Social Media & Customer Relationships

Each year, HubSpot releases a Social Media Benchmarks Report that analyzes social data from over 7,000 businesses and allows companies to compares themselves to their competitors.  A key aspect of this report is the breakdown of analysis based on industry – nine separate industries, to be exact.

An interesting finding from this year’s industry report highlighted the relationships between brands and customers in relation to the frequency of brands’ social media posts.  The majority of people who use social media do so in order to connect with established friends or to make new ones – not everyone is trying to interact with his or her favorite hardware store or real estate agent.

However, brands in every industry have succeeded in gaining a social media following, due to consumers’ ability to “like” everything and everyone on the Internet.  As brands gain larger followings on social platforms, the question must be asked: How often should a brand post in order to obtain maximum reach?

According to HubSpot, the highest amount of engagement is gained from posting less than once per week.  Further, this percentage decreased steadily across industries as the number of posts per week increased.  How can this information be translated into effective social media practices for brands across the board? And how can social media contribute to customer relationships with your brand?  Here are some tips that might help you out!

Don’t overwhelm your customers:

In general, people don’t like being spammed.  It doesn’t matter if it’s by friends or by a business – it can be a bother either way. So don’t do it to your followers!  Post frequently enough that your brand stays top of mind with your customers and your audience, but not to the point that gives your brand a negative connotation. 

Use pictures:

It seems like everyone these days has ADD, so be sure to capture their attention visually.  According to the benchmarks report, posts with images had a higher engagement than others. 

Post quality content:

Don’t post just to post.  Oftentimes, businesses will have a set number of posts per day or week, and in order to reach that goal, they will post links and blogs that don’t relate to their followers’ interests.  However, if you focus on quality more than quantity, you will be able to maintain, if not increase, your reach while keeping a positive brand image.

Time your posts well:

If you are trying to reach a certain audience, be sure to post when the most people are online. On Facebook, posting around 1 PM will get you the most shares, while 3 PM will get you the most clicks. On Twitter, tweeting on weekdays will give you 14% more engagement than on weekends. Strategic timing will allow for a greater reach and a higher percentage of participation among your customers.

Interaction!

Responding to comments from customers and followers allows room for growing your reach.  In order to make followers more likely to return and interact with your brand, be sure to establish your brand’s two-way communication.

These are just a few tips that can increase participation on social media accounts.  To get started improving your business’ social media activity, check out our sample editorial calendar.

Updated: Apr 13, 2022