We all know that social media is one of the easiest tools to grow a business and build your personal brand. In fact, according to Hootsuite, 90% of brands use social media to increase brand awareness. However, if not done properly, it can backfire, turning potential fans, followers and customers away.
To reap the full benefits of social media, we’ve pulled together our top 15 dos and don’ts on how to create engaging content, plus a downloadable content calendar template worksheet at the bottom of the article.
Content Creation
1. Do pay attention to lighting, composition and quality of your content: Paying attention to how your content looks and the overall aesthetic of your page can help you build an engaged fanbase. Stay clear of things like blurry or hard to grasp images and poor quality, shaky videos by planning ahead and practicing your content curating skills at home or on-the-go.
2. Don’t only post product shots: Instead, focus more on lifestyle, family and friends! Show your followers a day in the life of you, in addition to some product photos throughout.
3. Do differentiate your content: Does your content look the same across all your social media accounts? If so, change it up! Post different things on each platform to give people a reason to follow and like all your accounts.
4. Don’t use the same long list of hashtags: Posting the same 30 hashtags in the caption of every post can look like spam, so try and keep your hashtags to a maximum of 10 and differentiate every time.
5. Do use thoughtful hashtags: Try and use hashtags that are specific to your content, as well as branded ones like #amwaylife to interact with other brands.
6. Do try new things: Social media platforms are always releasing new features, so play around when them and have some fun.
Community & Social Media Management
7. Do engage with the community: If you want more real followers, engaging with your existing audience is your best bet, as well as engaging with other similar accounts. However, be weary of seemingly spammy interactions (like a single emoji or word); and, only comment and like what you think is actually good, valuable content.
8. Don’t post too frequently: Posting too many photos back-to-back can take up too much space on your followers’ feed, which can feel spammy. For similar content (like a trip recap), post them in a carousel or album format versus multiple in a row.
9. Do tag other accounts and your location when applicable: Tagging can increase your account’s visibility. You can tag your friends, family, restaurants and cities (and even Amway) depending on your post.
10. Don’t comment and caption in all caps: This can be perceived as aggressive on social media even if you’re intent is to express enthusiasm.
11. Do keep track of what performed best: Listen to your followers and adapt your content as necessary to cater to what they want to see more of.
12. Don’t use bots to try and get more followers or engagement: It’s tempting to purchase bots to boost your social media presence, but they are a hard no. Bots are against Instagram’s terms and conditions, and the followers you obtain from them will not be real or part of your target demographic. Plus, you risk your account being shut down. Remember, quality (or a real engaged community) wins over quantity time and time again.
13. Do keep a content calendar: A calendar can help you stay organized and will allow you to pre-plan what it is you want to post. That way, you’ll always know you’re putting your best social media efforts and content out there. (Check out our downloadable template at the bottom of the page).
Social for business
14. Don’t message strangers to sell products or the Amway opportunity: Getting a message on social media from a stranger trying to sell something can be seriously off-putting. Instead of posting all about selling product, show off your lifestyle authentically with subtle product placement mixed with other non-product posts. People are following you for you. Not for constant ads.
15. Don’t make unverified claims: This can lead to all sorts of credibility and reputation issues with your business and with Amway as a whole. Don’t know if a claim you want to make is verified? Reach out to customer service, or only use information published on the official Amway website.
By following these 15 social media dos and don’ts, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a content pro!
To get started on the right foot, download this content calendar worksheet, and share with your friends and business partners — it’s an easy way to take your content and organization to the next level.
