Listen up, we need to have a real talk for a minute! Your social media presence has a serious impact on how well your business grows.
While it is not the most important part of your business, you should think of social media as a fertilizer. Perfecting your social media presence provides a strong basis for you to showcase your work and build your credibility online. This leads to more trusting and engaged customers who want to pay you for your goods or services.
Here are some DOs and DONTs for social media success:
Where to post
You should create social media accounts on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. Some businesses should even consider accounts on YouTube, Pinterest, and Reddit.
These accounts should be different than your personal account. When you do start posting on your new business page, keep your posts professional and specifically geared towards the industry you are working within.
Keep posts about your dinner, shopping, your kids soccer game, grandma’s birthday party, or your “super-cute” boyfriend on your personal page. Clients and potential clients don’t really care about these personal things and they can make your page and business appear tacky.
What to post
Pictures, videos, blog posts and articles about your industry are great content pieces. As you are posting, remember that your content should be about your customers and not about you.
Have you ever been to a networking event and all they can talk about is themselves - where they have been, what they have done, and how big their network is? Those people are the worst. Don’t be that guy on social media.
A good rule to live by on social media is to help people, not selling to them.
Do you own a Mexican restaurant? Post an article about the health benefits of tequila.
Run a nonprofit? Post a testimonial about how you’ve changed people’s lives.
Own a tech startup? Post a video teaching people about how to use your new software.
Frame your posts in a helpful way!
A few other DONTs for posting:
- No passive aggressive comments
- No complaining about your customers
- No controversial topics or political issues, unless you and your company have decided to take a firm stance that may impact on your audience
How to post
The nuances of how you post will vary based on the platform you are posting to, but there are two important aspects to pay attention to no matter the platform: captions and visuals.
Do use proper grammar and punctuation.
Do not post in ALL CAPS! It feels like you are yelling!
As for the visuals, be sure to share photos and videos that are beautiful and purposeful. Do not post content that is blurry, dark, cluttered, or irrelevant to your product or service.
When to post
Be consistent and post regularly. If you are not posting regularly, people may start to wonder whether your business is legit or still open.
You can use scheduling tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, or SproutSocial to schedule bulk posts in advance. By knocking it out at one time you won’t have to worry about posting each day. This also frees up your time and energy to focus on the day-to-day operations of your actual business.
However, just because you have scheduled your posts does not mean your work is done. You should still login to your account regularly to engage with your followers and answer any questions they may ask.
Do not spam the heck out of your audience. There is a point where posting becomes too much and you start to overwhelm your audience. They may even dislike or unfollow your pages.
Now that we have discussed where to post, what to post, how to post, and when to post, you should now be equipped to get out there and conquer your social media. You can do this!
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