Social media has become one of the most important tools in a brand’s toolbox, but it’s a waste of time if you don’t know how to use it. Your messaging must be crafted with the sole intention of supporting and reinforcing your brand. There are several working parts that need your attention. Let’s explore them to make sure you’re doing the most you can for your brand with social media.

Choose Platforms by Buyer Persona

Would you choose to speak to an empty room over one filled with buyers who are interested in your products or services? If you’re using the wrong social media platforms, that’s exactly what you’re doing every day.

It’s important to understand who’s most likely to support your brand. This includes demographics, sure, but it also involves understanding the psychographic dimensions of your buyers. For instance, does your brand appeal more to men or women? Are they in their twenties and thirties or forties and fifties? Do they live in the suburbs, rural areas, or right in the middle of the city? Finally, what motivates them? Which emotions lead them to make a purchase?

When you know these things, you can choose the platforms where those exact buyers are most likely to hang out. Facebook is always a good bet, but you’ll need more information before choosing between Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Periscope, and LinkedIn.

Streamline Your Voice

If you, the owner of your own company, plan to handle all social media messaging, then you may have this one under control without a lot of hassle. If, however, someone else will manage your social media for you—whether a team or just one other person—then it’s important to determine your brand voice before a single message is shared.

Develop a document that outlines your brand voice, including the focus of your message, permitted language, the emotions you’ll target, and the intended outcome of your posts. Your brand voice may include much more than that, but this is a good start.

With defined guidelines, your voice will cut through loud and clear, leaving little confusion among your buyers.

Support Your Mission

Does your social media presence also tell your buyers what your brand is all about? It’s important to use this platform to continue building and sharing your mission, whatever that mission may be.

You don’t have to use every post to proclaim that mission or vision, of course. Just be sure that everything you do post, whether it’s your own content or shares from other brands or your brand advocates, supports everything your brand is about.

Provide an Education

Your buyers can’t make informed decisions if they don’t have all the information. While your website should be the number one place customers go to get an education about your products or services, you can support that information with posts on your social media platforms.

You can share your videos, infographics, blogs, articles, and ebooks through your brand profiles to help spread information even further. You don’t have to do all the work on your own, either. If there are news articles, instructional videos, or other information from outside sources, feel free to share those, too—as long as they support your brand’s mission, of course.

Identify Your Brand Advocates

Your brand advocates are already there on social media, just waiting for you. You know how to identify them, so now it’s time to put them to work. They’re likely to share all your information with their friends and colleagues. It’s up to you to recognize them for their work in building your brand.

Simple thank-you messages really help to continue those relationships. You can also share any of their posts in which your brand is mentioned. They’ll keep taking care of the hard part for you.

Skip the Hard Sell

As much as you may want to use every free moment of your time to sell, sell, sell, refrain when you’re on social media. Informational posts that lead to product pages or landing pages on your website are great when used in moderation. If that’s all you ever share, your buyers—even your most vocal advocates—will get bored and go elsewhere.

Instead, lift up those stories that fit your brand. If there are news articles or videos that you feel support your own vision, make sure the world sees those, too. That additional perspective will keep your feed fresh and engaging.

Check Your Metrics

The only way to know you’re really hitting the nail on the head with your social media messaging is to keep an eye on your metrics. Are you getting likes, shares, retweets, and comments? Does your content reach a lot of eyes after you post? Most importantly, are those visitors engaging further with your brand to become leads or even customers?

If you don’t like what your metrics tell you, then there’s a chance you’re not hitting the right notes. Step back and evaluate the content you’ve shared. Does it support your brand? Does it speak with your brand voice? Have you focused too much on selling and not enough on engaging and informing?

The good news is that your social media posts have a pretty short shelf life. Barring major social media faux pas, if you get one post wrong, you can repair the damage within a short amount of time. Just keep focusing on your brand, and you’ll develop a social media strategy that lifts you up in the eyes of your buyers.