Does the overall social media follower count play a key role in the growth of your company on various social media platforms?

LinkedIn, with its 500 million members, is the quintessential professional network and one that’s not used as optimally as it could be. When I teach classes on social media, I ask “Who’s on LinkedIn?” and almost all the hands go up. But then I ask, “Who knows what they are doing on LinkedIn?” and most of the hands fall. 

Most people just take it for granted and start using it in a panic when they have to change jobs. It’s often too late at that point. You are better off learning to use it when you don’t need it. LinkedIn works best when you use it as a career management tool and not just for job hunting.

LinkedIn offers a variety of ways to expand your network by finding and connecting with relevant professionals in your industry. The key is to find, approach and connect with folks you already know, folks you’d like to know and folks you should know. You should also post your own content, showing off your expertise on a regular basis. 

Learn to use the recommendation feature to give and receive recommendations for people you have worked with in the past. You should give recommendations only to people whose work you are willing to vouch for. I’ve heard of employers who take recommendations on LinkedIn almost as seriously as ones received in more traditional ways. So if anything gives you pause, you should find a gentle way to turn down a request for a recommendation.

Depending on your business, LinkedIn offers a variety of ways to deploy it for companies — from recruiting to generating sales leads. As with the other platforms, you should see if LinkedIn advertising features make sense for you. 

On LinkedIn, you can create a company page and build an online community around it, getting customers and potential customers to follow you. To learn more about LinkedIn for business, see its official guide. 

Finding jobs is the most important part of LinkedIn for individuals, and you can use the network to track specific companies, people and job openings. Spend time getting to know, in detail, the search features that let you drill down into networks of people, companies and job postings.  

When you’re looking for a new job, numbers matter, so take time to build your network. But be sure to do it in a smart way: Blasting invitations at complete strangers in the hopes of connecting with either them or people they are connected with is not a good strategy. Instead, look for legitimate connections you have with people — your alma mater, for example — and reach out with an invitation to connect that includes a personal note.

LinkedIn’s free account works well, but you may want to experiment with the premium version. It comes in many price points, starting at $29.99 a month. That’s serious money, but if you’re job hunting, it’s worth paying for the features that include the ability to email people you don’t know yet through the site, and connect in new ways with recruiters. 

Twitter, with its 328 million users, has recently changed its most famous and infamous feature, the 140-character limit. By doubling the limit to 280 characters, it offers more room to express your thoughts and ideas. But keep in mind that brevity, along with strategic use of photos and videos, will continue to help you stand out; there's no need to use all 280 characters in every post.  

Twitter can be more conversational than other platforms, but be sure to understand the difference between your retweets, replies and your DMs (direct messages). Retweets (RTs) are ways for you to share, and optionally comment on, others’ posts. Choosing “quote tweet” means you add a comment above someone’s post; just hitting “retweet” means it gets sent to your followers without any commentary from you. You should quote tweet whenever you can, so people understand why you are sharing something. 

Replies are a public way to respond to posts by others and carry on a conversation that others see, while direct messages are a way for you to connect privately with someone. In order to be able to DM someone, they have to follow you; or they have opted for the setting that allows anyone to DM them. Group DMs are an effective way to have more focused conversations among a larger group. Twitter allows you to have a private account (“protected” in their parlance) — but if you are using Twitter for business, having an open account makes more sense.  

The instantaneous nature of Twitter means you are able to:

• Know in real-time about developments in your areas of interest. 
• Share, comment and be part of a global conversation that extends beyond people you are friends with.

Twitter’s live video tool lets you share video and interact with those posting videos that matter to you. Twitter Polls, which lets you provide users with up to four answers to choose between and see the results in real-time, can be another way to engage with, and expand, your network. You’ll often see businesses running polls about specific products to gauge reactions from customers and potential customers. 

Smart, relevant, timely posts can help you raise your company’s profile, especially when you use hashtags in a professional manner. Participating in popular hashtags when they are relevant to you works well. As does occasionally using hashtags around your products or services. The key: Keep hashtags simple, clear and unique, so that your hashtags aren’t hijacked by some other brand with something similar. 

Twitter’s ad platform allows you to target particular audiences and reach them so they learn about your business and have an opportunity to become followers and engage with you. Take a look at its official guide to see how it can be part of your online business efforts.

