We’re continually being asked by business owners why their social media efforts are not bringing rewards. Our reply is invariably the same – “there is no tried and true formula for social media success”. It can depend on your industry, time commitment, creativity, sense of humour, networking skills as well as any number of other factors. Not an easy formula is it? So to help you and your business traverse the social media maze with ease, we offer five tips that have helped us.
Being social on Social Media
1. Do your homework
We daily see business pages on Facebook and on other social networking sites that have started the process, then not sure what to do next, have just abandoned it! Please do not do this. It will cause more harm to your business than good. If you are going to join the millions using social media to promote business, please do a little homework first before you launch.
Homework may include:
- What is your industry, demographic, target audience?
- What is your goal or expected outcome?
- What are your competitors doing?
- Are there particular businesses that have caught your attention with their social media practices?
2. Know your platform
It’s important to understand the particular platform that you’re using, as well as the type of relationship you have with any given person within that platform, before attempting to leverage a connections for professional gain. We currently use Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter as they are the most commonly utilised and populated social networks.
- Facebook – for nurturing connections and relationships
- Twitter – for developing and growing the network
- LinkedIn – for professional credibility
As you can see, these three social media platforms each have a clear purpose as do the hundreds or thousands of other platforms available. Therefore, it is essential to respect the way that other people interact on these platforms i.e. if you invite a professional colleague to be your friend on Facebook, this may seem invasive to your colleague. Likewise, if you ask an old friend to recommend you on LinkedIn, especially if they have no experience with you in your professional capacity, this may be inappropriate.
3. Find your voice
Ok, maybe we have to be a little more specific here – find your ‘Brand’ voice. Having a real person’s voice behind what is posted is vital for small business. Social media is a very personable world without the face to face contact. Engaging is essential.
There really is no magic recipe to finding your voice. Social media favours the bold, quirky and fun, so don’t be afraid. It is important to remember that followers have an opt-out filter, they can easily ‘Hide’, ignore or ‘Unlike’ your posts.
This leads us into…..
4. Is Content really King?
Many people mistakenly believe that once they’ve published to the online world, loyal followers will magically appear. Sadly, this is not the case. That is why content is so important. You need to entice, engage, listen, chat, network and repost content on as many channels as time, money and resources allow.
If you are pumping out great content, but you haven’t had time to listen and engage, you’ll not gain a loyal network of followers. So, we firmly advocate that these three factors of Content, Engagement and Listening go hand in hand in building a strong and loyal following in social media.
5. Maintain a balance
Social media is a time consuming process. So to keep your sanity, limit the time you spend on social networks! Be mindful that your time is money and monitor your return on investment. We use social media at set times of the day to update our status and take part in the conversations. Then we close it down and do other things. It has taken us a number of months to recognise the importance of maintaining a balance between our online and offline life. So the most important advice we can impart is cultivate a real-life network of contacts as well as a social media network of contacts.
AND most importantly, enjoy. Social media is about being social.
Until next time….
After launching BizEez Virtual Solutions in early 2010, I've found the Web2.0 Online world to be my oyster. Through trial and error with my own website and social networks, I've learnt what works online to engage consumers and I've been very successful in utilising Web2.0 technologies to create and implement viral social media strategies for clients in start-up, arts, community, hospitality and retail arenas.
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