How to Set Yourself up for Social Media Success
If you’re like most of our clients, you know you need social media for your business but you aren’t sure where to start or what to do. Social media is a powerful (and overwhelming!) tool to help businesses grow. A well-run social media plan can be an effective way to connect with new customers, build brand awareness, and generate leads. If you’re ready to have social media success, here are a few tips to help you get the most out of your social media:
Start With Inspiration
Follow other businesses or organizations in your industry or in parallel industries to draw inspiration from. Don’t copy their posts or use their images, instead, find ideas about the types of content to post, as well as the kinds of visuals that you can use to accompany your social media.
Keep a Brain Dump File
Inspiration can hit anywhere, so keep a sticky note on your desk and a note on your phone so that when you are going about your day and a social idea strikes you, you can write it down. I promise, you won’t remember it, so write it down!
Start with the Easy Stuff
Go through the list of social media holidays and pick out the ones that are relevant to your audience or industry. These can be quick and easy posts to put together and can boost your confidence to continue creating additional content.
Make Time for Social Media
Set a consistent time each week or month (whatever works best for you) to work on creating content. You’ll be much more efficient if you batch create content and you’ll feel more successful if you know you’ve created a week’s worth of content.
Pro tip: Make sure you actually schedule yourself in on your calendar and block the time off so you sit down and do it. If you don’t, other priorities will come up and you’ll find yourself pushing it off until you have more time. Spoiler alert: you will never have more time. So if you want to get something done, schedule it in.
Scroll Through Your Social Feed
If you aren’t getting on your social media platforms and simply scrolling through, you’re missing opportunities. You know how they say to improve your vocabulary you should read books? The same is true of social media. If you want to get better at it, spend 10 minutes per day scrolling through your social media feed.
Engage With Your Audience AND Your Potential Customers
When it comes to social media, as a small business, you have several advantages over your larger counterparts. Your existing social media followers already know you. They are following you on social media to get to the like and/or trust stage to make them feel comfortable doing business with you. On social media, you can be more creative and personal in your interactions, developing deeper connections with your audience.
It is also important to engage with your potential customers on social media. Where do people hang out online when it comes to your industry? If you sell and sharpen knives, you might join Facebook groups about cooking. When you see people asking questions or sharing successes, jump in and respond in the comments. Offer {free] advice and answer questions, and you’ll become their guide and go-to person when it comes to your industry.
Conclusion:
There is no foolproof guide to social media success, but by taking the time to set yourself up for success and planning your strategy, you can put yourself in the best position to achieve your goals. Make the time for social media, always be on the lookout for inspiration, and engage with your audience. With consistency and a focus on helping your customers, you can build a following and use social media to grow your business.
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