6 Questions To Ask Before Posting On Social Media For Your Brand Or Business

02 Aug 6 Questions To Ask Before Posting On Social Media For Your Brand Or Business

Social media is so much more than posting a picture and hoping you get all the likes and engagement. Each post should be created with thought and strategy in mind. Here are 7 questions to keep in mind before posting on social media.

1. Does your update support your objectives?

The first and most important question to consider before posting on social media or while your creating posts, is if the posts you’re creating support your specific goals and objectives. Remember that strategic posts will help you get the results you’re looking for from your social media efforts. Before you post ask yourself what the purpose of this post is – is it to create engagement? drive traffic? or just because you feel like you need to get something – anything up? If it’s one of the latter options you might want to put the phone down and consider what you can post strategically instead of just posting frantically.

If you’re not sure what your goals can be get started by checking out 3 Social Media Goals You Can Set for Your Business (and How to Track Them)

2. Is the post related to your brand/business?

One of the things that irks me the most is seeing social media posts that have nothing to do with what a brand or business stands for. Creating engagement through irrelevant posts will only hurt you in the end. So before creating and posting on social media, take a step back and asses whether or not this post makes sense for your brand. You’ve heard me say this a million times before but a cute puppy may get you likes – but does that really align with your business? With that said there might be a strategic way to mix your business with that puppy photo – just take the time to draw out the connection.

3. Does your update add value to your followers?

Another very important question to ask when creating social media posts is – will this post add value to my followers? Value can be seen in different lights and doesn’t always pertain to a freebie or offering good information. The value can be giving your customers a laugh, educating them about your product (or related business) etc. Taking an example from my article, “How To Quickly Grow An Engaged Social Media Audience Organically“, no one wants to see another photo or video that screams “look at this new product I have”. People tune this kind of promotion out. Instead, try adding value to your followers’ lives and relate it back to your brand. For example, in place of posting a photo that simply showcases that new dress in your collection take it a step further and show your followers a few ways to style it. If you have a guide, highlight the benefits and how this guide can help solve a problem. If you plan on selling services or a course create a few blog posts with free tips (look familiar? lol). Giving your potential customers valuable info they can put to use helps build trust, and makes you a source for knowledge.

4. Will your update make sense to your audience?

This question is important because it relates to knowing your audience, what content they are interested in and how you speak to them. Will the caption and wording you’re using make sense to grab the attention of the target audience you’re trying to reach? Make sure you’ve done your research and you understand how your target audience communicates, what voice they respond to and line that up with your own business and how you’d like to be “heard”.

5. Does your post make sense for the network it’s on?

Social media networks are constantly changing, but before you hit post on your social media update – does your post make sense for the platform you’re sharing it to? Are you formatting your post in the optimal way for the social network? Each network has it’s own set of “rules” when it comes to post formats and understanding these can help your post be successful. For example to tag an account on Google + you’d use the “+” symbol instead of “@”. Or now only some accounts on LinkedIn have access to searchable hashtags. Knowing what content formats each network has is also essential to how you format your posts – for example, LinkedIn is just now rolling out native video while Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have had the feature for a while now. Even with this example – video length capacities vary from network to network. Now you can see why it’s important to figure out how each specific platform works.

6. What are your peak times for the day?

Timing is everything – especially when posting on social media. The right post at the right time can make the difference between thousands of impressions and interactions or just a few likes. My best advice for you is to test, test, test and figure out the post timing that works best for your business. Use built in network analytics tools to see which of your posts perform best and take note of the time they are posted. Lastly, you can use some third party tools (like Tweriod for Twitter) to figure out what time your audience is interacting with you the most. More reach, engagement and shares means more eyes on your content and more potential social media followers!

BONUS: Have you included hashtags?

Last but not least, a great question to ask yourself before posting on social media is if you’ve included hashtags in your post (or thought about the ones you’ll post on Instagram?). This will loop back to knowing how to each network functions, but carefully chosen relevant hashtags can get your posts seen by more people. For help with your hashtags check out

• How to Get The Most Out Of Your Hashtags
• How to Find the RIGHT Hashtags for Your Business
• How to Use Hashtags Effectively for Social Media Growth

I hope after reading this you’ll be able to craft better social media updates! What do you ask yourself before posting on social media?

<3 DhariLo