The Do’s and Don’ts of Social Media for 2024

Dec 13th, 2023

Put Your Best Foot Forward in the New Year

2023 is coming to an end, and with that comes a time to reflect. While many of us will commit to cookie-cutter New Year’s resolutions such as exercising more, catching more Zs and eating healthier, why not step outside the box and also make social media resolutions.

Every year, social media is growing and evolving. New platforms are introduced (welcome, Threads!), OG players are rebranding (Twitter, who?), and new products and features are rolled out (we’re looking at you Billie – aka Kendall Jenner’s AI chatbot who lives in your Instagram DMs). While we’d like to leave face-enhancement filters behind in 2023, there are quite a few best practices that will be important to keep in mind as we head into 2024.

Put your best social media foot forward in 2024 by following these three Dos and three Don’ts:

Do Use User Generated Content

• User generated content, also known as UGC, is content created by real people, typically customers, and posted on their personal social channels. It can be images, videos, reviews, blogs, or testimonials. UGC is a valuable asset because it builds authenticity, acts as a trust signal, expands a brand’s reach, which usually leads to an increase in conversions, and can be a cost-effective content creation tool. While hiring an influencer can cost you thousands of dollars, asking your fans to share photos of your product is free!

Do Use Data to Inform Decisions

• Data should drive your social media strategy...no excuses! Every social media platform reports similar metrics such as follower growth, impressions, engagements, video views and audience demographics. Analyzing these on a per-post, monthly, quarterly and yearly basis will help you learn what content resonates with your customers, identify trends and provide the ROI of your social media efforts. Keep in mind that social media data is constantly changing and evolving due to factors like the social platform’s API, cultural events and consumer behavior shifts. To ensure data quality and reliability, it’s helpful to partner with an agency like CVR who has the tools and experts to measure, collect, clean, filter, and validate the data.

Do Leverage Content Creation Tools

• From inspiration to execution, there are plenty of digital tools available to fill any holes you may have in your social media content execution process. Whether you’re a solopreneur or have a robust marketing team, there is no reason why you shouldn’t explore digital tools to make your job more efficient and effective. For social content ideation, try exploring Facebook’s Creator Inspiration Hub in the Creator Studio to view what content is popular and view content from creators similar to you. When a storyboard is needed to sell -through a social media concept, the designers here at CVR love Adobe Firefly. If you’ve hit a writer’s block and need help getting post copy inspiration out of your head and onto the screen, try ChatGPT. While we don’t believe that social media managers and content creators will be replaced by AI, it’s possible that your peers who do properly leverage AI can replace you!

Don’t Ignore Social Media Specs

• There are multiple image and video sizes of which to keep track. Using the appropriate image dimensions will allow your photos, graphics and videos to be displayed optimally and without any awkward crops.

Don’t Ignore Comments

• The more followers you gain, the more comments your content will most likely receive. If your brand’s social media posts receive positive or negative comments, don’t ignore them! Engage with comments (even if you just give them a ‘Like’), be responsive to criticism by addressing customer complaints, and always be genuine and polite. You can move feedback out of the spotlight by asking the customer to DM or email you to discuss further. Lastly, feel empowered to hide comments if they are spam, hurtful or inappropriate.

Don’t Post on Every Platform Just to Be Present

• Every social media platform serves a purpose, and there is no single platform that is best for all brands. Time is valuable, so if you do not have the resources to create unique content optimized for each social platform (don’t worry, most brands don’t), then prioritize the platforms that best fit your brand and don’t post on the others simply for the sake of being present. It’s better to be completely absent from a channel than only posting once every couple months or duplicating the same content across multiple platforms. To choose the best social media platform for your business, ask yourself:

  • Am I a B2B or B2C company?
  • Who’s my ideal customer/target audience?
  • What is my goal for social media? Is it sales, engagement or brand awareness?
  • What role does it play in my customer’s journey?

Let 2024 be the year you grow your social media followers faster than Jimmy Johns can deliver a sandwich, you get so savvy with your social media posts that Jimmy Fallon writes you thank-you notes, and you create content so snackable, Jimmy Buffett would have called his song Cheeseburger in Social Media Paradise.

Interested in learning more about our social team’s advice for optimizing your social media performance in the new year? Contact CVR!