How to Effectively Make Social Media Work for You and Your Business
If you have any type of social media account you need to put it to work!
This means that in order for people to engage with your content you have to engage with theirs. It's not as simple as posting content to your account and forgetting about it for the next week. You need to constantly be posting creative content, liking others' posts, following, commenting, and being active in general. As a result, your followers will grow and your audience will continue to grow and will prepare your account for paid advertising. All major social networks offer advertising options, but that doesn’t mean you should use them all. We will discuss the different types of social channels and help you choose the best that fits your business. There are two things to keep in mind when posting: be creative and make sure you are on the correct channel.
How to create creative content?
Use High-Quality Photos and Videos- Your posts have to make your audience stop scrolling through the endless feed. You cannot have grainy photos or shaky videos. Every photo needs to be high quality and look professional according to your brand standards. Even if you don’t have a professional camera you can always take quality photos with an iPhone. You can also find sites that offer free stock images. Some websites include Canva, Unsplash, and Pexels, check out what they have to offer!
Use Branded Text and Images- Make sure your brand voice is in every post or material that will be seen. From the colors that you choose to the wording and message, you want to convey to your audience.
Make Your Posts Short and Sweet- We live in a world where time is precious and there are so many other posts competing with yours. You have to make sure that they are short and straight to the point. Remember that your post needs to offer something to your audience. Every time you post, think of the purpose behind it, educate, empower, or entertain your audience.
How to choose the correct channel?
Let's be honest. Social media takes time and effort. Between creating content and scheduling posts, strategies to consider, and new features to keep up with. How do you choose the one that’s right for your business? Your resources will help you determine what social media channel is best for you.
Some things to keep in mind are:
Time - We know that running a business is not an easy thing. Your concern is being in front of a customer and selling your service or product. You might not have the time you need in order to manage all social channels. You might only have time to manage the one that most of your audience is at.
Staff - This goes without saying, especially during this, having an extra hand might not be possible. Even having the budget to hire a person might not be a possibility.
Budget - This is one of the biggest challenges for any business that is starting up. Marketing being part of your budget might not even have crossed your mind. A common rule of thumb is that business-to-business companies should spend between 2 and 5% of their revenue on marketing. And even higher when it comes to business-to-consumers companies. Every business needs to make sure they are creating a yearly annual budget plan that includes marketing efforts as well. It’s important in order to attract customers, increase sales and compete better.
Where is your Audience - While Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are the top social platforms for brands and consumers, that doesn't mean you have to use every channel. The popularity of these channels varies between industries. So while these benchmarks for general brand and consumer behaviors are a good place to start, you'll need to do your own research for your industry.
Remember that every time you post on social networks keep in mind whether it's aligned with your brand but most importantly the reason why you are posting. There needs to be a purpose and call to action. Whether it’s to increase followers, send them to your website, buy them to comment, like, or save your message needs to be clear. Remember to do the research to find out where your audience is currently at to make sure your strategy works efficiently. Be engaging and make the best of the resources you have in hand to increase your sales. Remember to constantly be posting creative content, liking others' posts, following, commenting, and being active in general.
