50 quick keys to social media success

1. There are seven C’s of a successful social media strategy: community, content, curation, creation, connection, conversation and conversion.
2. Social media was created to start a dialogue, not to have someone give a monologue.
3. Social media metrics boil down to three main categories: awareness, sales and loyalty.
4. Social media can help boost your career — whether climbing the corporate ladder or starting a new business.
5. If you are top-of-mind within your network or industry, you are likely successful on social media.
6. Gain a deep understanding of what your target audience likes about your social media activities.
7. The most successful people on social media make good use of content curation — the process of sharing the “best of” content on the internet.
8. Ensure you have the right mix of content curation and content creation on social media.
9. Research shows that the sweet spot for sharing content on social media is 60% curation and 40% creation.
10. Your email list trumps your social media followers because you are on “rented” land with social media, while you “own” your email list.
11. Content curation is the easiest way to share content on social media because you don’t have to create content.
12. Break your heavyweight content (eBooks, research reports, etc.) into smaller pieces, and then share those chunks on social media.
13. Pay attention to every element (image, video, caption and comments) of your social media posts to increase engagement.
14. Say what others are thinking on social media but haven’t said yet because they can’t or won’t say it.
15. Find out where your community interacts on social media, and then hang out at that watering hole.
16. Turn social media questions into future content.
17. Explain why your social media post should matter to your audience.
18. Like all good communication, it is best to listen first.
19. Don’t follow someone just because they followed you.
20. Genuine social media engagement happens when you are authentic and transparent.
21. To make your social media feed more enjoyable, follow more skilled and thoughtful content curators.
22. People like to follow people who show their vulnerable and honest sides.
23. You don’t need to have a presence on every social media channel.
24. Study your target audience, and learn what they share and how they talk to each other.
25. Don’t do what celebrities do on social media, and that’s broadcast your message — social media must be a two-way conversation.
26. Test, test and test. Try new content formats and different kinds of imagery. Don’t be afraid to tinker; just make sure you benchmark results.
27. Share persuasive content that changes the minds of people who consume it.
28. Most social media strategies fail because they chase attention instead of earning it by speaking to people’s needs, thoughts, fears, hopes and experiences.
29. Under-promise and over-deliver.
30. Make every word count on social media; don’t waste people’s time.
31. You want people who subscribe to content, not just watch, read, like or comment on your content.
32. You can’t attract an audience on social media if you don’t know who you are and what your objectives are.
33. Don’t ask your social media followers to take too many actions.
34. Quality and quantity matter on social media.
35. If something works on one social media platform, see if it works with another one.
36. Assume that most of your followers haven’t seen your older posts. So feel free to share popular old posts.
37. Reward the behavior and engagement you want to see on social media.
38. The more you share your story, the more people will share their story.
39. Develop a mission statement for your social media efforts.
40. Focus on the top three to five topics you want to be known for, because less is more.
41. The more things change on social media, the more they stay the same. Don’t try to chase every new trend.
42. Celebrate follower one the same way you celebrate follower 10,000.
43. Add value to every social media conversation you have.
44. You need a social media strategy. Don’t just wing it!
45. To better serve and nurture your social media audience, ask them what they want and what they enjoy.
46. You can’t talk about social media without having an ROI conversation, so settle on which metrics truly matter.
47. Social media is no longer optional because it has become part of our workflow and job description.
48. Write your social media bios in a way that shows your followers the value they’ll get if they follow you.
49. Use white space with your social media posts — your text and images need room to breathe.
50. Follow people over brands.

Matthew Royse is a writer, speaker and marketing pro. Read more of his work on Medium.