Did you know posts ending with a question on social media receive 160 per cent more engagement than those that don’t?
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It was one of many facts shared when the Illawarra Mercury presented insights into using social media at the Spiegeltent on Thursday.
The Fairfax Media outlet with more than 48,000 followers on Facebook and nearly 10,000 on Twitter is making many inroads into the use of social media to drive traffic to its website which had 820,000 different devices access it in March and 10.5 million impressions.
Many reasons for that were shared at the #Socialinthespiegel event co-hosted by the Illawarra Business Chamber and Merrigong Theatre Company.
It involved a panel of four experts in their respective fields at Fairfax Media sharing their thoughts and answering questions.
Ben Speer, Joel Brewer, Gayle Tomlinson and Julian O’Brien provided updates on what is trending with the different platforms to what changes are coming and how Fairfax Media is using social media to grow its audience. They also spoke about the importance of linking social media content to a website and knowing when and how consistently to post.
Ms Tomlinson revealed one kind of content was particularly good to use strategically. “I recommend businesses do Facebook Live at least once a week”.
Mr Brewer said it was important to schedule content and know the best times to post and how often to engage with your audience. He said it needed a consistent strategy. “We strongly recommend you have some structure around what you are doing with your audience and making sure you are putting thought into a plan”.
The discussion concluded with six key things to know about using social media.
I recommend businesses do Facebook Live at least once a week.
- Gayle Tomlinson
- Know who your audience is.
- Figure out what social media your audience is using.
- Think about what content you can supply.
- Get the tone of voice right and use one voice.
- Listen to your customers and use what they tell you to improve your messaging.
- It is too big to ignore.
“If you are not in it already make sure you are. It is happening whether you like it or not so you may as well control it,” Mr Speer said.
Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
