Many small business owners are leery of social media and stay away from it, missing out on a great opportunity for visibility and brand awareness. But others are a bit too gung-ho about it and overuse or misuse it to their own detriment. No matter where you fall within this spectrum, there is always something you can learn about social media that can help boost your business. Here are my five top tips for essential social media marketing. These tips are applicable across various channels, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Tip #1
K.I.S.S. Keep it simple, sweetheart. Nobody on social media wants to take the time to read a big, wordy post. Get to the point right away, preferably in fewer than 140 characters – including hashtags!
Tip #2
A picture is worth a thousand words. Be sparing with your verbiage and generous with images that support your product or service. For example, if you’re promoting a new seminar you’re leading, post a pic of you leading a previous seminar. If this is your first time leading seminars, post a stock image of an attentive audience. Bonus points if the people in the audience resemble your target audience. Video clips are great, too!
Tip #3
Engage. If someone shares your post, thank them. If they make a comment or ask a question, respond. If someone offers criticism, try to take it as an opportunity to improve. It’s always a game of customer service. And when you see other people’s posts that are relevant to you, share those. A little goodwill goes a long way.
Tip #4
Don’t engage with trolls. If someone makes nasty comments you should never respond, especially with anger or threats. No matter how upsetting trolls can be, responding in kind will only escalate the situation. You can always delete the comments or block the person making them.
Tip #5
Be yourself! Posts that make you sound like a soul-less robot will not get a lot of engagement. Let your true self shine through, whether that’s with humor, sincerity, or inspirational messages (not too many kitten gifs, though!).
Planning and executing social media campaigns and ongoing maintenance posts is not in everyone’s wheelhouse, however. Instead of risking your business’s reputation (not to mention revenue) by handing it over to your cousin’s son’s friend who is “really into” social media, let a pro take care of it for you.
Your virtual assistant can create a posting calendar for social media, find stock images, and can pre-load posts into a single control hub for you. You’ll be amazed by how easy and even fun it can be. Contact me today and we can get your business’s social media set up quickly.
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