It’s Social Media Day! Mashable launched Social Media Day back in 2010 as a way to celebrate and recognize social media’s impact on global communications. I think we can all agree that today, social media is the heart of global communication. It’s a way to connect with your friends, your favorite celebrities, and your favorite brands.

A major mission of my business is to help businesses get noticed online. I wanted to make a quick and easy to remember list of my top tips for taking your social media presence to the next level:

1. Be Consistent!

I try to post at least once a day on Facebook, three to five times a day on Twitter, and two times a day on Instagram. Of course sometimes this varies. Another way to be consistent is to schedule your posts using a tool like Hootsuite.

2. Provide Value

A good rule of thumb is if what your posting doesn’t educate, excite, or entertain, don’t bother posting it. Nobody likes to follow accounts who post random pictures or words with no meaning.

3. Set Goals

Treat your social media accounts like an important element of your business. Set goals that are specific and measurable.

4. Cross Promote on Other Platforms

If you’re sharing on Instagram, go ahead and share that to Twitter and Facebook. You can also invite your followers from other networks to follow up in other places.

5. Utilize all 30 of your allowed hashtags on Instagram

This is great way to get noticed! Instead of putting them all in the caption, put them in the first comment under your photo.

6. Be Visually Appealing

How many of us have followed an account just because it’s pretty? Me! I have! Use photo editing apps such as Color Story, PicTapGo, or VSCO to give you a look and then use that same editing technique for all your photos.

7. Connect With Your Followers

If a follower comments on your post, be sure to reply or at least like the comment. It shows you care and you recognized them reaching out.

8. Use Your Hashtags

This goes back to Instagram. Pick a hashtag your target market is probably hanging out in and spend 5 minutes three times a day liking and commenting on pictures. This is a great way to keep social media social AND get your name out there!

9. Use Video!

Video gets a lot more interaction than any other type of media. Use Instagram Stories and go live on Facebook and Instagram.

10. Have Fun!

Social media, especially for your personal brand or small business should be FUN! It shouldn’t feel like a chore (and if it does, let’s chat on how to make that better!). Connect with your customers, share their photos, experiment with different tons and visuals. See what works for you and run with it!