Socially Conscious: Get more mileage from social media posts

By now you’ve learned that only a fraction of your social media posts get seen by the people who matter most: your customers. The question on everyone’s mind, then, is how do you get your customers to see more of your Facebook and Twitter updates? The answer doesn’t lie in special times of day or cracking the magic viral code or even keeping up with the latest fads or memes. The answer is persistence. Marketers know that to get on their customers’ radars, they need to deliver the same message multiple times, often in the exact same format.

Think TV commercials and print ad campaigns, which you see again and again until they’re emblazoned on your brain. Yet on social media, many people feel the pressure to be unique or new with every single tweet or post. But to grab your customers’ attention, you don’t have to reinvent your messaging every time you want to update your social media networks. In fact, you can post the exact same thing over and over on Twitter, and very few (if any) followers will be the wiser. Why? Because the half-life of a tweet is 24 minutes, according to Wisemetrics, while a Facebook post’s is still only 90 minutes. Rather than come up with new content every day, consider making your content “like new.” Here are three smart ways to make your social posts last longer.

1. Turn plain text into photo and video updates.

Did only 10 fans see your latest Facebook status update? Find or take a great photo, put text on it with a free editing program, and post it again as a photo update a day later. Do the same with video, and you’ll have just put the same message out to your fans in three different ways.

2. Keep a spreadsheet of all your tweets.

Before you schedule your tweets with apps like HootSuite or Buffer, type them into a spreadsheet. Organize them by columns, with categories like sales messages, inspirational, events, nutrition advice, etc. In a couple months—after your old tweets are long gone— you can simply copy and paste any still-relevant tweets back into your Twitter scheduler. This is exactly what social media scheduling service Edgar will do for you to ensure none of your posts go to waste.

3. Write 25 variations of the same marketing message.

Have an event or sale to promote? Take a tactic from the editors of Upworthy.com, who write 25 different headlines for each story they post, even though only one makes the cut. For you, all 25 can be used to post to your social networks. The key is to shift your language around slightly each time, so while your core message stays the same, your posts will all be a bit different. Be sure to space these updates out, so all 25 don’t occur one after the other.

Caren Baginski is a digital and social media strategist based in Denver and former social media and digital editor of newhope360.com. For more strategies to cultivate conscious consumers, including a free tip, visit gum.co/cultivate or contact Caren at carenbaginski.com.