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How to Build Authority on Social Media: Frequently Asked Questions

Posted by Daniel Jauk, 12 Mar, 2015 | No Comments »

Now that we’ve gone over the relationship between social media and SEO, and the advantages of using Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest for business, we’re going to discuss how to build authority on social media to help you with your small business’s digital marketing campaign. Without further ado… here’s a quick list of frequently asked questions about how to build authority on social media.

How Should I Begin My Social Media Campaign?

It’s always good if you start your social media camPeople communication vector silhouettespaign by knuckling down and trying to figure out your company’s persona. Try to get an idea of the writing style and tone you’ll use, the structure of your posts, your goals for your social media campaign, and what kind of media (images, videos, etc) you might upload. While you probably won’t nail your persona until you actually begin posting content online (don’t be afraid of trial and error once this happens), some forethought won’t do your social media campaign any harm.

What Sort of Content Should I Post?

There’s no golden rule or formula for how to build authority on social media via the kind of content you post, but here are our suggestions:

  • Make Your Content Authoritative: Authority is all about being a leader in your field, so you make sure you share some insightful links about your field from your website or blog. You can create authoritative content by providing your company’s perspective on timely news in your field, or by researching and writing guides, tips and tricks, and answers to frequently asked questions.
  • Make Your Content Timely and Relevant: Try to post content related to new and trending topics. The topics could be, for example, something that’s currently popular in your field; it could be something wider encompassing that’s relevant, like a national holiday; or it could be something that’s relevant and new to your company, such as if you’re planning a sale, changing your policy, or altering your opening hours. Nobody wants to read about old news, so make sure you content is relevant now.
  • Provide a Call to Action: Try to end your posts with a call to action. Use phrases like “Try it, you’ll like it!”, “Click here for details”, “Call now for a free quote””, or “Learn more about it in our blog” and provide links to your website; a call to action can go a long way to increasing traffic.
  • Add Some Images and Videos: Include beautiful images, videos, and infographics every now and again to catch the eye of your followers.
  • Build Close Relationships With Your Followers: Constantly promoting your products and services is a massive switch off to most people. Instead, try to develop relationships with your followers by asking questions and possibly getting them involved in some decisions, like the naming of particular products.

When Should I Post Content as Part of My Social Media Campaign?

This varies depending on what type of business you’re running. If your business has a global outreach, like us at Enigma Digital, it generally doesn’t matter. But, if you run a local business, you might find you’ll get a better response posting at a specific time of the day. For example, you might lose a huge portion of your audience by posting during the middle of the day (because they’ll be at work or school), so posting during the late afternoon/ evening when your audience will be at home might generate a better response. Try posting at different times to see when people will most likely read your content.

Should I Use Hashtags?

The short answer? Yes. Hashtags are a great way for people to follow a partiTweet hashtag social mediacular conversation, especially on Twitter, as long as they’re relevant to your content. But watch out because using too many hashtags can seem a bit try hard. We recommend using no more than two or three hashtags at a time (and sometimes you might only need one hashtag). It’s also worth incorporating trending hashtags, which you can research on websites like hashtags.org. Note: it’s important to be aware that there are other symbols that can be used to tag people and notify them of a social media post, such as Facebook’s ‘@’ symbol, which you should also use sparingly.

Should I Spread the Word Using My Personal Profile?

Yes, and again, while there isn’t a golden rule for how to build your authority on social media, we suggest advertising only your company’s most important content. Most people don’t want to be bombarded by content unless it’s innovate (such as a cool new product), unique (maybe a one of a kind blog post), or significant (like an announcement). If you’ve posted content to your Google+ business page or Facebook company page, or if you’ve written a really awesome blog post, sign in to your personal profile and +1, like, or share to spread the word to your Google+ circles, Google+ communities, and Facebook friends.

Should I Respond to Other People’s Comments?

Definitely! If somebody asks something or submits an insightful comment to your company page, then we suggest you respond… but make sure you do so clearly and concisely. If you want to continue the conversation, then try to end your comment with a question. Responding to other people’s comments will help build a close relationship with your followers and is another strong example of how to build authority on social media.

Should I Like, +1, and Comment on Other Company’s Pages?

Yes. Liking, following, and commenting on other company’s pages is a great way of extending your outreach. Not only will this mean that you’ll build a relationship with the company whose page you’ve liked (which is great if they’re in a similar field), but it will mean that people who’ve liked the company’s page will get a chance to see your comment and they might be inclined to view and follow your page as well.

Should I Automate My Posts so They Upload to Social Media?

Maybe, but think carefully if you do… automating your blog posts can rob you of a personal interaction with your followers. Sharing your most significant blog posts (and including a little personal message) after you’ve published them would probably be better than automating, unless you’re extremely short on time. If you’re thinking about automating using WordPress, it might be worth reading this blog post by the guys at WPExplorer.

What Are Some Great Social Media Campaign Examples?

There are some pretty great social media campaign examples that you can look at to help you understand how to build authority on social media. We recommend you look at:

  • ToTourism Australia logourism Australia: Check out their Facebook page and Instagram page for how stunning photographs, a few witty sentences, and the occasional use of hashtags can generate so much public love. Tourism Australia is great for its relationship with their followers, because they allow them to share their photos on the Tourism Australia page. As a result, Tourism Australia has become one of the most liked destination pages in the world with 6.3 million fans.
  • Cadbury Dairy Milk: Cadbury Dairy Milk’s Facebook page is pretty good for publishing posts that are relevant. Most of their posts are either important announcements, statements prompting their followers to respond, or uploaded images related in some way to public holidays (eg New Year’s Day and Valentine’s Day). Cadbury Dairy Milk’s page is also worth looking into for how they respond to customer comments, whether they’re positive or negative.
  • Mika Epstein (Ipstenu): Mika Epstein is a WordPresMika Epsteins Support Specialist  who also somehow finds the time to write about WordPress and technology on her website and her personal blog. Check out Mika’s Google+ page for how she uses a witty writing style and incorporates links to draw attention to her website and personal blog. She has over 1000 followers and over 111000 views, so her Google+ page is worth looking into, particularly if you’re in the web industry.

Concluding How to Build Authority on Social Media

Hopefully our list of FAQs about how to build authority on social media will help you with your social media campaign. We prefer sharing our blog posts, announcements, and any new plugin news using our personal profiles as a way of building relationships with likeminded people in the WordPress industry; however, how you choose to run your social media campaign is up to you. Just remember: it’s rare for success to happen overnight and it usually takes a lot of blood, sweat, and tears in knowing how to build authority on social media. If you want to read more about this subject, we suggest viewing the website of the folks at Social Media Examiner to help you with your social media campaign.

Do you have anything to add about how to build authority on social media? Leave a comment below!

Daniel Jauk

Daniel is a copywriter, reviewer, creative writer, and online blog writer. When he's not writing, you'll find Daniel snorkelling, hiking, or curled up with a good book.

Daniel is currently writing full time as part of Curtin University's Marketing team.
Daniel Jauk

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