If you read 12 Secrets to Social Media Success: Part 1, you might have already started changing things up on your social media pages. Today, we’re rounding out the series with part 2, revealing the final six secrets to social media success. 

We recommend reading up on the first six, but these secrets to social media success are not listed in any particular order. You can implement any of these 12 changes and instantly improve your pages.

Let’s dive right in to social media secrets 7 through 12. 

Secret #7: Do Some Light Housekeeping 

If you haven’t touched your profile picture, cover photo and profile information in a while, it’s time to dust off the cobwebs. Make sure your logo is current, your pictures are high-res and all your contact information is up to date. 

For multi-location franchises, it’s important to present a consistent image across your organization. Many franchises choose to keep the same profile and cover photos across the board. 

The cover photo provides a good opportunity to showcase seasonal specials, too. It’s like having a static billboard on your page to highlight any current promotions. Side note: You can also pin any promotional posts to the top of your page to make them more visible.

Having up-to-date business information also ensures anyone can find you easily when they search for you or businesses like yours. Statista reports, “In July 2020, over 98 percent of active user accounts worldwide accessed the social network via any kind of mobile phone.” That means you have an opportunity to connect with users and help them find you as they’re browsing on-the-go.

Want to make sure your information is accurate anywhere it appears online? Rallio’s tools allow you to update your business listings everywhere to keep them consistent across the web.

Read more: Why You Need Your Social Media Company to Do Directory Listings, Too

Secret #8: Be a Detective on Your Competition

No list of secrets to social media success would be complete without a little light spying, don’t you think?

It’s fairly easy to perform a little detective work on your competitors. Once you know what they’re up to, what they’re doing well and who their customers are, you can apply some of that knowledge to your own business. How?

• Visit the social media pages of your competitors. Read the comments on posts, so you can see what types of content resonate with their audience. Look under Page Transparency to see what ads they’re running. Get a feel for the customer service questions that tend to pop up over and over again. You can address these very questions in your own content. 
• Visit competitors’ websites. Sign up for their email newsletters (you might want to use a non-company email to remain covert). Get a feel for the kinds of offers they’re promoting and whom they’re serving. Walk yourself through the site through the eyes of a customer. What are they doing well that you could improve on your own site? What are you doing better than they are that you can capitalize on through your own marketing?
• Do a little SEO hunting, too. What keywords is your competitor targeting? Check page titles, meta descriptions and on-page copy. Open a private browser and search for some of the keywords you want to rank for. Any competitive sites that appear in search results gives you an idea of blog articles and other SEO copy you can create to help improve your chances of ranking.

Secret #9: Surprise Them 

Have you ever won something? Or been surprised with a special gift? Hopefully, the answer is yes, and the experience put a big smile on your face!

That’s what this social media secret is all about: surprising your followers and your employees, too. There are many inexpensive ways to show appreciation for the people who support your business:

• Host contests on social media. Give away something for free! It could be a product or a service, and it doesn’t have to be something huge. Even a small gift, a free session or a complimentary service will impress your followers. It may help you get new followers, too. Ask your followers to like your post and tag friends to enter, and you’ll expose your business to new people.
• Apply the same logic to recognize and reward your employees. Spotlight an employee on social media and give them a gift card or some kind of reward. They’ll appreciate the kudos and might even share the post on their personal pages, too. 

By the way, activating your employees on social media is a great way to reach new audiences. With an employee advocacy program, you can incentivize employees to post about your company. It’s a win-win for you as well as the employee getting rewarded.

Secret #10: Leverage LinkedIn

Don’t forget count LinkedIn among your biggest secrets to social media success. According to LinkedIn research, its platform is considered the most effective for B2B lead generation. Some 80% of social media B2B leads come from LinkedIn. 

LinkedIn is largely a professional platform connecting businesses to each other and helping job seekers locate opportunities. As with any kind of networking, you never know what kind of valuable contacts you might make on LinkedIn. 

New connections who don’t appear to have anything to offer your business might actually be the exact people you need to make an important introduction to someone they know. Other connections might open you up to their customer base — people who may be interested in what you have to offer.

The important thing to remember about LinkedIn is that you can’t spam your new connections with referral requests. Just as you would take the time to build a relationship with your followers on Facebook, you must do the same with new LinkedIn connections. 

The big mistake many professionals make is sending a connection request and then firing off a sales email as soon as the request is accepted. That’s the quickest way to get ignored and even removed as a connection.

When you send that first message, send something short and friendly. The easiest approach is to take an interest in some aspect of their profile. Examples might be:

• “Thanks for connecting, Joe. How did you like attending UCLA? I’m a huge Bruins fan!”
• “Happy to connect with you, Marie. How did you get into financial planning?”

In other words, start off with an open-ended question targeted at getting to know the person. Avoid the tired “How can I be of service to you?” — people aren’t likely to respond. Instead, build rapport and find out what they may need.

LinkedIn needs to change the button on connection requests from "Accept" to "I'll be added to this person's crappy email list within 30 minutes if I click here."

— Peter Shankman (@petershankman) August 24, 2020

Read more: How to Lose Your Follower in 10 Days (aka Top 10 Social Media Mistakes)

Secret #11: Analyze Your Results

In order to keep creating the kind of content your audience likes, you have to know how it’s doing. Reviewing your analytics on each platform will help you understand your audience, who they are and how well your posts have performed. You can view analytics on all the major social media platforms, or look at them in your one central Rallio Dashboard!

Based on this data, you can tailor your posts to suit your audience’s interests and preferences. If they tend to react better to video content, for example, you can create more of this type of content for them.

Review your analytics at least once a month to fine-tune your strategy periodically. Your frequency will depend on your personal goals and what you want to get out of social media.

Secret #12: Have fun!

All the secrets to social media success in the world can’t help you if you aren’t having a little fun on social media. Think of it as a place where you can get to know your followers, post something funny or inspiring, or just connect authentically with your audience. 

Your enthusiasm will shine through when you’re speaking from the heart! And you’ll find the process to be much more enjoyable when followers engage positively with you on social media. 

Think about the accounts you follow and why you follow them. The product or service itself might have been the initial draw, but it’s the great content that keeps you coming back for more.

Want More Secrets to Social Media Success?

If you’d rather not DIY your social media and these social media secrets feel a little overwhelming, we can help. Reach out to us to discuss your specific needs — and we’ll let you in on even more social media secrets, too.