I’ll repeat it: You need social media!
And you need it to be done right! I have spoken with small business entrepreneurs in all industries. When the topic comes around of expanding their market or increasing their business, I ask them how are they on social media.
The answer is usually akin to: “Oh we have someone who does that, but I don’t see the point of it, never got it. Seems like a waste to me…”
After I hear that statement, I check out their presence on social media. What I find is usually a self fulfilling prophecy.
What do I mean by that? Well let me put it this way:
My Guide to Proper Social Media:
1. Define your Purpose – How do you want to use your social media presence? Ideally, it should be to build up your brand. Build your identity online. Something that is unmistakenably you. Find how that brand fits into the different platforms available to you. Not all platforms work for all brands, so it’s up to you to do the research. Pick the ones that best suit you and what you’re looking to accomplish.
2. Find a theme – What I mean by this is avoid just posting a bunch of random pictures. Thats good for filler, but try to tie everything together. Just posting pictures of product or your staff working around the warehouse, doesn’t make for a professional social media presence. Leave that stuff for personal accounts.
3. Sell, Sell, Sell – You want to sell more product or more of your service. That’s obvious. So you figure you can just post it on your social media accounts and its like free advertising. Social media doesn’t work like that. It’s interactive. It’s immersive. If you’re going to want to sell whatever it is you do, you need to demonstrate why your followers need it. Which is why you’ll need…
4. Influence – More specifically influencers. How many times this term has been floated around like a joke I can’t tell you. And it’s not entirely without its merits. Too often young millenials will want to position themselves as an influencer rather than work. However that isn’t to say you can’t build your own network. If you have followers who enjoy your brand, its worth reaching out to them to build your own influencer network for cheap. As well reach out to your industry and see who is promoting the latest brand. Maybe it’s time to make a new friend?
5. Make some friends – Social media is after all social. If you are building up a nice loyal group of followers on your accounts, reach out to them. They’ll appreciate the interaction and that brand loyalty will deepen even further. They’ll become your best brand ambassadors. Create fun hashtags or contests on social media to encourage posting and sharing of your brand, to gain even more followers. Just like in real life, people are attracted to outgoing people. Make sure your brand is the one that stands apart from your competitors and reward their loyalty.
I use these a baseline when it comes to social media. There is a ton of how to guides and do’s and don’ts out there. Start simple is best I’ve found. Work on the relationships between consumer and your brand. Forging a long lasting loyalty can pay off big time in the long term.
Update:
I found this article that I thought really expanded on my thoughts on how to conduct social media properly.
Joel MacLeod.ca 