to categorize content and allow for greater visibility. It’s important not to overdue it with the hashtags; I recommend using 2-3 hashtags per social post. If you want to learn more about hashtags, check out this beginner blog post on hashtags.

Always include a call to action (CTA)

Have you ever read a social post that says “Sign up,” “Learn more,” “Request a demo,” or “Contact us”? If so, you’ve read a call to action with or without even realizing it. A call to action is a word or phrase that is used to drive people to take a specific action. When used correctly, a CTA can be an effective way to achieve great results for a business. Call to actions are things that non-marketers tend to forget when taking over social media so it’s important to include one in your caption copy. Need more ideas for CTA? Check out our blog post discussing top CTA phrases.

Consider a scheduling platform

I always recommend using a social media scheduling tool. They are great for scheduling out social posts in advance and so you don’t have to remember to post in real time. Some social scheduling tools of note are Buffer, Hootsuite, and Sprout. If you’re interested in learning more, check out our blog comparing the pros and cons of Buffer and Hootsuite.

And there you have it! 8 social media marketing tips for beginners. Want to learn more social media marketing tips?