How To Build Long-Term Social Media Habits

When it comes to employer branding, the importance of a strong social media presence cannot be overstated. In fact, 75% of job seekers consider an employer’s brand before even applying for a job (source: LinkedIn).

Platforms like LinkedIn serve as invaluable channels for your employees to amplify your organisation's message and nurture meaningful relationships with your audience. However, if they aren’t getting into good social media habits, you’ll not get the results you’d hope for.

Keep in mind the impact of employee branding is only going to become greater. As the LinkedIn Future of Recruiting Report (2024) highlights, Gen Z will account for more than a quarter of the workforce by 2025, and they seek authentic voices and employee-driven content that resonates with their values and aspirations.

So, it’s worth encouraging your employees to overcome the challenges of fostering consistent engagement and contribution on social media platforms. 

In this blog post, I’ll explore the crucial task of cultivating healthy social media habits within your team. Drawing insights from James Clear's influential work "Atomic Habits", I’ll share actionable strategies to help your team excel in their social media efforts.

What Holds Employees Back From Sharing On Social Media?

While the benefits of employee content creation are clear, encouraging consistent participation can be an uphill battle. Let’s talk about some of the common hurdles employees face.

The number one hurdle I hear about is content fear! As Anna Troidl aptly states:

“One of the biggest challenges I hear from customers is they don’t know what content to share or feel like they don’t have the time to share”.

So, if your employees feel unsure of what content aligns with the company brand or struggle to find relevant and engaging topics, they are less likely to post.

The next common hurdle is confidence concerns. The fear of making mistakes or not being seen as an expert can be a significant deterrent. This is where promoting a culture of "progress, not perfection" becomes crucial. 

As Tribal Coach Julia Dixon emphasises in this video, “focus on being you”. Encourage your employees to talk about the things they want to talk about and that are important to them. This will help them feel more confident about posting.
 

What's In It For You? The Benefits Of Consistent Sharing

How To Build Long-Term Social Media Habits

So far we’ve established the benefits of encouraging your employees to become social media advocates, but encouraging consistent social media engagement requires more than just issuing a directive.  

Now I want to share some practical strategies, many of which are inspired by James Clear's "Atomic Habits". These strategies will empower your team to build sustainable social media habits.

1. Accountability buddies - help each other to stay on track. It increases the likelihood of achieving your goals by 95%! AND you can bounce ideas off each other.
2. Habit stacking - build a new habit on top of an old one, for example combining your Linkedin routine with your morning coffee time.
3. Time - make a regular calendar appointment to ensure you prioritise Linkedin in your day
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4. Permission to make mistakes - You don't have to be perfect.
 Develop strategies for getting back on track quickly.
5. Celebrate your wins - it's like giving yourself a high-five, a fist bump or a victory dance - whatever works for you.

If you’d like something tangible to put these habits into action, download our Coffee Cup Routine, it will help you to adopt social media into your schedule. 

Tips On Creating Effective Social Media Posts

As well as good habits, your employees need to create effective social media posts to drive results. The results aren’t only good for the business, but they will help give your employees confidence and enthusiasm for consistent posting.

Let’s discuss some techniques for building an engaging social media presence. 

Mixing Up Different Styles Of Content

The key to captivating your audience on LinkedIn and other platforms lies in variety. Move beyond text-only updates and explore a diverse range of content formats.

Visuals are a powerful tool, in fact, the human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text, and 90 per cent of the information transmitted to the brain is visual (source: International Forum Of Visual Practitioners).

Eye-catching images and infographics can grab attention and make complex information more digestible. GIFs and short videos can add a touch of personality and humour, while documents like white papers or industry reports can showcase your company's expertise.  

Consider incorporating polls and questions to spark conversations and encourage audience interaction. Don't forget the power of sharing relevant industry articles or blog posts, along with your own commentary, to demonstrate thought leadership and establish credibility.  

A well-rounded mix of content formats will cater to different learning styles and keep your audience engaged and coming back for more.

What A Good Post Looks Like

You’ve now got some ideas on the type of content to use, let’s discuss what a good social media post looks like. Let’s first start with the whole premise behind employee content - authenticity! 

You want to encourage your employees to post content that they feel comfortable sharing. Get them to question themselves; do I agree with what I’m sharing? Do I have an opinion on it? Do I have anything to add?

Next let’s break down the anatomy of a Good Post:

• Tag Your Network: Ensure your post reaches the right audience by tagging relevant individuals or companies.
• Add Your Perspective: Share your insights, opinions, or experiences to provide value and spark engagement.
• Leave Plenty of White Space: Make your post easy to read by using short paragraphs, bullet points, and line breaks to create visual breathing room.
• Add a Call-to-Action (CTA): Encourage your audience to take action, whether it's liking, commenting, sharing, or visiting a link.
• Use 3-5 Hashtags and Emoticons: Increase discoverability and engagement by including relevant hashtags and emoticons to add personality.
• Include Images, Video, or Documents: Enhance your post's visual appeal and engagement potential by incorporating multimedia elements.

Finally, half the battle with social media habits is getting started. So here are a few post starters from me, I recommend sharing post starters to help inspire your employees.

• Interesting report. From my experience…/I remember when…
• According to this research…I agree/disagree because…
• Great list! I would like to add another point…
• I thought this article shows some interesting insights…what do you think?
• I was quite surprised to read that....
  
  
  

Equip Your Team For Social Media Success

The journey to long-term social media habits can be both rewarding and essential. However, beyond what I have shared here, success requires actionable steps and ongoing support.

Providing the right training, tools, and strategies will help you employees build confidence in their social media capabilities and allow them to excel in their social media habits.

If you’d like support to train your employees in social media, take a look at our Employee Advocacy training services.