Scare Up Traffic vs. Scaring Away Traffic [Infographic]

by Cris Yeager

With a little bit of posting savvy, you can use social media to help increase online traffic for your business. But it can be a fine line between scaring up traffic and scaring off traffic. Use our handy infographic, and the information  below,  to learn the difference – with examples from Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and Instagram. Oh, and Happy Halloween!

Facebook

Do: Keep it simple. Use relevant articles, images and links to share information. Adding holiday quotes or slight humor carefully placed in the post can be useful too.

Don’t: Air dirty laundry publicly; keep personal issues to yourself. If you have a problem with comments or reviews, handle them gracefully. Do not retaliate! Having an “attitude” in front of a broad audience can be damaging to your business and its endeavors.

Twitter

Do: Link Twitter with your Facebook page. This ensures that your audience reach is greater. Not everyone that follows you on Twitter is on Facebook and vice-versa. By linking accounts, both sets of fans see your post and you save yourself an extra step.

Don’t: Let your employees have access to the business Twitter account (this goes for other social media platforms as well) unless they know your company’s social media policy inside and out. Though accidental-personal-post-via-business-account isn’t a phenomenon exclusive to Twitter, it happens there more often than any other platform; and an “oops” post can have devastating consequences for both employee and employer.

Google+

Do: Post relevant content to your business and its product or services. More than some of the other major social media platforms, Google+ attracts a lot of business activity (as opposed to personal), so use this platform to mold strong business to business relationships. Helpful tips are always welcome! Not every business, especially the ones in start-up, knows all the tips and secrets to success.

Don’t: Get carried away. Helpful information is great…when it’s kept to a minimum. Only include what’s needed. Jamming a post full of sentences and links may prevent it from being completely read.

Pinterest

Do: Verify, verify, verify! (Did we mention verify?) Not many know the reason behind this process, but for a business account with Pinterest, it’s important. Why? Because anyone can create a bogus account and claim to be you/your business, but they cannot verify they are you. Get it?

Don’t: Assume that verifying doesn’t matter. Surprisingly, even some of the biggest corporations have not yet verified their accounts! Therefore, anyone can create an account in their name and post things on their behalf. The ramifications, when a lot of consumers can’t tell the difference, are scary to consider.

Instagram

Do: Post clear – even if not high resolution – images that will captivate. Instagram is blowing up the image world. Want a piece? Make them want what you are posting!

Don’t: Forget to use hashtags in your post – they’re not just for Twitter. However, one or two should be sufficient. Cramming the post full of hashtags is not only ugly, but it doesn’t gain you a thing.

For real-world examples, check out our infographic below. And remember you can always reach out to us if you get caught in a jam.