Blogs, Youtube, Twitter, Facebook . . . if you are not familiar with these tools for your business do not be ashamed. I have to admit I was against jumping into the trend of social media. Unfortunately, it is not a trend at all. According to the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business, small businesses have doubled the use of social media for their business from 12% to 24% over the past year. The study concluded that 1 in 5 small businesses have integrated social media into their business process. The best thing about social media is that it is either FREE or inexpensive compared to traditional forms of advertising. Now I am not expert but I have decided to spend time studying and creating a better presence with my social media. After attending several workshops and reading a few books, I have created a top 5 list of things to consider with using social media for your business. Take this list and add additional tips and tools to start creating a presence for your company today.
1. Think about your audience.
You must appeal to your audience in order to generate a following. Take a minute to think about your audience and what message you would like to convey.
2. Create a social media plan.
If you are anything like me, you wear many hats within your business. Adding the hat of social media can be overwhelming at times. After attending a workshop I learned that it is important to create a social media plan with deadlines and scheduled post. This will allow you to stay on top of things while building your brand.
3. Do not over promote.
No one wants to hear about you and your business every day, all day on social media websites. Take the time to post related articles or blogs that are relevant to your target market. The general rule is 80% expert advice and supportive articles and 20% self promotion. (I am still working on this!)
4. Drive traffic to your website.
The whole idea of using social media for your business is to generate leads to eventually turn into sales. In order to do this you must direct traffic to your website. Offer specials, discounts or promo codes to drive people to view your website. You can also add inbound links to you website assist with search engine ranking.
5. You cannot do it ALL
Although there are many social media website out there, your business does not have to use all the websites available. Browse through the ones that strike an interest and decide if it is a good fit for your business. Do not commit yourself to a social media campaign that you cannot keep up with.
