I am hearing more and more about the importance of Social Media throughout my business network. Some business owners seem to embrace the use of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn etc whereas others seem to doubt it’s value.
Marketing experts will tell you creating brand awareness and finding customers through Social Media is not always easy, especially if you have a more complicated offering or a very unique target market. However used correctly, social media is a fantastic use of your marketing budget.
Although Social Media platforms are usually free, this does not mean knowledge and understanding is a part of the package! If you are struggling to organise your online marketing strategy always get expert advice.
Here are 7 tips to get you started:
1. Fill up your profile!
The amount of times I see new profiles being set up with limited or no information is worrying. How can people interact without seeing who you are? Give them your name, background info and interesting facts.
2. Picking the right profile picture
We can all agree that we make assumptions based solely on image, right? If we see a picture of someone scruffily dressed, covered in tattoos and piercings would we assume they were the CEO of a top 100 FTSE company? Probably not… so make sure your image portrays the message you want it too!
3. Pick the right platforms
Do your research, what platforms are your target market using? It would be a waste of time concentrating on Twitter if they are over on Facebook!
4. Set some ground rules
If you are allowing your team to help you with social media ensure that they understand: the aim of using social media for your business, what types of discussions and posts you want to be sharing and what you do not want to be put out there for everyone to see. It is also good to ensure you are aware who has access to these accounts outside of office hours.
5. Be consistent
Have a set plan of how many times you are going to post on your platforms. Making the time to regularly have a stream of content is the best way to ensure you keep the activity going. Also keep to a theme for your content and remember- people are following you for a reason. If you usually share team management advice don’t then start posting about cake decorating!
6. Interact!
Social Media is meant to be sociable, it is about making connections and opening our networks to each other. If you see a post about something comment on it, ask questions and create conversation. This will influence others to do the same on your posts!
7. Reply.
Nothing loses followers or lowers your credibility by ignoring others posts. They have made the effort to interact with you- so reply! Ensuring you reply in a timely manner creates a flow of conversation and raises your visibility to their network. Once you have ignored someone once, they are unlikely to interact with you next time!
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