Social media has been around for a long time by internet standards, but marketers are still coming to grips with how to effectively tell their story on social. This deck captures the latest social media changes and best practices across the networks most important to NewsCred: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Questions or comments? Find us on Twitter @newscred.

1. 32 Tips for
Social Media Domination

2. The Big Question:
With the social media world changing
so fast, are you keeping up?

3. Social media has been around for a
long time by internet standards.

4. But marketers are still coming to
grips with how to effectively tell
their story on social.

5. At NewsCred, we talk to hundreds of
clients every day, and understand
the common pain points that our
customers face on social media.

6. This deck captures the latest
social media changes and best
practices across the networks
most important to NewsCred:
Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

7. What are we
going to cover?
• Social Media Channel Overview
• KPI Overview
• Best Practices

8. Social Media
Channel Overview

9. Channel Overview Introduction
Before we can talk about social media best practices, we first need to
examine each platform: what it is, how to use it, and its current demographics.
• First, some noteworthy statistics:
• 52% of online adults now use two of more social media sites
• 56% of all online adults 65 and older use Facebook
• 53% of internet-using young adults ages 18-29 use Instagram
• 50% of internet users with college educations use LinkedIn
http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/09/social-media-update-2014/

10. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn
Associations Photo/status sharing, video, pop
culture, staying in touch, news
sourcing, long-form content
Breaking news, “snackable”
content, trending topics, fastest
way to share/receive information
Thought leadership, education,
branded content, medium-to-
long form content, networking
How It Works Posts appear in feeds, profiles,
and brand pages
Posts appear in feeds and on
profiles, posts get buried fastest
Influencer posts appear at top of
page, updates from people and
brands
Who Uses it? 1.31 billion active monthly users,
growing 50+ audience
284 million monthly users,
educated, high-income, under
50
313 million members in 200+
countries, college grads are
fastest-growing demographic
Social Channel Overview

11. KPI Overview

12. KPI Overview Introduction
What is a KPI? KPI stands for “key performance indicator.” KPI measurement is
essential for all marketing, especially on social media. But while metrics are
key, there is a not a one-size-fits-all measurement on social. Each platform
has a unique set of KPIs that should be analyzed and measured.

13. KPI Overview
What are we measuring?
• Brand awareness, engagement, and lead
generation
The obstacle?
• KPI measurement is difficult for everyone
The solution?
• Measure what you care about, and agree on it
with your marketing team
1 ZenithOptimedia
2 Kelsey Cox - Column Five
We’re pretty much just reporting
numbers, even though we know
these are not as accurate as they
could be. 2
79% of marketing pros said two of
their biggest obstacles are
measuring online social media
(79%)and demonstrating return on
investment(85%). 1
”
“
”
“

14. KPI Overview
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn
Brand Awareness Page likes, page visits,
impressions, reach
Followers, impressions, reach,
follower/following ratio
Company page likes, page
views, visitors
Engagement Post likes, comments, shares,
clicks, “stories created”
RTs, favorites, replies,
@mentions, clicks, engagement
rate
Likes, comments, shares, clicks,
engagement
Lead Generation Link clicks to form or gated
page, blog subscribe
Lead generation card clicks, link
clicks to gated page, blog
subscribe
Link clicks to form or gated page

15. Best Practices

16. Best Practices Introduction
Once you’ve established what social media platforms make the
most sense for your brand and what KPIs you are going to
measure, it’s time to make sure your strategy is set. This is where
understanding the best practices of each network is essential.
Think of it this way, the more you know about social media, the
more you will be able to grow your brand and push past your
competitors.
Here are a few best practices that every social media marketer
needs to keep in mind.

17. Best Practices: Overall
• Establish a unique voice and stick with it
• Be transparent and authentic
• Give due credit to authors and sources
• Make sure images are optimized for both
desktop and mobile
• Maintain a consistent cadence
• Maintain a variety of content: original,
licensed, UGC
• Respond to fans (and haters) in a timely
manner
• Truly know your audience

18. Best Practices:
Twitter
• Cadence: NewsCred shares 1 tweet an
hour, 7 days a week between 8am-2am
for maximum engagement across
different time zones
• Don’t be afraid to post the same tweet
more than once – or with A/B variations
• Say thanks – it’s the most effective way to
increase organic engagement and
followers
*Companies who test are 75% more likely to show ROI for content
marketing than those who fail to test their strategies.

