Social media is extremely important nowadays – customers use them, so should you. But, maintaining a page takes time, which most of us don’t have! If your page doesn’t undergo regular upkeep, it will look messy, lose followers and ultimately give the business a bad name. Therefore, quality attention on one site is recommended.
A few pointers to help you decide which site is most suitable:
# Spend some time studying which sites rival companies are on – they are targeting the same audience, so it’s likely you should be on that site too! Also look at how they use them – if this includes many promotions and prizes, yet your company doesn’t have a lot of funding, maybe this is not a good way to go. So always plan how you are going to use the site before you begin – first impressions are key!
# Stick to it – Getting a good amount of loyal followers takes time and persistence. Giving up early will not look good for the company neither will an abandoned page (so if you are going to do this, be careful to delete the page permanently).
# Ask around – see what sites are most popular with the targeted audience and investigate what would attract them to ‘follow’ or ‘like’ a page, utilising this information for more successful content.
So, now you’ve chosen your platform, how do you increase following/likes?
# Planning – Research keywords and search engine optimisation. This will increase traffic to your site and increase interest. Make sure you use the right wording and phrases that your target audience would search for to take them straight to you!
# Content – Ensure the posts are of valuable information that mean something to your target audience. They need to find it interesting and want to keep following the page. It also needs to be relevant to what you are promoting as this is what they were initially searching so must show an interest in the topic. Variety is important too to prevent boredom, so use pictures, videos, infographics and anything else which you deem appropriate.
# Links – post links to outside articles as this increases reliability and people may post back to your articles in return.
# Competitors – keep tracking competitors’ pages to see what strategies they are using. You don’t want to be too similar to them and something different might be refreshing; however, if they are racking up likes, they’re obviously doing something right!
# Following – always make time to follow or show interest in others pages as they are likely to return the favour. This will increase exposure to a wider audience.
# Brand image – Ensure the image for your brand is the same throughout all different platforms as this will make it easier for people to recognise you.
# Measure success – Keep track of strategies you use and fluctuating likes/followers as this will allow you to recognise what posts have been effective.
The more sites your business is on, the higher it will rank on search engines. But make sure the activity is regular, remember: One good site is better than multiple vague ones!
By Jessica Watkins. Social Media Account Manager, MarketmeTV.