If you are just setting out on your journey with your new business, you might be unsure what tack your should take on social media. Fear not, it is easy to navigate, and if you use it well, you can use it to reach new clients, validate your expertise and establish yourself.
Step 1: Pick the right goals.
Like all marketing, good social media marketing starts with setting good goals.
It is not all about the number of followers you have. A good number is great, but this is unlikely to be your primary goal. The goals you are more likely to want to achieve are:
Get new clients from social media
Credibility and validation, so when your potential clients see your profiles, their thoughts towards you are more positive, and their intention to do business with you is strengthened.
Increase traffic to your website
Drive conversions either directly to a sale or to interacting with your business by signing up for a download.
When you look at the metrics, look beyond the followers, likes and retweets and work towards your primary goal and focus on the metrics that matter.
Step 2: Pick your channels.
Gosh, what a choice we have! However, the major ones for businesses still fall within this lot:
Facebook: Businesses still do need to be on Facebook. While organic reach is consistently decreasing and changes are consistently regular, it is still pretty much a necessity to be on this platform purely for validation purposes. The thing to remember with Facebook is that just about everyone is still on the platform and people still do check this channel regularly as part of their validation process. It may not become your main social media channel, but it is worth tweaking your strategy to make the most of the changes that keep occurring and keeping a presence. How active that presence is, is really up to you.
Twitter: You can use this effectively still, and it is a great platform to engage with certain audiences. If you have a business that offers particular services to particular audiences, it is worth exploring. If you have a business which sells to a geographic area, it is well worth persevering. It is a great platform to boost credibility and to get your business in front of new clients. Use every aspect of it, such as lists and moments to make it as useful to your business as you can.
LinkedIn: You most certainly need to be on LinkedIn, potentially with a personal and company pages. LinkedIn is still one of the most effective social media platforms for B2B businesses and if your target audience is within this bracket, then make sure you get to grips with it. Be aware that engagement on LinkedIn is higher than Facebook.
Instagram: Instagram is still a younger, social-focused demographic and depending on your business and where your audience hangs out, can be of use or can be one to ignore. I would not discount it completely; done well, an Instagram account could help you showcase events, product and your people in a unique way.
Step 3: Consistency is key
Consistency in social media is vitally important. Posting regularly establishes credibility and makes your business seem engaged. Posting once a month on any platform will leave potential clients wondering if you are still in business.
Just keep in mind that it takes time to build a brand, so stick with it and get over those initial feelings that social media is not bringing you anything. I cannot tell you the number of times I have been told by a business owner that social media is useless for their business and yet when I look at their pages or profiles, they have posted irregularly with no strategy and no consistency. It does take time, and you will need to evaluate the use of that time, but if you have your goals established, you will see benefits.
Step 4: Remember social media is about people
It is P2P marketing! That is people to people rather than B2B, or business to business.
When you create your content, create it around what you think your audience would like to see. Use language that they use, the images they like and investigate the hashtags that work for each demographic.
Mix it up, so it does not feel sterile. It can be fun, informational, educational and promotional.
Get a plan together which helps you focus on creating consistency in your tone and message.
Step 5: Think about advertising
Ah, the dreaded word! Social media is a commercial world and growing more and more so. It is the new newspaper or magazine advertisement that we used to use back in the day!
Advertising does need to be part of your strategy, particularly on platforms like Facebook where organic reach is very obviously lower. Paying for low-cost post boots or running targeted ads should be added to your strategy and aligned with your goals.
The massive plus side of social media advertising is that you can stop it if you find it is not working. Try it and see what results you get.
If you need a little help to get you going or would just prefer to outsource some or all of your social media output, please feel free to get in touch via info@bluelizardmarketing.com