The top 7 things you need to know about social media

Let PR show you the best ways to use this ever-changing technology

Social media seems to have changed life as we know it. If your company isn’t on at least two social media platforms, you’re missing key opportunities to connect with and engage your customers. To effectively reach your customers, you may find that social media connections have become less of a preference and more of a necessity.

Although the concept of social media has become pervasive in our society, it’s also still very new, and as such, it’s constantly changing. You must stay on top of trends in this area in order to use it properly and maximize your efforts. PR can help. Here are five facts you may not have known that can help you get ahead of the curve (and the competition).

Did you know? Twitter has six different networks for more targeted communication.

There is:

• Divided: for politics and other conflict-ridden issues

• United: for things like hobbies and other topics followers usually agree on

• In-hub and spoke: allowing users to follow celebrities and news outlets

• Out-hub and spoke: for customer support connections

• Clustered: basically what its name implies, giving users the opportunity to cluster around a topic

• Fragmented: for trends, events and brands

Did you know? There is an “unofficial” time limit for companies to respond on Twitter.

According to a survey of users, more than 50 percent said that when they send a tweet to a company, they expect a response within an hour. This was closely followed by those who feel they should get a reply in less than 30 minutes and others who anticipate an immediate answer.

Did you know? Most retweets are sent at night.

Analyses show that the most retweets are sent between 10 and 11 p.m. The next most common time was 4-5 p.m. So for best results, make sure your information is sent with these times in mind.

Did you know? Photos are the best way to encourage engagement on Facebook.

It has been shown that 87 percent of the most shared posts on Facebook are or have photos, and approximately 75 percent of page updates are photos. The numbers for other tools, such as links and videos, don’t even come close at four percent.

Did you know? When putting information on Pinterest, the day of the week you choose matters.

For example, Thursdays are best for fashion; if it’s something funny, it should be posted on Fridays; and Saturdays are tops for travel items.

Did you know? Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter are responsible for the most traffic.

In terms of average time on the site, bounce rates and pages per visit, these three are ahead of other channels most companies use for business, such as LinkedIn and YouTube.

Did you know? You can hire the right PR firm to manage your social media efforts.

At Axia, we understand the importance of social media for business and know the best ways to use it for reputation management, improving your rank in search results and encouraging customer loyalty. Using social media reporting, control and structuring tools, we can help map out your social media system and manage your social media campaigns. For more information on how we can use social media to increase your profitability, contact us today or download our e-book The Essential Social Media Management Guide.

Lisa Goldsberry is a writer for Axia Public Relations with more than 15 years of public relations experience. She specializes in business, higher education and technology PR. Connect with Axia Public Relations on Twitter at @axiapr.

Photo credit: ThinkStockPhotos.com