19. Best Practices:
Twitter
• Interact with your audience on a human-
to-human level – take a look at Pandora
and White Castle
• Be visual: tweets with photos are 150%
more likely to be retweeted (78% of user
engagement with a brand’s tweets are via
retweeting)
• Tweets with 100-130 characters get the
most engagement and retweets

20. Best Practices:
Facebook
• Cadence: NewsCred posts 2x per
day, 5-7 days per week to align with
when our audience is most active
• Visuals are the most crucial element
to Facebook – posts with photos
get 53% more likes, 104% more
comments, 84% more click-throughs
• Content: should be varied, with a
mix of cultural and educational
posts

21. Best Practices:
LinkedIn
• Cadence: NewsCred posts 2x per
day, 5-7 days per week to reach our
audience at peak activity levels
• LinkedIn posts must be more than
company updates and recruiting
posts – you need informative
content too
• Voice: LinkedIn is most authoritative
of the three platforms due to its
well-educated demographics

22. Building Brand Awareness

23. Building Brand Awareness:
Introduction
Creating brand awareness on social requires strategic
thinking, in addition to organic and paid methods. This is one
of the most important aspects of social media marketing, and
the key to success is knowing where your audience is.
Here are some of the ways to reach your target audience
using a combination of both paid and organic methods.

24. Create Content for the Right Context
Twitter – Has the shortest shelf-life for
content, but can generate substantial
engagement from retweets, favorites,
and @mentions.
Facebook – 75% of a post’s
impressions and reach will have been
made within the first five hours of
posting.
Pinterest – Evergreen and SEO
friendly content can continue to
generate buzz long after the
publishing date.
People behave differently on each platform.
Buzzfeed 2014

25. Build Brand Awareness
+ Engagement Organically
• Recycle your content: keep posting until it’s dead
• Grow your audience: follow people you care about
• It’s not all about you: like or favorite other posts
• Trending: use tweetable words or hashtags ONLY if they
make sense
https://blog.bufferapp.com/twitter-tips-get-more-followers
Most ReTweetable
Words & Phrases
1 you
2 twitter
3 please
4 retweet
5 post
6 blog
7 social
8 free
9 media
10 help
10 please retweet
11 great
12 social media
13 10
14 follow
15 how to
16 top
17 blog post
18 check out
19 new blog post

26. Brand Fail
• This is what happens when brands
use a trending hashtag for the sake
of gaining visibility – without
understanding the meaning behind
the hashtag
• Hint: it almost never works
http://www.businessinsider.com/13-epic-twitter-fails-by-big-brands-2012-2

27. • There are many ways to boost brand awareness
with paid spend:
• Twitter: promoted tweets, lead generation
cards, web cards, etc.
• Facebook: boosted posts, ad sets
• LinkedIn: sponsored updates, ad campaigns
• Unsure about which to use? A/B test until you get
it right
Build Brand
Awareness +
Engagement with Paid

28. Blog Subscribe A/B
Test: A Success Story
• NewsCred tested identical Twitter campaigns
driving to our blog subscribe landing page
• We wanted to see what type of paid tweet
would perform best: promoted tweet, web
card, or lead generation card
• We found that promoted tweets and lead
generation card were the most effective
• As of our Dec. 1 campaign, we gained 1,000+
blog subscribes – 14% of these turn into leads

29. A Few Items to Suggest–Pro Tips
• .@ mention for tweets to show up in
your timeline (not in replies)
• Know your audience. Leverage
technology (like NewsCred!) that provides
search, social, and audience behavior
analytics to give you a full picture of who
your audience is and what they want
• Visuals are key – blatant stock images
won’t cut it
• Think about the “burrito effect” – if
someone has time to eat a burrito,
they have time to check their social
media accounts
• Ideally, you should engage with everyone
who @mentions you, across all platforms
• Remember there’s a human on both
sides of the computer – act like it and
you’ll be rewarded!

30. Ready to take your
social media marketing
to the next level?

31. We’d love to help.
NewsCred is the world’s leading content marketing platform.
We’re powering marketing technology for the future – helping brands
transform the way they connect with people, build brand love, and win
more customers. Our software enables top brands such as Pepsi, P&G,
Dell, General Electric, and AIG to create amazing content experiences
with simplicity, speed, and global scale.
We’re on a mission to help marketers create content people love, and
prove that great storytelling will drive long-term business growth.
Learn more at newscred.com and follow us on Twitter @newscred.

32. Thank you!
Ready to create amazing content? Contact NewsCred for a free demo today!
NewsCred.com • Sales@NewsCred.com • +1 (212) 989 4100 • @newscred