{"id":230514,"date":"2025-04-04T05:15:03","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T12:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/?p=230514"},"modified":"2025-04-04T05:15:03","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T12:15:03","slug":"the-social-media-basics-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/the-social-media-basics-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"The social media basics you need to know"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you looking to start out on social media? Or you might be a long-time user thinking, \u201cHow can I improve my social media strategy?\u201d Knowing exactly how to position yourself on different platforms can be tough, but we\u2019re here to help. Going in blind and hoping for the best may work for some, but for most, successful strategies require planning and analysis to help reach goals and targets. Take a look at some of these social media strategy fundamentals for inspiration!<\/span><\/p>\n

Understand your audience: create personas<\/span><\/h2>\n

Starting off with one of the most crucial questions for every brand when it comes to the fundamentals of their social media marketing strategy: who are you targeting? This will look different for most businesses and brands, but to stay competitive with others in your industry, you should know your customer inside and out. By considering their pain points, wants and needs, you can start to develop your audience personas. Create characters and name them. With each piece of content, ask yourself <\/span>would this appeal to the characters?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Start off strong with a SWOT analysis<\/span><\/h2>\n

Some love them, some hate them, but there\u2019s no denying that a SWOT analysis is an exceptionally useful tool when starting any communications or marketing strategy. By assessing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, you can begin to structure your time and planning to allow for the best results. Use this to refer back to to help you stay on track. Look up templates online to help you get started. Create new SWOT analyses as your social media marketing evolves.<\/span><\/p>\n

Choose the right platforms for your goals (you don\u2019t need to be on them all)<\/span><\/h2>\n

Choosing exactly which platforms your brand should be on will depend on a number of factors. These may include how large your social media team is, the nature of your business, who your target market is, what your goals are, to name a few. Now you know who your audience is, you should be able to narrow down your priority platforms. If you’re a clothing brand looking to reach a Gen Z crowd who are into pop culture, TikTok may be for you. If you\u2019re a B2B SaaS company, LinkedIn would be the obvious choice. You don\u2019t need to be everywhere at once. Pick 1 to 3 platforms to start off with, and put the time and effort into growing your presence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Campaigns and day-to-day posting look different: they\u2019re sisters not twins<\/span><\/h2>\n

These two things are different, but are often thought of as the same. Your everyday content strategy should act as the ongoing conversation between your brand and its audience, whereas a campaign should portray a specific message, and should usually run for a limited period of time. Creating assets that are true to your brand, but stand out from your usual posts. Run a campaign when there\u2019s a certain action that you\u2019re looking to drive.<\/span><\/p>\n

Set measurable goals and objectives for campaigns<\/span><\/h2>\n

There\u2019s one overarching way to tell if your campaign has been successful: data. Setting clear goals for key metrics will help you to understand what\u2019s performing well in your campaign, and what needs achieving. With a clear objective in mind, you can set smaller targets to reach along the way. If something\u2019s not working, switch it up, and if your campaign doesn\u2019t perform as well as you\u2019d hoped, break it down and look to figure out what can be changed for next time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Create a consistent and maintainable brand voice<\/span><\/h2>\n

A brand voice should remain constant, while a brand tone may be adapted depending on the situation. Create a list of key words that align with your brand that can be used frequently in your copy, as well as a list of words or phrases to avoid. Once you\u2019ve nailed the voice, consider how the tone should change depending on the platform, the reason for communication, and your audience. To help, think of your brand as a person. Their voice is the way they talk, and the tone is how they adjust this depending on their mood, surroundings, or who they\u2019re speaking to.<\/span><\/p>\n

Optimize your social media profiles for professionalism and clarity<\/span><\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re on more than one social media platform, make sure that your messaging is aligned. If you have a tagline, make sure to include it, and check that your branding is cohesive across channels. Your profile image acts as a sign post to those who are actively looking for your brand.<\/span><\/p>\n

The basics of posting: frequency and timing<\/span><\/h2>\n

Now, there are really no black and white rules that determine what\u2019s right or wrong when it comes to the amount you should post. Instead, look at the platform and how often you want to share updates. For TikTok, anything goes. Increased frequency is often rewarded by the algorithm. Here, posting up to 3 times per day will benefit your brand, whereas on a more B2B-oriented platform like LinkedIn, fewer posts (1-3) per week can be better for visibility and engagement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hashtags: don\u2019t over do it<\/span><\/h2>\n

Use hashtags strategically. Consider the message you\u2019re trying to share and add the tags that are most relevant and will help your visibility. Overuse of hashtags can make your content appear unprofessional and spam-like. Using a campaign hashtag, one that is specific to your brand, and one on the broader topic will often suffice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rookie mistakes and common pitfalls<\/span><\/h2>\n

This covers a whole range of minor errors that can impact your social media outputs. These include spelling and grammatical mistakes, poor video and image quality, and inconsistency. Although each of these individually may seem like small issues, when added together, they can harm trust with your audience. Use tools like ChatGPT for spelling and grammar, check the lighting when shooting, and create guidelines to refer back to to address these.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now the basics are covered, it\u2019s time to get to work! Look at your current social media accounts, assess your competitors\u2019 outputs, and figure out which platforms and what content works best for you. There\u2019s no one-size-fits-all strategy, so it\u2019s important to create one tailored to your own goals. Whether you\u2019re looking to promote brand awareness or increase sales, there\u2019s an option for everyone. Happy strategizing!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Head over to\u00a0picsart.com<\/a>\u00a0or open up the\u00a0Picsart app<\/a> to start creating your social media assets.<\/span><\/p>\n

Empowering the Creator in Everyone<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/h3>\n

Picsart is the world\u2019s largest digital creation platform. Its AI-powered tools give creators of all levels the ability to design, edit, draw and share photo and video content anywhere. It’s used by consumers, marketers and content creators for both personal and professional design, and is available to businesses via<\/span><\/i> API partnerships<\/span><\/i><\/a> and integrations. Picsart has collaborated with major artists and brands like Discord, PopSockets, Shopify, Taylor Swift and more.<\/span><\/i> Download<\/span><\/i><\/a> the app or visit<\/span><\/i> picsart.com<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are you looking to start out on social media? Or you might be a long-time user thinking, \u201cHow can I improve my social media strategy?\u201d Knowing exactly how to position yourself on different platforms can be tough, but we\u2019re here to help. Going in blind and hoping for the best may work for some, but … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The social media basics you need to know”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":230515,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Are you looking for how to start on social media? 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