Everyone’s obsessed with getting more followers, but for job hunting, who you follow is more important. Build lists of influencers by industry and topic (these lists can be public or private) and you’ll be able to see what they are interested in, what they’re thinking about and get ideas on how to reach out and connect to them. When someone in your industry asks a question or requests assistance, you can participate and show how relevant and useful you can be. There are numerous instances of Twitter conversations turning into face-to-face meetings.

Following good grammar, spelling and punctuation rules will help you stand out and create a good impression. Also helpful: A clear bio that explains who you are, along with a recent, recognizable, headshot.

Facebook, with more than two billion users worldwide, is the most powerful and influential of the social networks. It is a great way to connect with family, friends and friends of friends. It remains mainly a personal network for most people, but it is useful for business and professional outreach as well. As we have seen from recent stories about the 2016 election, the platform played a critical role in spreading information and disinformation. 

Facebook Live, which allows you to broadcast instantly around the world, can be a useful tool. In addition to journalists, businesses have been using Live to share behind-the-scenes content, do employee Q&As and other events. 

Like most platforms, Facebook offers privacy settings for your content so you can decide who gets to see what. Settings include content that can be seen by everyone online or by just your friends, or by customized groups you create (coworkers, for instance, family or your high school teammates). Most people don’t pay attention to these settings and are sometimes surprised by, say, who saw photos that weren't meant for their eyes.

Facebook can be used to:

• Connect with influencers in your field.
• Share articles and other items that show the world your interests.
• Help shape what others think of you. 

Of course, just because you post something doesn’t mean everyone will see it. Facebook’s algorithm determines what content is shown to particular folks and depends on your own settings, plus an evolving array of factors. These can include how relevant the content is to your audience, predictions on whether people will comment or share it and judging it against the other content that is available to show at a particular time. 

In addition to a personal profile, creating a business page lets you connect with people who want to know more about your work. You can share updates, progress reports and ideas with a wide range of folks who may not visit your website on a regular basis. 

Strategic use of Facebook Live can take your viewers behind the scenes of your business, and Facebook’s robust ad tools allow you to target potential customers and clients based on specific criteria. Learning how Facebook ads work is essential for your digital marketing plans. Given how hard it is to get your content out to everyone, you’ll find yourself under pressure to pay to boost your posts.

For a business to succeed on Facebook, it’s about connecting with a community that engages with your content. Just like in the offline world, if your product, service or idea is something people like and want to connect with, they will want to do the same on Facebook. To learn more about using Facebook for business, take a look at its official guide. 

Use Facebook to follow companies you are interested in and to get ideas about openings and opportunities. Put your personal network to work to help you identify client or employee leads. Your friends and family can be helpful if they know what you are looking for.

Instagram, built around photos, videos and captions, has grown to 800 million users and is increasingly part of the business world. If you and your work are visually driven, Instagram should be part of your business toolkit. Any company aimed at consumers, including travel, beauty and more, can do well on Instagram, but we are also seeing older, B2B companies like General Electric and IBM using Instagram. 

Instagram’s obsessive audience loves great visuals, and you can use your content to build an audience here. 

Patience and experimentation is key as you find the right formula that works for you. For example, spend time looking through popular hashtags to see if your post is a fit; so that more people can discover you. Same thing goes for tagging other relevant accounts with an @ sign. You can find more tips in this excellent guide from DigitalTrends. 

Features like Instagram Stories, which allow you to tell, well, a story, using multiple photos and videos, are ways to use Instagram in a business environment. These stories last for 24 hours, which means time frame should be something you have to factor into your decision to make them. Most of the time, you are better off creating visuals and graphics you can use on multiple platforms that will also have a longer shelf life. 

You should also explore Instagram’s advertising options and see how they fit in with your overall strategy. Instagram is all about getting existing and potential customers excited about what you do, so be sure to explore it. To learn about its business potential, take a look at its official guide.

As with many other platforms, job hunting on Instagram is about listening and interacting with relevant companies and individuals. You can use Instagram to learn about particular companies and their culture, as well as find out what’s influencing decision-makers in different fields.

A lot of what you see on Instagram is heavily produced with professional help, and your ability to replicate their scale and success is unlikely if you are working on your own.