Spice Up Your Social Media Accounts for the New Year

The start of a new year means a long list of resolutions. While it's important to make some drastic changes to your marketing plan, not everything needs to be thrown out the window come a new year. There are smaller changes that can be made to increase your efforts, especially when it comes to social media. So before you trash everything you've been working hard on, check out this list and see some smaller ways to spice up your platforms.

Change Up Your Banner Photo

If you've had the same banner picture on your Facebook and Twitter pages since you started, it might be time for an update. It's okay to keep your profile picture as your logo but switching up the banner photo every once in awhile gives people something different to look at. It's also a great space to utilize. If you have any upcoming deals, sales or announcements, think about putting a banner to go along with it. It's a great way to brand your campaign and serves as a reminder to followers who visit your page. It's also a quick and easy way to maneuver into the new year. It gives your business a chance to get a mini re-brand, and start out on a clean slate.  

Try Out a Company Hashtag

If you need help with branding your company, hashtags are a great aid; Hashtags are extremely important for getting visibility. If you don't have one yet, this should be the year to test one out. First, do some research. See what other competitors are using, if they are at all. Figure out the most popular hashtags for your business type. Then, brainstorm around the facts; think of something unique that will help you stand out. Try to make it something clever, catchy and easy to remember. You want people to associate your name with that hashtag when they see it and vice versa. It's a dynamic and innovative way to organize your posts, and give people an eye into your brand. 

Experiment with Twitter Polls

Twitter polls have been out for a couple months now (they were announced in October 2015) and they've had a pretty good run. Since polls are still relatively new, it probably needs a bit more time to catch on. So test one out in 2016 if you haven't yet. While it may not do anything ground breaking for you, it's still something different and fun. It opens your company's profile up for a ton of engagement, and allows you to gather data about your followers in a one day time span. An important thing to remember about social media is that it takes time to build a following and while it may not be the cause of sales, there's definitely a lot of correlation between a successfully-run social media account and a company that is profitable and well-loved. 

Get Organized

Implementing a social media calendar is something we all say we're going to do come the New Year. But, the sad truth is most of us never open the template. Change that in 2016. Really make an effort to utilize that calendar. Having a place to get organized allows you to stick (for the most part) to a schedule. It allows your platforms to not only be consistent for your audience, but for your social media managers, as well. As an added bonus, you can use it as a reference - look through your old calendars when you need some ideas and inspiration. Having a designated place where everything is stored will help you in the long wrong; while it may be some extra steps to populate, we're sure you'll be thanking us come 2017.

For the Truly Ambitious

If you're really ready to kick things up a notch in 2016, try out a new social media platform. Figure out what direction you want to take your brand and which social media will help you get there. Maybe you're interested in how "real time" social media might be able to help your brand. Try out Snapchat or Periscope. If you've been neglectful on a platform, perhaps focus your efforts on that to build your audience. Make sure to do your research so that your efforts aren't wasted. As cheesy as it may sound, a new year marks the beginning of new efforts and campaigns. Learn from 2015, address the things that really need changing and tweak smaller efforts, like social media. All those points, along with staying organized, will help 2016 be a great year.