Everyone needs a good Social Media strategy nowadays
and with Consultants like us creating great content for our clients; small businesses are now, more than ever needing to ensure their Social Media is relevant & engaging!
And while I will still maintain, employing a professional is a much better (& safer) option, here is some help for all you “go it aloners” out there.
1) Pick Your platforms carefully – not every business needs to be on every social media platform.
Some businesses should be on visually rich sites such as Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube, while others are more suited to the text only “quick-info” style of Twitter. You MUST understand your audience, do some research, have a look at what they are interacting with, before making the plunge, as a badly managed Social Media account can be detrimental to how prospective clients / customers perceive you.
2) Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should! aka – Avoid the hard sell!
The main thing I try to explain to my small businesses is that Social Media is not about selling. Your followers & friends will not thank you for appearing in their timeline extolling the virtues of your business, time after time & they will “switch -off”. I know we are all proud of our business & want to shout it from the rooftops BUT your Twitter / Facebook is probably not the best place to do that over & over again. A little bit of self-promo is ok once in a while, but try to make your overall strategy about enhancing your followers experience, encouraging them to share out the information you are bringing to them. remember although you see a screen when you post your content, the recipients are human & want to be spoken to as such.
3) Don’t think its a free for all online!
This is by no means a “free” marketing tool. In fact Social media is expensive! Just ask those people or companies who have been sued or have been ruined because Tweets sent were deemed to be offensive. Some famous examples of a Social Media storm have included – Courtney Love , Marlon Wayans , US HighSchool & these cases. Be careful what you post, make sure you are being truthful.
Or contact us for some advice
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